MINISTRY OF LEGAL AFFAIRS CONSUMER AFFAIRS DIVISION

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MINISTRY OF LEGAL AFFAIRS CONSUMER AFFAIRS
DIVISION

• THE SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
  INDICATORS PROJECT

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Overview of Presentation

• Definition
• Background
• The Four Phases of the Sustainable Production and
  Consumption Project
• Phase I - Development of a Model of Social
  Indicators
• Objectives
• Defined Action Areas
• Outcomes
• Phase II - Diagnostic Assessment
• Objectives
• Shortcomings encountered
• Recommendations
• Phase III - System Design
• Objectives/Activities
• Phase IV - Implementation/Evaluation

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DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND
CONSUMPTION

• The use of goods and services that respond to
  basic needs and bring a better qualify of life,
  while minimizing the use of natural resources,
  toxic materials and emissions of waste and
  pollutants over the life cycle, so as not to
  jeopardize the needs of future generations."
• Symposium on Sustainable Consumption. Oslo,
  Norway 19-20 January 1994

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Background

• In 1999 the Consumer Affairs Division (CAD) as
  part of its responsibility for monitoring
  consumer trends, proposed a project to determine
  the Nations prosperity and sustainability.
• Cabinet agreed to the appointment of a Consumer
  Affairs Division (CAD) led committee to develop
  indicators to measure sustainable consumption and
  production.

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Background contd

• The committee comprised of the following persons
• Dr Godfrey St. Bernard, U.W.I (Chairman)
• Mr. Matthew Ramsaroop, Central Statistical Office
• Mr. Lennox Marcelle, Ministry of Labour
• Ms Linda Hewitt, U.W.I
• Ms. Sonia Cuales, United Nations Economic
  Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
  (UNECLAC), P.O.S

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Background contd

• The committee was guided by the Commission on
  Sustainable Development (CSD) Model Measuring
  changes in Consumption and Production Patterns- a
  set of indicators (1998)

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Background contd

• This document identified a core set of seventeen
  (17) provisional indicators in two broad
  categories from which the Committee drew
  reference
• Consumption clusters (mobility, consumer goods
  and services, buildings and house-keeping, food
  and recreation)
• Key resources (energy, materials, water and land)

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Background contd

• The exercise emphasized the need for additional
  indicators that realistically reflect the aims
  and objectives of public policy prescriptions in
  Trinidad and Tobago for a number of action areas.

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The Four Phases of the Sustainable Production
and Consumption Project entail

• Development of a Model of Social Indicators to
  Measure Sustainable Production and Consumption
• Diagnostic Assessment
• System Design the modification, design and
  implementation of systems to capture and assess
  data based on the diagnostic assessment and
• Implementation/Evaluation

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Phase I- Objective

• The development of a provisional set of
• indicators, quantitative and qualitative.
• Indicators are of two classes, those that relate
  to production and those relating to consumption.
• Indicators to be used by policy and decision
  makers to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness
  of such policies and their implementation in
  defined action areas .

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Phase IDefined Action Areas

• Human Health
• Human Settlement
• International Trade
• Key Resources
• Living Conditions
• Recreation and Leisure

• Economic Production Activities
• Education
• Environment
• Food Security
• Health

There are at least 214 production indicators/data
items 266 pertaining to consumption
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Action Area - Economic Activity

• PRODUCTION CONCERNS
• Characteristics of the Labour Force
• Unemployment
• Type of Worker
• Employment
• Main Type of Economic Activity
• Type of Industry
• Gross capital formation and change
• Domestic production as a share of compensation to
  employees
• Changes in consumption of fixed capital

• CONSUMPTION CONCERNS
• Private Final Consumption
• Changes in Private Final Consumption
• Domestic Production as a share of Status
  Government Final Consumption
• Changes in Government Final Consumption
• Domestic Production as a share of fixed capital
• Changes in consumption of fixed capital

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Action Area - Economic Activity

• PRODUCTION CONCERNS (continued)
• Changes in compensation to employees
• Operating surplus and change
• Contribution of the informal sector
• Violation of best practice and standards in
  production processes and service delivery
• Use of inputs/raw materials
• Labeling
• Advertising

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Phase I-Outcomes

• The committee completed the Phase I Report in
  November 1999.
• Cabinet agreed in 2002 to commence Phase II
  (Diagnostic Assessment) of the project with CAD
  having responsibility for it in collaboration
  with the Central Statistical Office, Ministry of
  Finance, Planning and Development and UWI

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Phase II - Diagnostic Assessment

• Background
• Phase II of the project commenced in February
  2003 with the hiring of a consulting team of
  three experts and the appointment of a Technical
  Implementing Committee.
• The consultants were mandated to develop
  indicators to measure sustainable consumption and
  production in Trinidad and Tobago and determine
  the Ministries that would supply the indicators.

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Phase II - Diagnostic Assessment

• Background contd
• The consulting team comprised the following
  persons
• Dr Godfrey St. Bernard (UWI. ISER) Project
  coordinator
• Ms Linda Hewitt (UWI. Statistical Research
  Specialist)
• Mr. Wendell Thomas I.T. Specialist

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Phase II - Diagnostic Assessment

• Background contd
• The Technical Implementing Committee was required
  to produce and supply data in the activity areas
  in which indicators were generated.
• The Technical Implementing Committee comprised of
  representatives from the following
  Ministries/Agencies
• Health
• Education
• The Ministry of Planning, Housing and the
  Environment
• Public Utilities
• Trade and Industry
• Agriculture Land And Marine Resources
• Finance
• Central Statistical Office
• University of the West Indies, St Augustine

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Phase II - Diagnostic Assessment

• Background contd
• The assessment led to indicators being classified
  into three groups
• Feasible
• Potentially feasible
• Unfeasible
• These ratings revealed variations between sectors
  including
• Availability/non-availability of data
• Efficiency of data collection procedures
• Status of I.T. being used to process data
  generated

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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Phase II Objectives
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Shortcomings encountered

• Under-coverage of the total population with
  statistics generated relating primarily to
  public/formal institutions e.g.. Health,
  Education and Economic activity status
• Limitations in new areas for which statistical
  systems are only now being developed such as the
  environment, recreation leisure and key
  resources.

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Shortcomings encountered

• There are sub-sectors that are unevenly developed
  in terms of having an organized knowledge and
  information base, e.g. food security and living
  conditions.
• Over-lapping and inter-linkages exist between
  some sectors, such as key resources and the
  environment, human settlement and living
  conditions, and poverty for which distinguishing
  concepts and classification systems need to be
  developed or fine-tuned.

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Phase II Recommendations

• The Phase II Diagnostic Assessment Report
  outlines several recommendations to address the
  shortcomings encountered.
• For example, Baseline data across all sectors
  should be generated to clearly establish
  distinctive domains and cross linkages.

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Phase II Recommendations

• Cabinet acceptance of the Final Report on the
  Sustainable Production and Consumption Indicators
  Project Phase II Diagnostic Assessment
• Appoint the Technical Committee, the chairmanship
  of which is to be decided by the Cabinet, to
  implement Phase III of the Project.
• Technical Committee to submit an interim report
  to Cabinet within six months of appointment

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The way forward Phase III - System Design

• Objectives/Activities
• The modification, design and implementation of
  systems to capture and assess data based on the
  diagnostic assessment

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Phase IV - Implementation/Evaluation

• Application of the indicators in the defined
  action areas developed to measure SPC in Trinidad
  and Tobago.
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of policies
  implemented in defined action areas.

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• The End