Since 1994, UNEP and UNIDO
have established and supported National Cleaner Production
Centres/Programmes (NCPCs/NCPPs) in developing countries
and economies in transition to build local capacity to implement
Cleaner Production and to provide core CP services at the national
level. The programme is based on the premise that Cleaner Production
will only be truly integrated into a country's industries and
policies if local capacity is in place to sustain it. Countrywide
application of Cleaner Production can only come about if the concept
is promoted by professionals in the country itself and adjusted
by them to suit the local conditions.
UNEP and UNIDO view the RECP
Programme as a means to their activities; to foster what UNIDO
refers to as Sustainable Industrial Development and UNEP
refers to as Sustainable Consumption and Production.
Where are they located?
To date over 40
NCPCs have been established worldwide:
NCPC Activities
The role of National Cleaner Production Centres
is to promote, coordinate and facilitate Resource Efficient &
Cleaner Production activities within each country. The NCPC's
target is primarily to transfer know-how. The Centres do not deliver
ready-made solutions, but train and advise their clients on how
to find the best solutions for their own specific problems.
Five basic services:
Raise awareness of the benefits and advantages of
Resource Efficient & Cleaner Production: In countries
where there is little awareness of RECP, awareness-raising
is a primary activity for a NCPC, particularly in its early
years. NCPCs work on awareness raising and are directed to
central and local governments, private sector, academia and
national and/or regional financial institutions.
Demonstrate the environmental, financial and social
benefits of RECP through in-plant assessments and demonstration
projects: Through in-plant demonstrations, an NCPC
can show that the concept of Resource Efficient & Cleaner Production,
applicable to any industrial sector, can not only benefit the
natural and social environments, but also bring profit to the
industry.
Help obtain financing for Resource Efficient & Cleaner
Production investments: NCPCs also support the promotion
of RECP investment projects to facilitate the transfer of
Environmental Sound Technologies to industries – particularly
SMEs – in developing countries. This activity is closely linked
to the in-plant assessments which also enable NCPCs help industries
identify and formulate RECP investment projects.
Provide policy advice to national and local governments:
Governments play an important role in providing the overall
policy and economic framework for a country's development.
NCPCs thus have an important role in helping governments to
identify and develop the policy tools and economic instruments
suitable to their country's context which would encourage
industries to favour Resource Efficient & Cleaner Production
over end-of-pipe treatment.
Disseminate technical information: One of
the key advantages of being part of an established international
network, is the greater access to the latest Resource Efficient
and Cleaner Production information. NCPCs are thus able to obtain
and share Cleaner Production information nationally and internationally
:
In the Latin American region, UNIDO
has successfully developed a Regional Cleaner Production
Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Regional
Programme was launched 2005 and 12 countries are participating
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,
and Peru. The Programme aims at the development of an
efficient mechanism to facilitate the active cooperation
between the National CP Centres and Programmes to ensure
regional transfer of experience and know-how on Cleaner
Production and Environmentally Sound Technologies (EST).
This is achieved through the establishment of an Internet
based platform (the
Knowledge Management Network).
In the African region, under the auspices
of the UNEP's 10 year framework of programmes, four
priority Sustainable Production and Consumption (SCP)
areas for the region have been identified and concrete
actions initiated. The priorities areas are: energy,
water and sanitation, habitat and urban development,
and renewable resource based industries. Cleaner production
approaches and the NCPCs in the region are key to technical
implementation. Another important aspect in the region
is the strong cooperation and coordination with two
important partners African Roundtable on SCP (ARSPC)
and the Marrakech Task Force on Cooperation for Africa,
which are supporting the implementation of the African
10YFP.
In early 2009, UNEP and UNIDO agreed on a new joint programme
on Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production as the framework
for collaboration with and support to the NCPCs/NCPPs. One of
the core Programme objectives is to strengthen, upscale and open
the network, rendering it a "network of centres of excellence
in RECP promotion and implementation".
A detailed proposal to institutionalize the Network was developed
in 2009 with inputs from six NCPCs (China, Kenya, Lebanon, Macedonia,
Peru and Sri Lanka), international reference centres (Stenum,
Empress and CSD) and UNIDO and UNEP Programme Management. This
proposal was elaborated into a draft charter and together with
associated documents on membership, code of conduct and excellence,
was shared and discussed with the remaining NCPCs in the global
RECP Network conference which took place in Lucerne, Switzerland,
20-22 October 2009. In November 2010, 43 NCPCs and international
institutions signed on the final global RECPnet charter. The RECPnet
meets every two years
Primer
to provide practical guidance to improve organisation, management
and governance of the NCPC to foster national ownership and
ultimately its institutional or organisational sustainability.
