SDG: Responsible Production and Consumption

By Isabella Lindblad, JMU ‘24, Biology

The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 related goals created by the United Nations in 2015. The goals, intended to be met by the year 2030, are designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”

Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Sustainable development, as formulated at the United Nations Rio Earth Summit in 1992, is ethics in action, resulting in equity as the way to peace and sustainability. It requires supporting the healthy ecosystems and biodiversity that underpin all thriving communities

Sustainable Development Goal: Responsible Production and Consumption (Goal 12)

Institutions around the world are working to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Background Information

Responsible Production and Consumption, sets sustainable development goals for global industries to exercise safe and beneficial business production practices for the benefit of our ecosystems.

Due to a growing environmentally cautious society, multiple industries have been put under scrutiny for their impact on our ecosystem. For instance, the aviation industry contributes to roughly 4% of anthropogenic global warming, according to a George Mason University study. Considering this statistic and others similar to it within the transportation industry, more consumers are seeking forms of transportation that will have less impact on the environment, such as taking a train instead of a plane.

In the agriculture industry, irrigation has now claimed approximately 70% of all available freshwater use for humans (UNDP). This concerning projection has led consumers to stop investing in factory farmed products and to support locally farmed products instead. While changes in consumer patterns are changing, they have yet to reach a sustainable level for the global economy. Global corporate industries like transportation, agriculture, automotive, clothing, mining etc. have largely contributed to the growing climate change crisis. To combat the crisis, environmentally harmful methods of production and our ecological footprint must be reduced to preserve resources for future generations.

Another growing threat is e-waste. Roughly 50 million metric tons of electronic waste (e-waste) are produced globally each year, weighing more than all of the commercial airliners ever made. Only 20% of this is formally recycled and about 13 percent of that weight is recycled mostly in developing countries. The e-waste produced annually is worth over $62.5 billion, more than the GDP of most countries. There is 100 times more gold in a ton of e-waste than in a ton of gold ore.

Chemicals and Waste (Hazardous, Solid, Radioactive)

Gross chemical contamination has been continuing within some of the world’s most important industrial areas, with grave damage to human health, genetic structures and reproductive outcomes and the environment.  In developing countries, two major problems arise: the lack of sufficient scientific information for the risk assessment, and the lack of resources of assessment of chemicals for which data are at hand. With growing evidence that factory production and emissions directly harm humans and the environment around us, multiple international agreements such as the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI, 2002) and Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (RDED, 2012) have created frameworks and programs to help nation states and corporations limit and manage toxic chemicals and their risks.

Chapter 20 within Agenda 21 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (RDED, 2012) states that efficient control over the production, distribution, storage, usage, recycling and disposal of hazardous waste is “of paramount importance for proper health, environmental protection and natural resource management, and sustainable development,” (Chapter 20, Agenda 21 UN Documents).

Effective control of the generation, storage, treatment, recycling and reuse, transport, recovery and disposal of hazardous and solid wastes is also paramount to achieving the responsible consumption and production SDG and can improve the global economy’s carbon footprint. Solid waste includes institutional wastes, street sweepings, byproducts from construction, and in some countries, human waste. These particular forms of waste are often mixed into other forms of waste; further, creating reactions that harm the environment. During the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, nation representatives called for efforts to prevent, minimize, and recycle such solid wastes in order to create safer production/consumption patterns for the environment.

According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, about “200,000 m3 of low-level/intermediate-level waste and 10,000 m3 of high-level waste (as well as spent nuclear fuel destined for final disposal) are generated worldwide from nuclear power production” every year and these volumes are increasing. During the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, representatives encouraged government officials to form and enforce policies that reduce radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and stressed the importance of effective liability measures for international maritime transportation and other transboundary movement of radioactive material, radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.

Targets 

Responsible Production and Consumption will be achieved through the following targets:

• expanding and accelerating international assessment of chemical risks
• harmonization of classification and labelling of chemicals
• information exchange on toxic chemicals and chemical risks
• establishment of risk reduction programmes
• strengthening of national capabilities and capacities for management of chemicals and prevention of illegal international traffic in toxic and dangerous products

To reduce the amount of hazardous, solid, and radioactive waste in the global community, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs recommends member nations should:

• prevent or minimize the generation of hazardous wastes as part of an overall integrated cleaner production approach;
• eliminate or reduce to a minimum transboundary movements of hazardous waste
• ratify the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal;
• ratify and fully implement of the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa; and
• eliminate the export of hazardous wastes to countries that prohibit such imports.

Responsible production and consumption will also be achieved by:

• Implementing the 10-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption and production;
• By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
• By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses

Sustainable Production 

As claimed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sustainable manufacturing describes the “environmentally-sound processes” that a business chooses to operate and function. Such processes include using non-polluting products, conserving the energy produced by natural resources, and following safe production protocols for employees and consumers. By following the specific targets and sustainable development goals set by the UN, sustainable production can be obtained and carried out through all levels of business.

Responsible Consumption 

Unlike production (how commercial manufacturing affects the environment), responsible consumption refers to how corporate business uses natural resources. In the words of the UN, “our planet has provided us with an abundance of natural resources, but we have not utilized them responsibly and currently consume far beyond what our planet can provide. We must learn how to use and produce in sustainable ways that will reverse the harm that we have inflicted on the planet,” (Global Goals). In other words, to consume responsibly in a business setting, this requires companies to follow actions that reduce and minimize the number of natural resources during the production process.

Taking Action

It’s clear that no one individual can address this goal alone, but taking small steps can make a big difference. To support the efforts of the responsible production and consumption goal, individuals can research and choose to patron businesses that practice such safe production patterns. Individuals can also support local organizations and elected leaders that sustain ecologically sustainable policies. An individual can also be mindful of their own consumption of natural resources and change daily behaviors to be less wasteful and more conserving. Some other ideas for taking action include:

• Exercise your right to hold your elected officials accountable by participating in elections. (Resource for U.S. citizens on our website here.)
• Express your opinion to your elected officials on policies addressing prevention and cleanup of toxic chemicals, hazardous and radioactive waste.
• Write a public comment when federal rules are introduced regarding toxic chemicals, hazardous and radioactive waste.
• Support organizations working to prevent and cleanup toxic chemicals, hazardous and radioactive waste (like the Environmental Working Group)
• Learn about how the siting of waste is linked to equity and racial justice
• Learn about the Precautionary Principle
• Become more literate about production, consumption and waste information (See some of our information literacy resources here and here.)
• Watch Vanishing Pearls (on Netflix)
• Look into these resources from the United Nations: The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World, The UN Campaign for Individual Action, the UN’s Be the Change Initiative

Discussion Questions 

1. How have methods of production and consumption harmed the environment and ecosystems?
2. What are economic or cultural barriers to responsible production and consumption?
3. In what ways can businesses be more environmentally-conscious?
4. What actions will you take to be a more responsible consumer?