SWITCH Asia programme
The aim of SWITCH-Asia is to promote Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) in Asia. To achieve this objective, the Programme works simultaneously on the ground, with producers and consumers, and at the level of policy-making through supporting for formulation and implementation of SCP-related policies. It started in 2007 with a budget of €152 million for the period 2007-2013.
| New !
Following the 4th Call for Proposals under the SWITCH-Asia Programme launched on 21 December 2011, an Information Session for interested applicants will be organised in Brussels, Belgium on 26th January 2012. More about the Information Session  [7 MB] |
Call for proposals 2011-2012
- The call has been published on 21 December 2011 with deadline for submission of concept notes on 23 March 2012. The deadline for submission of full applications will be in June 2012.
- Overall EU-contribution: €30 600 000
-
Co-financing:
o 80 % of the total estimated total accepted costs (90% for least developed countries)
o 20% of balance financed from the applicant's or partners' own resources - Duration of the projects: 24 – 48 months
- Grant amounts: min. €500 000 - max. € 2 000 000
Note: The above information is a summary only. For full information and conditions please consult the Guidelines for Grant Applicants as they are the legally binding document.
Why SWITCH-Asia?
"Economic growth" is the key term when describing the recent development in Asia. The region is becoming the world's manufacturing hub, with all the pluses and minuses attached to it. On the one hand, this development has successfully contributed to the poverty reduction in the region. On the other hand, increased growth and trade have multiplied demands on resources and are leading to severe environmental damages.
SWITCH Asia was developed to support Asian countries adopting more sustainable growth patterns so as to minimize the use of natural resources and the emissions of greenhouse gases, waste and other pollutants. The objective of the SWITCH-Asia Programme is to promote sustainable consumption and production (SCP) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia by moving SCP practices from demonstration to replication.
How is it designed?
The Programme aims to spur a change on the ground, at the level of producers and consumers, but also to motivate a change on the top, at the level of policy-making. An important element of the Programme is the Network Facility which ensures that successful results are communicated and replicated. The SWITCH-Asia Programme is made of three components:
1) Grant projects :
So far, the Programme is funding 47 projects in 15 Asian countries in areas such as Green Public Procurement, Cleaner Production, Eco-labelling, etc. Each of the funded projects will bring about quantifiable reductions of CO2 emissions and resource, water and energy consumption.
In addition to promoting specific SCP practices, the projects employ innovative replicating mechanisms, such as voluntary agreements, public-private partnerships, upgrading technical standards or reinforcing existing SCP service providers to make them self-sustainable on the market.
2) The Network Facility:
The SWITCH-Asia Network Facility was established in 2008 with the aim to facilitate the internal communication and networking between the projects, to support the effective replication of SCP practices at regional level, and to initiate an external dialogue by communicating the results of the projects to various stakeholders.
The SWITCH Asia Network Facility is implemented by the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) GmbH.
3) Policy Support Component:
The objective of the SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component (PSC) is to strengthen the formulation and implementation of SCP-related policies in Asia. The SWITCH-Asia PSC works in parallel on two tracks – regional and national:
- At the regional level, it supports capacity building for Asian countries interested in developing SCP policies. The Action is implemented in collaboration with UNEP
- At national level, it targets four countries, which have already gathered experience in applying SCP tools: Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines