Towards
a Sustainable Paper Cycle
World
Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) / International Institute
for Environment and Development (IIED)
To
be amended - Information as of Feb 19, 2001
ISSUES: the
paper cycle; forestry practices, waste management
GOALS: IIED in association
with WBCSD undertook an independent assessment of the world’s paper industry,
examining the sectors lifecycle impacts and prospects for sustainability
PARTICIPATING STAKEHOLDERS: WBCSD;
IIED; private sector forestry and paper companies; environmental NGOs; academic
sector, research institutions, government and international agencies
TIME FRAME: Research leading
to publication of report, ‘Towards a Sustainable Paper Cycle’ June 1996 and
further activities
MSP CONTACT DETAILS; URL: www.iied.org and www.wbcsd.org
Classification:
Type:
Informing the debate but drawing on stakeholder consultations
Level:
Global
Procedural
Aspects:
Designing
the MSP
Designed
in a negotiation between IIED and WBCSD. Multi-stakeholder advisory group (but
which turned out to have relatively little input).
Project
sponsor task force was composed mainly of industry representatives and had more
input to the study.
Reports
were distributed widely to a range of stakeholders for written comment.
Also
two regional multi-stakeholder workshops held in Asia and Latin America during
the study and one NGO consultation in London.
Several
multi-stakeholder workshops happened after the study was completed to discuss
findings.
Identifying
the issues to be addressed in an MSP
Issues
were identified by IIED primarily but drawing on suggestions from WBCSD, the
project task force, advisory group, and arising from regional workshops and NGO
consultations.
At
the Earth Summit 1992 the WBCSD set out how industry might move into a more
sensitive relationship with the environment. Later it was agreed that a sector
example was required showing how the transition process might move things
towards sustainability. The paper industry challenged IIED to conduct a
world-wide review of their social and environmental performance. Completed in
1996. Study demonstrates that the idea of finding global solutions to a set of
diverse local problems won’t work (different trade-offs etc).
Identifying
relevant stakeholders
Stakeholders
identified by WBCSD and IIED but drawing on suggestions made by organisations
and individuals in different regions.
Identifying
MSP participants
Setting
the goals of an MSP
Goals
were set by WBCSD and IIED but probably became less ambitious in the course of
the study – emphasis shifted from assessment to “informing the debate” and
“providing raw material for dialogue”.
“The
issues of sustainable forestry require open and transparent co-operation in new
ways by all stakeholders (…) Therefore the primary aim of this project is to
establish a factual base upon which to begin a constructive dialogue process
with stakeholders in broader forest issues" (Bjorn Stigson, President WBCSD
at www.wbcsd.org).
Setting
the agenda
Setting
the time-table
Set
by the WBCSD but extension of deadlines negotiated by IIED in view of the time
taken for consultation and report delays.
Preparatory
process
Widespread
consultation process with regional workshops, specialist meetings, task forces,
numerous corresponding partners and an advisory group.
The
final study also drew on the findings of 20 sub-studies. An international group
of senior advisers reviewed the research to ensure its independence.
Communication
process
Mixture
of communication channels used - more than 500 stakeholder groups were contacted
by IIED during the course of the study.
Decision-making
process: procedures of agreement
Implementation
process
Closing
the MSP
No
closure as such – the hope was that the report would facilitate and encourage
further dialogue at different levels.
Structural
Aspects:
Structures
/ institutions of the MSP & Facilitation
IIED
and WBCSD.
Documentation
WBCSD
reported on Task Force and Advisory Group meetings but these were distributed
only to participants. IIED reported on the
regional workshops and NGO consultations
Main
report published by IIED with WBCSD.
Numerous
sub-studies published by IIED several months before and after the publication of
the main report.
Relating
to not-participating stakeholders
No
formal mechanism relating to not-participating stakeholders but if they
expressed interest in seeing and commenting on the report they were included on
the distribution list.
Relating
to the general public
The
final report was distributed widely and also marketed by WBCSD and IIED.
But otherwise little opportunity for the general public to feed in or
comment.
The
process attracted attention from environmentalists as it seemed to be used by
some stakeholders to support incineration rather than paper recycling.
Linkage
into official decision-making process
Very
little linkage.
Funding
Mixture
of donor (35-40%) and industry funding (60-65%) across 5 continents.
Fundraising was done jointly by WBCSD and IIED with the latter
concentrating more on the donor funding but participating in presentations to
potential industry sponsors.
It
is believed that the non-industry funding helped enormously in maintaining the
credibility of the study as an independent objective analysis.
Additional
Information
This
initial project served as a model for the other WBCSD projects now underway
(including the Minerals, Mining and Sustainable Development project with IIED
involvement).
