Wings for Wisdom

Policy makers around the world have started activities to reduce resource use while at the same time increasing economic and social well-being, a vision that relates to the notion of ‘sustainable consumption and production’ (SCP). A range of diverse instruments is already applied to further these goals. To address the complex underlying problems, governments increasingly combine different policy instruments in form of ‘policy mixes’ that aim at providing a sound framework for an increase of resource efficiency and the development of sustainable consumption and production patterns.

With this compendium, German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) and the Wuppertal Institute, with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), aim to provide a quick, hands-on overview of selected SCP policy instruments for boosting resource efficiency. It builds on the recent discussions and practical experience with these instruments, both from developed and developing countries.