Since 1994, UNIDO has been partnering with developing countries and economies in transition to increase the competitiveness and productive capacity of industry, specifically Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), through the implementation of Cleaner Production (CP) and the application, adaptation, and diffusion of Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs).

The Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO) has supported these efforts substantially for over 20 years. During this time, the program has moved from early cleaner production approaches to more comprehensive Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production (RECP). Along the way, the programme helped strengthen at least fifty-eight (58) National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPC) in fifty-five (55) countries.

While the RECP programme has demonstrated its strong potential for accelerating sustainable industrial development, it has also been recognized that RECP methods and techniques should be scaled up both in scope and pace to address the challenges that remain. The resources saved and emissions avoided at the enterprise level can be counted in the tons and kilotons, but they have yet to match the demands of a green transition with required savings in the mega- and giga-tons. To achieve environmental and resource benefits at an expanded level, working in more scalable models with groups of enterprises, industrial zones, value chains and/or sectors, along with a greater emphasis on enabling policy, is required.