September 2005: An expert meeting on sustainable consumption and production has developed input for the Commission on Sustainable Development. Over 180 experts from more than 65 countries deliberated from 5-8 September 2005 in San José, Costa Rica, at the Second International Expert Meeting on a 10-Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production.

The meeting, which was organized by the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), in cooperation with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), explored opportunities for partnerships to work on sustainable consumption and production (SCP). It also provided inputs to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) for consideration, in the form of a non-negotiated Co-Chairs’ summary report of the meeting. The summary report calls for a third international expert meeting to be held in 2007 as part of the Marrakech Process, to work within and feed into the CSD work programme. It encourages the work of the four task forces announced during the meeting (Sustainable Lifestyles, Sustainable Products, Cooperation with Africa, and Sustainable Procurement) and invites them and other task forces that might emerge to report to the next meeting and to relevant CSD sessions. The summary concludes that SCP work should be linked to poverty reduction, especially the MDGs, and integrated into national strategies for sustainable development and poverty reduction. It also calls for further work on estimating the costs of inaction and the benefits of SCP, awareness-raising, and ongoing international cooperation including capacity building, technical and financial assistance and knowledge sharing. [IISDRS coverage]