TAXES, INCENTIVES, regulations, subsidies, trade and public procurement need to be realigned to favour sustainable consumption and production patterns if the world wants to end poverty.
That’s according to the UN High Level Panel charged with setting the new direction for global development. Its latest set of recommendations, the 26-member panel, which included UK prime minister David Cameron and Unilever CEO Paul Polman, mark a clear break from the practice of treating development and sustainability as separate topics.
The panel’s report calls for hard-hitting measures to be taken in both developed and developing countries to reduce the impacts of consumption, production, trade, waste and pollution.
“We came to the conclusion that the moment is right to merge the poverty and environmental tracks guiding international development,” states the Panel report.
