Palitha Gurusinghe, President, Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF) was the key speaker and the main Resource Person at the ‘Meeting of the Marrakech Task Forces: (MFT), building cooperation with South Asia’ programme in New Delhi, India recently.
‘MEETING OF THE MARRAKECH TASK FORCES AND SOUTH ASIA’ was organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, India along with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) .
The Marrakech Task Forces are expert bodies set up to support the development and implementation of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) strategies and policies, focusing on specific key areas.
The Task Forces are composed of members from different European countries and multi-stakeholders and are voluntary initiatives focused on specific themes of SCP such as; sustainable products, lifestyles, education, building and construction, tourism, public procurement and cooperation with Africa. The main objectives of the conference were to identify and share on-going initiatives on SCP in South Asia and to promote dialogue with Marrakech Task Forces and South Asian countries in the Marrakech Forces and South Asian countries.
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, “changing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption” was singled out as one of the main elements of sustainable development. WSSD called for fundamental changes in the way societies produce and consume goods and services. It was emphasized that all countries should promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, with “developed countries taking the lead”. Europe decided to take the lead in creating resource centres on different areas of sustainable consumption & production and the following “Marrakech Task Forces” (MTFs) were established.
The Conference brought together about 100 participants representing governments, Industry, Academia and Civil Society organizations from India and South Asia. The resource persons included experts from UNEP and relevant international organizations.
Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation also promoted ‘Ecotourism and Community Camping’ at the recently concluded ‘Deyata Kirula 2009 National Exhibition’. |
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