ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SCP FORUM IN SOUTH ASIA

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1 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SCP FORUM IN SOUTH ASIA Dr. Muhammad Khurshid Director General, South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP)

2 South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) Established in 1982, SACEP is an inter-governmental organization of eight member states: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka Apex decision body is the SACEP Governing Council comprising of Ministers SACEP core programme and project activities apart from South Asian Seas Programme and are: Waste Management Adaptation to Climate Change Data base and Information Management Biodiversity

3 SCP Forum in South Asia Background SACEP in partnership with the United Nations Environment programme (UNEP) is currently implementing the Asia Pacific road map of Rio+ and the 10 year framework of programme of Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP) in line with the SACEP Governing Council, 2013 Decision to promote SCP within policy making mechanisms of South Asian countries. SACEP organized a consultative workshop for Establishment of the South Asia Forum on SCP on March 2015 in Negombo, Sri Lanka. Senior government officials nominated by SACEP member countries and Switch-Asia Focal Points together with other partners attending the meeting agreed to establish the South Asia Forum on SCP.

4 SCP Forum in South Asia Background SACEP was requested to come up with proposal on modalities of the Forum and possible priority based on the workshop recommendations. SACEP, Consultative Committee considered establishment of the South Asia Forum on SCP at its 125 th meeting held on held on 17 July 2015 in Colombo Progress on the Establishment of SCP Forum was presented to the CC in its 126 th meeting held on 26 April 2016 at Colombo. SACEP conveyed the decision of establishment of the South Asia Forum on SCP to UNEP in early August SACEP received nomination of focal points from all member countries and now the forum stands established.

5 SCP Focal Points in South Asia Afghanistan TBD Bangladesh Dr. Nurul Quadir, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Bangladesh Bhutan Mr. Karma Tshering, Senior Programme Officer, NEC, Kingdom of Bhutan India Mr. A. K. Mehta, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India Maldives Mr. Ismail Ajmal, Environment Analyst, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Maldives Nepal Mr Raju Babu Pudasani, Under Secretary, Ministry of Population and Environment, Nepal Pakistan - Mr. Muhammad Irfan Tariq, Director General (Env & CC), Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan Sri Lanka - Mrs. I.J.K. Palugaswewa, Senior Environment Management Officer, Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, Sri Lanka

6 Objectives of the South Asia Forum on SCP Broad objectives: To provide a platform for the sub regional network and partnership in providing leadership and develop synergies to stimulate the promotion and implementation of sustainable consumption and production policies, strategies and technologies in the region. Specific objectives: To provide a platform for policy dialogue and collaboration on SCP for national, sub-regional, and regional strategies, planning, and implementation, in the context of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda and SDG-12; To meet annually to assess progress towards SCP and resource efficiency in South Asia in line with an annual prioritization exercise;

7 Objectives of the South Asia Forum on SCP To provide a venue for discussion on research and innovation for SCP in national and sub-regional governance and sharing of the experiences; To encourage interactive dialogues and discussion on emerging issues on SCP, involving other regional actors. To develop SCP principles and guidelines for South Asia on the lines of global SCP principles and guidelines To develop a South Asian resource pool and explore technical support services for governments and other stakeholders at national and sub-regional level in a transition to SCP patterns; To use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for an enhanced and effective networking and awareness raising tool for reaching to youth, producers, traders and consumers in South Asia using internet, websites, social media, dedicated apps, blogs and similar other emerging tools.

8 Broad Principles of the Forum The broad principles and mechanisms of the South Asia Forum on SCP are: a. The South Asia SCP Forum is a voluntary initiative. b. It consists of government representatives as members of the forum with engagement from relevant non-governmental stakeholders and international institutions as advisers of the forum. c. SACEP Governing Council has mandated SACEP for establishing the South Asia SCP Forum, the Forum will be led by the SACEP Secretariat with the support and participation of SACEP member countries d. Progress of the forum will be reported to the Governing Council from time to time. e. UNEP in consultation with SACEP will continue to provide Technical Support and Services to the South Asia SCP Forum.

9 Work Plan for the Year 2016 SACEP and UNEP has developed a Work plan for the year 2016 which includes the following major activities: Holding of the first meeting of the SCP Forum in Oct 2016 at Colombo Organizing a winter school for mid career professionals of SACEP member countries at Colombo Holding the SCP on Tourism with Maldives at Mali in Sept 2016 Holding the SCP on education with Sri Lanka in Sept-Oct 2016 Capacity building of SACEP

10 Thank you very much