MedWaves, the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre for SCP, supports development and innovation based on the SCP approach. The Centre promotes the implementation of tools and measures geared towards redesigning how goods and services are consumed and produced to drive industrial and socioeconomic development towards non-polluting, no waste, low carbon, resource efficient, socially inclusive and circular economies.  The proposed side-event draws upon the assumption that production-based strategies and technological innovation alone won’t be able to achieve agreed-upon climate targets in the Region, accelerating environmental degradation and socio-economic crisis. Policy-makers shall adopt consumption-based mitigation policies to enable emissions reduction scaling-up, leveraging lifestyle modifications at macro level. Despite the significance and quick mitigation potential of consumption behavior change, most climate policies give this approach scarce attention due to critical measurement frameworks and fear of economic de-growth. The IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C highlights the urgent need for more systemic changes, behavior change being one of the most important leverages for these to happen.  Event objectives : 

• Highlight nexus between production and consumption and potential of consumption-based policies as catalyzer for healthier and sustainable lifestyles and systemic transitions.
• Explore demand-side and behavior change mitigation pathways.
• Showcase concrete examples of consumption-based policies and practices enabling 1.5-degree lifestyles and related governance enablers.

This side event is organized by MedWaves, the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre for SCP, in the framework of the Mediterranean Pavilion.  The Mediterranean Pavilion is co-funded by the Government of Catalonia and the EU-funded SwitchMed Programme.