SWITCH-Asia: Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production

The objectives of the SWITCH-Asia Programme covered by this Call for Proposals are the following:

The global objective is to contribute to both economic prosperity and poverty reduction in Asia, as well as to the mitigation of climate change, through promoting sustainable growth.

The specific objective is to promote sustainable production (i.e. development of less polluting and more resource efficient products, processes and/or services) and sustainable consumption patterns and behaviour in Asia, through an improved understanding and strengthened cooperation between Europe and Asia, and within Asia, notably by mobilizing the private sector, i.e. SMEs, retailers, intermediary producer and consumer organisations, and financial sector organisations, along with relevant public sector authorities. 

The priorities issues of this SWITCH-Asia Call for Proposals are the following:

1) Implementation of SCP practices at the SME level with tangible and measurable environmental improvements;

2) Establishment and/or implementation of a strong replication mechanism, capable of engaging into SCP practices the majority of SMEs in the target area or sector;

3) Involvement of commercial organisations (e.g. retailers, multi-national corporations), financial institutions and governmental departments (as associates);

4) Actions addressing SCP issues in Least Developed Countries (LDC).

In combination with the priority issues identified above this call will also encourage activities aimed at the facilitation of access to "green finance" by the SMEs in the target areas and sectors.

SWITCH-Asia projects to be selected under this Call for Proposals will have the following focus:

The Programme aims at identifying and scaling up successful SCP practices in Asia in order to induce a systematic change in consumption and production patterns. It seeks to enhance the uptake of SCP by:

1) Working on both production and consumption;

2) Employing a multi-stakeholder approach with strong and intensive working relationships with SMEs;

3) Building upon existing structures and networks; and

4) Up-scaling results achieved in earlier conducted pilot-type projects.

The SWITCH-Asia Programme is expected to achieve the following results:

1) Reduce the environmental and social cost of production and consumption

i) Increased use of environmentally-friendly technologies and practices by SMEs;

ii) Increased development/diversification/production and consumption of "green" and “fair’ products;

iii) Improved overall resource efficiency and reduced greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions.

2) Move SCP practices from demonstration to replication

i) Improved capacity of Asian business intermediaries;

ii) Increased partnerships between SMEs and organisations with SCP "pull" potential (such as financial institutions, SMEs business partners or individual/private/public consumers)

iii) Increased relative share of environmentally-friendly products and technologies in the EU-Asia and intra-Asia trade.

3) Norm shift in policy-making towards sustainability

i) Strengthened SCP-related regulatory framework, including business-related environment on environmental/SCP issues;

ii) Demonstrate effective policy instruments.

The major beneficiaries are:

(i) Intermediary (business) organisations and networks (e.g. chambers of commerce and industry associations);

(ii) Not-for-profit organisations aiming at pursuing sustainable development, and

(iii) Governmental institutions, both at the regional and local level.

The major target groups are:

(i) Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) which are the main beneficiaries of the improved environmental practices, technologies and management processes;

(ii) Consumer organisations and consumer (groups) who will benefit from better-quality and environmentally friendly products;

(iii) Government bodies responsible for policy formulation and implementation.

Opgepast: 2-stapsprocedure!