SCP/RAC

The Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC) is a centre for international cooperation with Mediterranean countries on development and innovation in the production sector and civil society, based on more sustainable consumption and production models.

The Centre develops its activity under the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) for the protection and development of the Mediterranean basin, an organisation belonging to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The SCP/RAC was established in 1996 with the name of Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production by means of a collaboration agreement between the Spanish Ministry of Environment (currently MITECO) and the Government of Catalonia. The establishing of the Centre was based on a decision agreed by the Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution (known as the Barcelona Convention), the legal framework within which the MAP operates.

In 2013, the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention agreed to rename the centre as Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC) in order to update the name according to its mandate.

Likewise, in 2009 the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was included in the SCP/RAC’s area of activity, upon being designated Regional Centre for application by the Parties. Since then, these pollutants are a priority in many of the SCP/RAC’s activities.

The SCP/RAC works to build capacity and contribute to the exchange of knowledge in such areas as:

• Adopting resource efficiency and cleaner production and pollution prevention as factors of competitiveness and economic performance for SMEs,
• Reducing the generation of hazardous chemicals and their use by means of the best available techniques (BAT) and the best environmental practices (BEP),
• Promoting initiatives for innovation and entrepreneurship that contribute to a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle for citizens,
• Introducing environmental criteria in the purchasing processes of public authorities (green public procurement),
• Introducing the concept of sustainability on university and business school curricula,
• Incorporating education on sustainable consumption and lifestyles into the work plans of civil society organisations.