Indicator 12.1.1 Number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production

Indicator 12.1.1: Number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production

Target 12.1: Implement the 10‑Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Definitions:

This indicator allows for the quantification (#) and monitoring of countries making progress along the policy cycle of binding and non-binding policy instruments aimed at supporting Sustainable Consumption and Production.

• Sustainable Consumption and Production: the working definition of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) used in the context of this framework is: “The use of services and related products, which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimising the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardise the needs of future generation.”^[1]
• Policy: although quite flexible and contexts specific, a policy is usually defined as a course of action that has been officially agreed by an entity or an organization (governmental or non-governmental) and is effectively implemented to achieve specific objectives.
• Policy instruments for sustainable consumption and production: policy instruments refer to the means – methodologies, measures or interventions – that are used to achieve those objectives. In the case of SCP, such instruments are designed and implemented to reduce the environmental impacts of consumption and production patterns, with a view of generating economic and/or social benefits.

Making progress along the policy cycle refers to the development, adoption, implementation or evaluation of such policy instruments.

Concepts:

As mentioned above, policy instruments are distinguished in legally binding policies and non-legally binding ones.

• Legally binding: a legally binding policy instrument refers to a system of rules, procedures and/or principles which are prescribed and enforced by a governing authority with the aim of requiring or preventing specific actions or providing incentives that lead to change in actions or preferences. It includes: laws, regulations, standards, by-laws, codes, etc. They can relate to different types of jurisdictions such as a ministry, state, municipality, or group of states.
• Non-binding: a non-binding policy instrument refers to a coherent set of decisions associated to a common vision, objective and/or direction, and to a proposed course of action to achieve these. It includes, for instance: action plans, policies, strategies, programmes, and projects. They can have different scopes of application (international, national, local, etc.).
• At another level, different categories of policy instruments can be distinguished:
  • Macro policies (e.g. national strategies/action plans, new institutions/entities)
  • Regulatory and legal instruments (e.g. laws, standards, enforcement measures)
  • Economic and fiscal instruments (taxes and tax incentives, grants, preferential loans, etc.)
  • Voluntary and self-regulation schemes (e.g. sectoral partnerships, codes of conduct, CSR initiatives)

It is important to note that, except for regulatory / legal instruments and voluntary / self-regulation schemes, the options above are not mutually exclusive: for instance, an economic instrument can be legally binding.

“Policy cycle”: this political science concept is widely used to analyse and inform public policy-making processes, but can be transposed to any recurrent pattern leading to the implementation of a policy or policy instrument. The following approach with regards to the various stages of the policy cycle is adopted:

• Policy development, including Agenda setting (e.g. the problem identified is high enough on the public agenda that action becomes likely) and Policy design (e.g. setting objectives, identifying costs-benefits of potential policy instruments and selecting);
• Policy adopted or officially launched (e.g. adopting or authorizing the preferred policy options through the legislative process and refined through the bureaucratic process);
• Policy under implementation through specific actions (e.g. translating policy into concrete action and policy instruments); results and impacts are being monitored;
• Policy and related action plan has reached its end date and has been evaluated.

Number

• Data is collected through an online survey based on this metadata sheet.
• The survey may include additional questions, such as those on inter-ministerial and/or multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism for SCP.
• The questions included in the survey can be revised as needed, in particular as data becomes available through the survey and alignment may be required with related ongoing work under the SDGs.
• The 10YFP Global Survey on National SCP Policies and Initiatives, administered by the 10YFP Secretariat in 2015, and reported on by 10YFP National Focal Points, as well as the subsequent report, may complement information and data collected.

National data provider: 10YFP National Focal Points – the full list of National Focal Points is available here. In countries there is no nominated 10YFP national focal point, the survey is sent to the UNEP Focal Point and SDG Focal Point.

the indicator quantifies and monitors countries’ progress along the policy cycle of binding and non-binding policy instruments aimed at supporting Sustainable Consumption and Production. It does not provide any qualitative information and whether policies were well-designed or if a proper background analysis had been conducted, the quality of implementation, level of enforcement, and its effects. These aspects will have to be looked at through narrative reports / qualitative analysis.

The indicator encompasses policy instruments supporting the shift to SCP, including: policies which identify SCP as a key priority, policies focused on SCP and sectoral policies with SCP objectives. It is acknowledged that sectoral policies are also being reported under other SDG indicators and in particular 12.7.1 (# of countries implementing sustainable public procurement policies and action plans).

Establishing baselines and targets can be time and resource intensive and depends on the willingness of 10YFP National Focal Points to communicate necessary information.

Main aspects regarding precision, reliability, attribution and double counting are addressed above. If you come across additional issues, please inform the 10YFP Secretariat.

To be reported under this indicator, a government should have moved through one or more new stage(s) of the “Policy cycle” on one or more policy instrument(s) during the reporting period.

This indicator is calculated at relevant aggregation levels based on the information collected from the National Focal Points and other government officials; users of the data should be mindful of double counting one same policy, when aggregating data across reporting years.

2024-01-31

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The 10-year framework of programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production is linked to all targets of SDG 12, literature research shows that SDG 12 is connected to a total of 16 other SDGs - making SCP the number one most cross-cutting theme across the SDGs.

Main Associated SDG indicators: 12.7.1;

Linked SDGs: 12.2.1/8.4.1, 12.2.2/8.4.2, 12.3.1, 12.5.1, 12.6.1, 12.8.1, 12.a.1, 12.b.1, 12.c.1, 13.2.1, 14.c.1, 14.6.1, 15.8.1

Considering that the development, adoption and implementation of policy instruments integrating SCP are creating the enabling environment for sustainable development, there are potentially many more associated SDGs, targets and indicators.

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