Macau’s Consumer Council (CC) said in a statement yesterday that Consumers International (CI), an independent and non-governmental organisation with over 200 member organisations in more than 100 countries, has announced the theme of today’s World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) as “Empowering Consumers Through Clean Energy Transition”.
WCRD is celebrated annually by the global consumer movement on March 15. The Macau Consumer Council became a full member of Consumers International in 1997.
The statement said that most economies are facing a “deepening energy crisis” that have an “untold impact” on vulnerable consumers, the statement said, noting that global energy prices are expected to stay high this year while food prices are also increasing.
Consumers are changing their lifestyles in order to access essential needs, the statement said, adding that increasing access to “affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy” will play a major part in preventing climate change, the statement underlined.
Consumers everywhere are also making changes to how they travel, cook, and heat as well as power their homes, which the statement pointed out are crucial in transitioning to clean energy. People can also achieve “transformative changes” through adopting low-carbon alternatives and improving existing practices.
CI’s work on energy during the WCRD 2023 and beyond, according to the statement, aims for consumers to be recognised as “core marketplace actors” and not “passive bystanders in the energy transition”. Consumers need to be supported in the right way to take action, the statement said, which means bringing consumers into high-level discussions and ensuring policy is centred on consumer needs, among others.
Moreover, the statement added that the China Consumers’ Association (CCA) announced the national annual theme as “Boosting Consumers’ Confidence”. The CCA and consumer protection organisations nationwide will launch a range of “major works” aiming to boost consumers’ confidence, according to the statement.
The annual theme has three aspects and more details can be viewed by visiting the Consumer Council’s website at https://www.consumer.gov.mo/Default.aspx?lang=en
The statement said that work will be launched by the CCA to ensure that consumer organisations are able to utilise the consumer rights protection platform’s role, effectively protect consumers’ legitimate rights and interests, to encourage industries and businesses to practice self-discipline, and to “continue optimising the consumption environment”.
The CCA, the statement pointed out, hopes to boost consumers’ confidence through enhanced promotion and education on consumer knowledge and improvement on consumers’ ability to avoid “consumption pitfalls”, and to “rationally defend their rights”.
This poster provided by the Consumer Council (CC) yesterday promotes today’s World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD).
