联合国贸易发展委员会-赋予消费者权力_保护地球-使消费者保护与选定的多边环境协议相一致（英）-2025_52页_4mb

Alignment of Consumer Protection with Multilateral Environmental Agreements

This report examines how consumer protection tools (based on UNGCP) can be integrated with key multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) to promote sustainable consumption and production. The analysis focuses on the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreements.

Key Findings

• Consumer Protection and MEAs: MEAs address issues that impact consumer health, safety, and rights, directly linking to sustainable consumption.
• Common Intersections:
  • Basel Convention: Hazardous waste management and consumer access to non-hazardous products.
  • Rotterdam Convention: Prior informed consent for chemicals and consumer access to information.
  • Stockholm Convention: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and consumer awareness.
  • CBD: Sustainable consumption targets, biodiversity impact of products, and consumer rights.
  • UNFCCC: Climate change impacts, consumer behavior changes, and information access.
• Synergies: The UNGCP provides principles that align with MEA goals, empowering consumers to make informed choices through safety, disclosure, and redress mechanisms.

Recommendations

• Joint UNEP-UNCTAD initiatives to raise consumer awareness and co-develop consumer-friendly information campaigns with MEA secretariats.
• Strengthen collaboration by leveraging existing regional training centers for capacity-building on sustainable waste/practice implementation.
• Mainstream consumer protection considerations into national policies, legal frameworks, and MEA implementation strategies.
• Enhance stakeholder participation by enabling consumer representation in MEA decision-making forums.

Proposed Collaborations

• Establish an inter-agency coordination platform between MEA secretariats and national consumer protection agencies.
• Develop country-specific guidelines for aligning consumer information with MEA obligations (e.g., labelling, disclosure).
• Advance consumer-inclusive training and public awareness campaigns on product sustainability (especially under the CI-SCP).

This alignment enhances sustainable practices, supports SDG 12, and deepens global efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution through integrated policy approaches.