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Chapter 4: Sustainable Production and Sustainable Consumption (Baker 2016)
Chapter 4: Sustainable Production and Sustainable Consumption (Baker 2016)
Intro
Production and consumption patterns unsustainable: resource depletion and waste
SCP decouples economic growth from environmental degradation: Production using less resources; sustainable resource consumption
Bring business, employment, export opportunities
Fails to address production and consumption levels
Relationship to sustainable development
Rio Summit- key to sustainable development. 1) reduce pollution effects of production, and 2) consumption that was natural resource sustainable
Addressing high consumption lifestyles in developed countries
Seen as key to achieving MDGs
10 Year Framework of programmes (Marrakesh Process).
Promoting economic growth, decoupling. Engage with different stakeholders- SCP can be operational in different countries, economic sectors and cultural contexts. Creating markets and delivering full employment.
However, weak at addressing limits to SCP- akin to weaker models of sustainable development
SCP Policies and Initatives
UN, Inter. organisations and regional bodies
Promote cleaner production in industrial manufacturing
Waste management (minimisation and disposal)
Market (voluntary) schemes-
EU SCP and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan
. Improving environmental Performance of products and increasing demand for more sustainable goods and production technologies
Africa's 10yrp, different scales programmes. Asia- green growth initiative.
Example: The Central American commission for Environment and Development initiative on sustainable public procurement
Sustainable Production: The business perspective
What is sustainable production ?
utilising appropriate technologies to increase resource and energy efficiency, waste and pollution.
Redesigning production processes so they use materials and energy more efficiently.
4/10 approach - Being twice as productive with half of the resources
- 'Instrumental rationality' resource efficiency in production.. Questions nature of what is produced.
Business reporting on sustainable production increasingly common
Sustainability Life Cycle Approach.
Example: Puma. Long Term sustainability integrated into companies operations and product cycle . PUMA.safe plus PUMA.safe ecology. 2006, signed UN Global Compact , seal the deal! pledged to be first carbon neutral company in the sports lifestyle industry.
Corporate Social Responsibility- response to scandals and environmental disasters. Greater accountability and transparency. Programmes, policies and outcomes of social responsibility. Company becomes a moral agent in society
Sustainable Consumption
Growth in consumption unprecedented in scale and diversity , badly distributed= gaping inequalities
Environmental damage falls on the poor
Everyone cant consume like the west
Defining Sustainable Consumption
Oslo Definition, 1994
Raising consumption of those unable to meet basic needs
Discouraging patterns that reinforce inequalities and poverty
UNDP- consumption must be shared, strengthening, socially responsible and sustainable
Feeding the world- urgent sustainable system of food supply needed.- Requires change across the length of the food chain.
Complexity of task
Expanding economies= higher food consumption
Consumption momentum- difficult to escape
Production of goods detached from direct consumption.
Lock-in as a barrier to promotion of sustainable consumption
Consumption vs consumerism. Consumerism a cultural unsustainable condition. Developing ways of living- maintain satisfaction of needs and being less reliant on the economic consumption of goods and services.
Sustainable Lifestyles
Radical approaches that address the cause of sustainability
Moving beyond GDP to an economic agenda based on well-being
Accepting planetary limits , operating within ecological capacity
Example: Fair Trade- offering better conditions to and securing the rights of marginalised producers and workers
.
E.g. Voluntary simplicity
Conclusion
Change difficult to realise , society locked into unsustainable habits and technological systems
Improvements can be made to raise quality of life and enhance efficiency and competitiveness
Sustainable goods vs sustainable consumption of goods
Sustainable production tends to focus on efficiency measures , sustainable consumption only option is alternative lifestyles