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Note to Correspondents |
Note No. 208 |
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AUSTRIA AND SWITZERLAND BIG DONORS FOR UNIDO NATIONAL Activities during World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg: Formal Inauguration of the National Cleaner Production Centre in South Africa (reissued as received from UNIDO) UNIDO Cleaner Production (CP) Programme exhibition stand in Ubuntu Village The UNIDO CP Programme started in 1992, after the Rio conference and aims at building up national CP capacities, fostering the dialogue between industry and government and enhancing investments in the transfer and development of environmentally sound technologies. The Programme seeks to bridge the gap between competitive industrial production and environmental concerns. Austria and Switzerland account for 60% of funding for CP Programmes in 30 countries The National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) in South Africa is based on UNIDO’s experience in establishing national CP Programmes in over 30 countries. In the last ten years, the UNIDO CP Programme has obtained funding of over 26 million USD from donors, including Switzerland and Austria (providing 60 % of the total funding), Norway, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, UK, Czech Republic, Japan and the European Union. Deeper cooperation with South Africa in most industrialized regions The South African NCPC is co-funded by Austria and Switzerland, together with the Government of South Africa. USD 1.7 million will be invested in the project over a period of three years. The Centre will build on cooperation with the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) with a strong sectoral approach, concentrating on the three most industrialized regions of South Africa, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu, where CP Focal Points will be established. Its activities will include in-plant assessment projects, training programmes, CP technology and investment promotion, policy advice and information dissemination. In this way it will have a coordinating and catalytic role in enhancing the CP application as an efficient tool to improve industry's competitiveness and reduce its negative environmental impact. For further information see our website www.unido.org/cp orMs. Mayra Sanchez-Osuna, Head of UNIDO CP Programme, e-mail m.sanchez-osuna@unido.org, Tel 1 260263945, Fax: 43 1 26026 6819/6871 This UNIDO CP Event at WSSD will be followed by the formal launching of the UNIDO-UNEP-ILO Cooperation on the Provision of Labour-related Services through National Cleaner Production Centres on 3 September at 13:00 hrs in the same location. For more information, please contact: Agustin Stellatelli |
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