Vientiane, Lao PDR 28 March 2019 – Cooperation efforts on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) between the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) and the European Union (EU) were the focus of a National Kick-Off Multistakeholder Workshop on SCP, co-organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility, creating an opportunity for diverse contributions and engagements on national policy and strategy development to further promote SCP. The multiple stakeholders included representatives from various Government Institutions and the EU Delegation to the Lao PDR, private sector leaders and experts from academia, civil society and International Organizations.
This was the first in a series of planned dialogues in the Lao PDR over the next three years, supporting the country’s commitment to achieving poverty eradication and sustainable development, while preserving resources for the future. The open and interactive discussions were structured around better framing the needs, related challenges and opportunities to further mainstream SCP national priorities in current development policies, to support the Lao PDR’s progress on the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with particular attention to SDG12 on Responsible Consumption and Production.
Representatives of the EU-funded SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility offered preliminary results of their national assessment to strengthen and enable relevant policy actions. Participants discussed how the Lao PDR can move towards cleaner, resource efficient production systems driven by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as more responsible consumption patterns. Participants highlighted the importance of focusing on a few important sectors such as manufacturing, construction and tourism, with needed support tools such as green procurement, eco-labelling and financial mechanisms, while promoting resource efficiency and integrated waste management. To that end, strengthening needed education and communication activities while providing adequate enabling capacity to Local Authorities and MSMEs in eco-innovation for improved management of resources and poverty reduction will be a major step towards a green growth and climate mitigation.
In the opening session, the Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, HE Dr. Saynakhone Inthavong, remarked how Lao PDR’s development strategy has evolved and explained why SCP is a critical part of its national strategy, “The Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic has long partnered with development partners to make progress on sustainable development. Now, in the era of the SDGs, we have taken a new approach that will tackle the highest priority issues affecting our development. With cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation among key stakeholders participating in these discussions on SCP with SWITCH-Asia, our plans will achieve economic prosperity and ensure that changes are sustainable in the long-term, towards achieving the 2030 Vision for Green, Clean and Beautiful Laos”.
The European Union Ambassador to the Lao PDR, Ambassador Mr. Leo Faber shared the Vice Minister’s optimism and elaborated on the EU’s perspective stating, “The European Union has partnered with the Lao PDR on various projects since 2009 through the SWITCH-Asia Grants Programme. With one recently completed and one still operating, the EU has seen progress and continues to see results on the project level. Therefore, the EU and its Members States are proud to be active partners in this new phase that extends to policy support, promoting SCP as a path towards a Green and Circular Economy.”
For its part, the SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility offered its preliminary assessment, but also weighed in on future plans structured around few driving priorities. According to Team Leader Arab Hoballah, “The Lao PDR has done some progress with regards to SCP in its various policies but effective delivery will require better coordination between concerned partners on a limited number of driving priorities, aiming at reaching out to policy makers as well as the industry, without neglecting the necessity for adequate education system and appropriate communication on alternative and more efficient ways for production and consumption. Solutions are out there, at local level in Laos as well as in other countries, and the SCP Facility is prepared to provide support to pinpoint the most effective actions, inducing eco-innovation and enabling Lao stakeholders to deliver an effective transformative change, aiming at doing more and better with the limited resources of the country.”
The dialogue kicked off through various interactive working groups with reviewing preliminary assessments, but quickly became more focused on key sectors stakeholders identified as national priorities, which included Sustainable Public Procurement and Eco-labelling, Greening the supply chain and the role of the private sector, Funding mechanisms and Access to finance, and Behaviour change and Awareness raising. Considering the necessity to mainstreaming SCP in national policies, participants expressed their hope to get special consideration from SWITCH-Asia in further building up the capacity of Lao stakeholders and experts so as to better enable them in delivering effective change towards SCP, with responsible engagement of all stakeholders, including line Ministries, Local Municipalities and SMEs, as well as the Civil Society.
The meeting closed with the participants deciding to continue the dialogue in a series of action-oriented events that will take place over the next three years in support to the driving priorities. Throughout this process, the EU SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility will continue working closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Lao PDR, the SWITCH-Asia National Focal Point, to provide country demand-driven policy support to Lao PDR, convening stakeholders, responding to government requests for policy support, while scaling up best practices and synergizing with other relevant international partners.
