2.4 Sustainable development and sustainable consumption
Sustainable development is about the way products and services are produced and used by consumers. This development is usually supported by technologies. Sustainable consumption is more about social issues of consumption and lifestyle and less about technologies such as eco-efficiency and clean production.
Sustainable consumption is not about consuming less, it is about consuming differently, consuming efficiently, and having an improved quality of life. It also means sharing between the richer and the poorer.
Source: United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO explains that sustainable consumption is about considering issues that go beyond the individual when we shop. These include not only the ecological impacts of what we buy, but also the equity, human rights and political dimensions of sustainability in the production and consumption process. These aspects of sustainable consumption provide guidelines on how to reduce the social and ecological impacts of what we consume.
These web-based resources provide more background information:
‘I will if you will: towards sustainable consumption’. This report outlines how a significant shift towards more sustainable lifestyles is possible and positive all round. It is the concluding work of the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable, jointly hosted by the National Consumer Council and the Sustainable Development Commission for 18 months from September 2004 to March 2006 and is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry in the UK.
UNESCO – ‘Activity 6: What is sustainable consumption?’
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – sustainable consumption website. This website provides information on key activities that UNEP is involved in. These include promoting cleaner production, waste management and environmental management tools. Information is also provided on specific UNEP programmes and activities related to sustainable consumption. Policies for sustainable consumption by the UK government's Sustainable Development Commission, 2003.
The New Economics Foundation's report, ‘The great transition’, argues that a new kind of economy needs to be created if we are to tackle climate change and avoid the mounting social problems associated with the rise of economic inequality. The report provides the first comprehensive blueprint for building an economy based on stability, sustainability and equality.
‘Is overconsumption or overpopulation the problem?’
Activity 1
Name three criticisms made against the UK government's approach to sustainability and combating the damaging effects of climate change.
Consider why people feel threatened and defensive if they are asked to change their consumption patterns or lifestyle.
Why is the role that consumption plays in causing environmental change such a contentious issue in the UK and elsewhere?
2.3 Reducing consumption