Sustainable consumption

Main articles: Sustainability, Sustainable living

Definitions of sustainable consumption (SC) share a number of common features, and to an extent build in the characteristics of sustainable production, its twin sister concept and inherit much of from the idea of sustainable development:

• Quality of life;
• Wise use of resources, and minimisation of waste and pollution;
• Use of renewable resources within their capacity for renewal;
• Fuller product life-cycles; and
• Intergenerational and intragenerational equity.

Contents 1 The Oslo Definition 2 Institutionalising sustainable consumption 2.1 Developments of sustainable consumption after Agenda 21 2.2 Governance of sustainable consumption 3 Sustainable consumption initiatives 4 References

The Oslo Definition

The definition proposed by the 1994 Oslo Symposium on Sustainable Consumption defines it as "the use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations." ^[1]

Institutionalising sustainable consumption

During the 1990s, SC was mainly developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Division of Sustainable Development of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and the international non-governmental organization Consumers International.^[2]

Chapter 4.3 from Agenda 21 in from the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 states:

“The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries, which is a matter of grave concern, aggravating poverty and imbalances.”^[3]

Developments of sustainable consumption after Agenda 21

• 1994 – At the UNSCD it was decided there was a need to consider SC.
• 1995 – SC was requested to be incorporated by UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) into the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection.
• 1997 – A major report produced by OECD on SC.^[4]
• 1998 – UNEP SC program begins and discussion of SC in the Human Development Report of the UN Development Program (UNDP).^[5]
• 2002 – Creation of a ten-year program on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in the Plan of Implementation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.^[6]
• 2003 - The “Marrakech Process” was developed by co-ordination of a series a of meetings and other “multi-stakeholder” processes by UNEP and UNDESA following the WSSD.^[7]

Sustainable consumption governance has developed from the Oslo definition to the present day implementation strategies and policies that were generated through these global meetings.

Governance of sustainable consumption

Overall, SC governance is still at an early stage of development, but these institutions exhibit principles of network governance. There are not any hierarchal institutions with any highly formal rules and at present there are no legally binding international treaties, with no suggestion by the Marrakech Process that there needs to be one.^[2]

The current focus of international organisations is on implementation, which can be split into two elements:

1. Widening participation and building partnerships.

2. Developing information concerning specific sectors and issues.^[2]

These elements are brought about by having general goals that can be pursued through the incorporation of agents, re-articulating their interests and thus their practices through the act of deliberation and information sharing.^[2] At the WSSD a ‘Type II’ partnership was identified as the most effective method of implementation in achieving sustainable development (this being a hybrid of public, private and civic organisations).^[8][9] The power of networks means they have the potential to influence groups and individuals successfully.

Since the Marrakech Process, a number of networks have formed globally and regionally in Africa, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Arab region and North America. One example in the UK is the Sustainable Consumption and Production Network, which acts as a single point of reference on SCP for the regional development agencies, regional assemblies, Government offices for the regions, regional observatories and the regional offices of the Environment Agency on a sub-national level.^[10] Whilst the Sustainable Consumption Research Exchange network (SCORE!) was set up to bundle SCP research expertise in the EU and beyond.^[11]

Sustainable consumption initiatives

The Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production is one leading independent authority, that is exploring the dimensions of consumption and production. Perhaps controversially Tesco, the largest supermarket in the United Kingdom, announced in 2007 a £5m project to create a Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI).

SC is not always equivalent to livable conditions. In the United States, for the most part, technology and capital are available to find or invent replacement resources and for people to find new occupations that are less destructive to the environment. The United States can start becoming a more sustainable society. ^[12] On the other hand, many developing countries do not have the ability to reduce their consumption of resources and are often subordinate to a more powerful government. Developing countries may receive necessary imports such as food from outside sources and furthermore may not be able to control the exploitation of their own natural resources by international companies. ^[13]

References