NATIONAL ROUNDTABLE FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTIONS AND PRODUCTION- 2007

        1^st Sri Lankan Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production was held on 5^th and 6^th of November 2007 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall.

        The Roundtable was organized by the National Cleaner Production Centre.

       The Inauguration ceremony was graced by the participation of Hon. Kumara Welgama, Minister of Industrial Development, Hon. Prof. Tissa Witharana, Minister of Science & Technology, H.E. Tore Hattrem, Ambassador of Norway to Sri Lanka, Ms. Petra Schwager, Programme Director of UNIDO, Mr. Surya Prakash Chandak, Deputy Director, International Environmental Technology Centre, Japan, Dr. Promod Gupta, Senior Consultant of UNIDO to NCPCs of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and several distinguished personalities.

        The main theme of the roundtable was also “Sustainable Consumption and Production”. This two day event consisted of Key note addresses at plenary sessions and presentation of papers at parallel sessions followed by discussions. The Key note addresses were presented by,

Day 1

·        Mr. Surya Prakash Chandak - Cleaner Production and Sustainable Consumption and Production, the similarities and differences

·        Ms. Petra Schwager – Cleaner Production and Sound Chemical Management, Chemical Leasing as an effective strategy

Day 2

·        Prof. Ajith de Alwis – The global perspective for Cleaner Production and how it supports Sustainable Development

·        Dr. Promod K Gupta – The changing world energy scenario and hoe it effects industrial production

 In all 27 technical papers were presented under the following themes.

                a)      Sustainable Resource Management( 9)

                b)      Urban and Rural Consumption Patterns (6)

c)      CP + Activities (3)

d)      Climate Change, Energy efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources (9)

While the main event was the Roundtable, there were two other events that took place on the two days. The centre organized Awards for those industries which have excelled in practicing CP, presenting Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. A significant activity at the awards ceremony was recognizing those who contributed to the development of Cleaner Production in Sri Lanka.

An Eco-Products and Services display was also organized, which had a quite a good number of items on display. These two events will be carried out on an annual basis while the Roundtable will be held every two years.