615 Church Street, Suite 402
Toronto, Ontario
M4Y 2G1
Tel.: (416) 926-1907
FAX: (416) 926-1601
E-mail: pprobe@pollutionprobe.org
Web: www.pollutionprobe.org

1. Comparative Study of Consumer Groups and ENGO's - $54,250

"Consumer groups and environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) are increasingly engaged on the same issues, especially with respect to sustainable consumption and development. They also face the same issues when participating in decision-making processes, such as standards setting."

Given the above statement, Pollution Probe proposes a study to compare and contrast Canadian ENGOs and consumer groups with those in the US and EU in order to identify and discuss ideas on how to further develop environmental/consumer-related interest group capacity in Canada.

Pollution Probe's methodology is as follows:

• Research and write a brief description of the major characteristics and initiatives of the consumer and environmental organizations in Canada, the US, the EU and at the global level who have been involved with international standards setting work.
• Case studies will be researched and written to summarize how consumer and ENGO participation in ISO, European Standards Organizations and WTO negotiations that have taken place.
• Conduct a brief survey of Canadian ENGOs and other organizations that have been involved with consumer issues (e.g., Greenpeace and GMOs) to explore what they have learned.

This methodology was chosen because Pollution Probe recognizes the severe limitations of capacity for Canadian consumer and environmental organizations participating in standard setting processes. Consumer and environmental groups in the EU and US, as well as those that operate on a global level appear to have significantly greater capacity to participate in international standard setting processes and have more experience in working with a range of stakeholders beyond their own constituency to achieve mutually desired outcomes in standard setting work. Canadian ENGOs and consumer groups can learn from US and EU experiences.

Pollution Probe's expected outcome will be to produce a report with recommendations to inform Canadian consumer and environmental groups of potential areas for cooperation in standards setting, with case studies to guide their own standards-related activities towards improving efficiency of effort.

The communications plan will include outreach to Canadian consumer and environmental groups through existing networks, such as the Canadian Consumer Initiative and Canadian Environmental Network. In view of important upcoming forums, results of the report may be made available at the SCC Consumer and Public Interest Committee meeting (May 2005), the annual meeting of CSA (June 19-24, 2005), ISO COPOLCO Plenary (May 2005), ISO TC 207 Plenary (September 2005) and other relevant Industry Canada and/or Environment Canada stakeholder forums that address standard setting.