According to a new research of Plastic Disclosure Project (PDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and natural capital analysts Trucost, the most significant downstream impact of plastic use by the consumer goods sector is marine pollution, which has a natural capital cost of at least $13bn.
The current logic of our market economy is mainly based on a linear model of consumption of natural resources: “extraction, production, mass consumption, elimination”. Despite efforts to reduce environmental impacts and increase recycling, studies over the past decade are unanimous: this model is not sustainable in the long term, given the expected growth of the world population, particularly classes medium, urbanization and scarcity of resources they entail.
The first Steering Committee Meeting of the EC funded SWITCH-Med Programme was held in Brussels on June 4-5 to present the programme of work for the three components: Policy, Demonstration and Networking Facility. The meeting was organised by the program partners UNEP/MAP, UNEP/DTIE, UNIDO and SCP/RAC.
In the framework of the Mediterranean Action Plan's “Ecosystem Approach Initiative" (EcAp) implementation, SCP/RAC has been invited to participate to the Second Meeting of the Correspondence Group on Economic and Social Analysis (COR ESA group), which was held in Sophia-Antipolis on 4-5 June 2014.
In the framework of the EC funded H2020 Initiative, SCP/RAC organised with the support of MIO-ECSDE, a new sub-regional workshop on Sustainable Industrial Areas in Beirut (Lebanon) on 26th and 27th May. Around 25 participants from Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Egypt attended the seminar.