Sustainable Consumption

Sustainable consumption is only one facet of sustainable development, which seeks to challenge prolific patterns of consumption. This could relate to the sustainable consumption of natural resources, energy use, and consumer goods more broadly. Initiatives such as the Marrakech Process, a global multistakeholder process to promote sustainable consumption and production (SCP), are working toward a Global Framework for Action on SCP, a so-called 10-Year Framework of Programmes on SCP. This signifies that there is widespread acknowledgement that consumption has an effect on sustainability, which in turn has given rise to debates surrounding how to strive toward more sustainable and equitable patterns of consumption.

Tim Jackson, in his report for the Sustainable Development Commission, stated that the term sustainable consumption entered into being from Agenda 21 (a ...