Sustainable Consumption

UNEP's Sustainable Consumption programme was initiated in 1998 to supplement UNEP's production process oriented activities with activities on the demand side. Production and consumption policies were considered to be two sides of the same sustainability coin, which needed to be addressed in an integrated manner. The programme has led to the establishment of the Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch with its integrated life-cycle approach towards achieving more sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Activities of the programme included developing projects on advertising, marketing, communication, youth, retail and sustainable procurement. These and other projects have become separate activity clusters.

The project "Tracking Progress" raised awareness of governments about the need to develop policies on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) which led to the Marrakech Process and the project on national action plans.

The Sustainable Consumption (SC) programme has resulted in better understanding about the forces that drive consumption patterns around the world and how to translate those findings into tangible activities for business and other stakeholders. Consumption patterns are the result of choices and activities of a wide variety of actors including business, government and individual households. Influencing these choices means stimulating and facilitating new economic opportunities - better products and services - and altering the current infrastructure and regulatory framework that lock consumers into unsustainable behavior.


Archives

List of past information and press releases from the SC programme

 
UNEP Sustainable Consumption brochure (PDF - 1,3 MB)


Sustainable Consumption has been defined 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 the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life-cycle so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations."
UN CSD International Work Programme, adopted in 1995.
"It is becoming more and more evident that consumers are increasingly interested in the "world that lies behind" the product they buy. Apart from price and quality, they want to know how and where and by whom the product has been produced. This increasing awareness about environmental and social issues is a sign of hope. Governments and industry must build on that".
Mr. Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director, 23 August 1999, UNEP News Release NR99-90.