Sylvia Maurer

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Sustainable consumption and prodcution The
consumers perspective
Sylvia Maurer Project Coordinator - Environment
Safety Deparment BEUC, the EU Consumers
Organisation
EESC Public Hearing on SCP 10 December 2008
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Urgent need for actions
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Failure of sustainable policies

• No link with other policies
• Not all actors are involved
• Unbalanced and insufficient focus on production
  side
• Consumption side inadequately addressed
• Consumer demand seen as main driver

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What consumers (say they) want

• 75 of EU consumers are prepared to buy
  environmentally friendly products (even if more
  expensive)
• Only 17 purchase green products on a regular
  basis
• Though increased sales of Ecolabelled and organic
  products

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Why dont consumers act?

• Hardly trust governments and industrys messages
• Not sure their action will make a difference
• Do not want to act alone
• Costs of acting
• Cannot easily find green products
• Mislead by industry claims and green-wash

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Keys to success

• Integrate the EU SCP policy framework with other
  EU policies
• Ensure coherence and synergies between existing
  policies
• Address all aspects of sustainability, not only
  environmental ones
• Take both production and consumption with equal
  ambition

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The triangle of change
The I will if you will concept
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A policy tool box is needed

• Regulations ( voluntary guidelines) increased
  product standards, regulated claims
• Economic or market-based instruments, GPP and
  product benchmarks
• Labelling of products
• Social marketing use of business marketing
  techniques for the social good
• Choice editing sustainable products on
  shelves
• Formal education

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What we expect from the implementation of the SCP

• Ambitious measures
• Eco-design should cover non-energy related
  products and
• all environmentally relevant aspects
• Eco-label needs to be strengthened, provisions on
  
• third-party testing, chemicals and precautionary
  principle
• has to be kept
• Energy Label layout from A-G must be kept Label
  should become more dynamic
• Retail Forum ambitious objectives, monitoring

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Sylvia Maurer Project Coordinator - Environment
and Safety Department sma_at_beuc.eu - 02 743 15 93