Shimla, August 18, 2021
Himachal Pradesh can improve its performance on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SDG12) by documenting best practices of different sectors and departments. A task force on SDGs has been constituted by Government of Himachal Pradesh by including 15 government departments member, which can document its best practices to improve further its SDGs ranking. Himachal Pradesh must develop effective methods for implementing, monitoring, and measuring SDGs’ progress. Learning, sharing and networking should be actively promoted among like-minded stakeholders across the State and beyond.
These were the important highlights from State Level Stakeholder Consultation organised by CUTS in partnership with Planning Department, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh and Plan Foundation at Shimla today on August 18, 2021. Unlike the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which only targets the developing countries, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) apply to all countries whether rich, middle or poor countries.
Five and half years into the implementation of SDGs, the assessment of the progress in India shows, it is very unlikely that India will achieve any of the targets of SDG12, which is Responsible Consumption and Production. In addition, the status of many of the indicators may further worsen by 2030, comparing with 2015, due to the negative impact of the Pandemic and various other reasons.
The Study on SDG 12 titled “Sustainable Consumption and Production – A Consumer Perspective” in partnership with Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC), mainly looked at SDG 12 from a consumer perspective based on The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP). The importance of studying achievement of a country’s progress under SDG 12 than any other Goal was felt because of its interlinking nature with other goals.
Almost all other Goals are connected with SDG 12, thereby underlining that any progress to meet Agenda 2030 by a country cannot be achieved without carefully approaching and addressing the concerns under SDG 12, George Cheriyan, Director, CUTS International expressed concern in the opening address. Speaking during the inaugural session Akshay Sood, Secretary, Department of Finance, Himachal Pradesh (HP) while referring to the finding of CUTS study that there is need of effective monitoring and data collection framework for SDG 12, shared those efforts are being currently taken under Government of HP to address this concern.
He highlighted government’s milestone and strategy to achieving the SDG 12. Dr Basu Sood, Advisor, Department of Planning, HP highlighted Consumers and Corporate are important drivers of sustainable consumption and production and play a critical role in long-term growth. The pandemic has caused a setback in efforts to meet the initial 2015 SDG goals.
The need for change in order to make them more achievable is greater than ever. It was highlighted that first stage in localising the SDGs is advocacy or raising awareness. The idea is to make local officials and elected representatives aware of the relevance of the SDG-12 and the crucial role that their decisions play in achieving the SDGs.
15 departments including Environment, Urban Development, Tourism, Forest, Education, Medical and others shared their department specific progress and programmes related to the SDG12 in the penal discussion moderated by Amar Deep Singh, Sr. Programme Officer CUTS. He mentioned that Himachal Pradesh can improve its performance on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SDG12) by documenting best practices of different sectors and departments. Amit Babu from CUTS presented the study in the consultation. The consultation, that followed COVID protocol guidelines, saw participation from various government departments, organisations working on sustainable consumption and consumer protection from Himachal Pradesh.
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For more information, please contact
Amar Deep Singh, Senior Programme Officer, CUTS 09314617532; Email: ads@cuts.org