The global problem

The essence of the problem of sustainable consumption was captured in Agenda 21:

Although consumption patterns are very high in certain parts of the world, the basic consumer needs of a large section of humanity are not being met.  This results in excessive demands and unsustainable lifestyles among the richer segments, which place immense stress on the environment.  The poorer segments, meanwhile, are unable to meet food, health care, and shelter and educational needs.

The official statement of objective by the international community was made at the Cairo Conference in 1994:
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, Governments should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. ... Developed countries should take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption patterns and effective waste management.

As the Secretary-General of the United Nations has pointed out, the success in changing consumption and production patterns may well determine whether sustainable development can be put into operation and practised. And as one researcher has put it: “our challenge is to find a way to balance human consumption and nature’s limited productivity in order to ensure that our commitment are sustainable locally, regionally and globally.  We don’t have a choice about whether to do this, but we can choose how we do it.”

The global strategy was identified in Agenda 21 as:

(a) To promote patterns of consumption and production that will reduce environmental stress and meet the basic needs of humanity;
(b) To develop a better understanding of the role of consumption and how to bring about more sustainable consumption patterns.

At its 1994 session, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development called for the elaboration of elements of a possible work programme in the area of sustainable consumption and production.  The UN Secretary-General has developed a ‘possible work programme’ on sustainable consumption and production patterns.  It proposes three main areas:

(a) identifying the policy implications of projected trends in consumption and production patterns;
(b) assessing the impact on the South of changes in the North;
(c) evaluating the effectiveness of policy measures intended to change consumption and production patterns such as command-and-control, economic and social instruments, and governmental procurement policies and guidelines.

The consideration of sustainable consumption leading up to the 1992 Rio Conference was marked by considerable North-South differences of perception.  The South tended to view ‘sustainable development’ as synonymous with, and replaceable by, ‘sustainable growth’.  Tension was evident in the negotiations at Rio over the Agenda 21 chapter ‘Changing Consumption Patterns’.  Since then, however, this has given way to a more pragmatic debate in which the planetary interest of all and their ‘shared but differentiated responsibilities’ are increasingly accepted.

Within the North itself, there has also been progress, with a more positive recognition by both governments and business that changes can be made to consumption and production patterns in ways that can sustain preferred living standards and yet enhance competitiveness and economic performance.

National policies to achieve the global strategy are set out in both the Rio and Cairo Programmes of Action.  Changing consumption patterns says Agenda 21 will require a multi-pronged strategy focusing on demand, meeting the basic needs of the poor, and reducing wastage and the use of finite resources in the production process.  All countries should strive to promote sustainable consumption patterns.  Developed countries should take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption patterns.  In order to support this broad strategy, Governments should make a concerted effort to identify balanced patterns of consumption world-wide which the Earth can support in the long term. They should strive to develop a domestic policy framework that will encourage a shift to more sustainable patterns of production and consumption.

This was echoed at Cairo two years later.  States, said the Global Population Programme, should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate policies, including population-related policies, in order to meet the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.  To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, Governments should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.  Developed countries should take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption patterns and effective waste management.

Without the necessary data on trends in the environment and ecosystems, however, policy-making in this new area of focus will be impaired.  At its 2nd Session, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development called on Governments to intensify and expand their efforts to collect relevant data at the national and sub-national levels.  In recent years, many Governments have initiated or intensified efforts in this direction, and especially in four areas: environmental monitoring, environmental resource accounting, sustainable development indicators, and consumer information..

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