SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption And Production


"I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use."
- Mother Teresa

Introduction

Human civilization went through a phenomenal change when it saw the dawn of the industrial revolution in the 19th century. This brought rampant growth of production by the factories and increased consumption levels. But, in hindsight of quality of living and consumerism, we failed to foresee and assess the harmful implications of the same and those could only be realised when the effects became obvious and began being measured by various agencies. With time, earth’s natural resources are becoming scarcer and thus costlier, pollution levels are rising. Currently, an estimated 33% of the food produced (1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted away by direct consumers or retailers by throwing it away, or it gets destroyed during processing or transportation and more than 1 billion people do not have direct access to drinking water [1]. These numbers are alarming, as basic requirements for life like food and water themselves are getting wasted and scarcer. This necessitates the incorporation of sustainability in the economic activities of production and consumption. 

Sustainable consumption can be defined as using the resources judiciously to derive utility out of them and to improve the quality of life so that this causes minimum degradation of the environment. Sustainability in production can be achieved by promoting energy efficiency, resource conservation and synergising all players right from the raw material producer, supply-chain and the end consumer. 

The United Nations came up with a sustainable development goal with a 10- year framework which focuses on 11 measurable targets. This involves reducing per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels, developing environmentally fool-proof management of chemicals and effluents, decreasing waste generation by Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, strengthening scientific and technological capacity, rationalizing unnecessary fossil fuel subsidies to reduce fossil fuel consumption [2]. 

Earth Overshoot Day: a ticking clock of death?

What it means for India

India is home to 18% of the world population and only has 4% of global water resources. It contributes close to 7% to global production and while doing so, emits 6.9% of global carbon dioxide, becoming the third-highest contributor in the world [1]. To support the growing population in the upcoming years, India will look to ramp up the production and in doing so, will further add to the emissions. It will need to increase manufacturing and that will lead to the consumption of natural resources at an increasing pace. 54.6% of India’s energy is produced through Thermal Power Plants, which consume huge quantities of coal and contribute to the CO2 emission [1]. Thus SDG 12 is highly relevant in India’s context and the country needs to chalk out a definitive plan to tackle the issue in the near future. India took the first step towards this initiative by formally agreeing to the historic Paris Agreement. Government initiatives like National Policy on Biofuels and National Clean Energy Fund will be instrumental in achieving sustainable consumption and production and help develop regulations to control emission levels. India aims to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20-25% from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 33-35% by 2030 [1]. Developing cleaner and more efficient technologies that ensure maximum utilization of resources will be critical in the manufacturing sector.  The government will have to lay out plans for stimulating private companies to accept these technologies and replacing the conventional, more energy-guzzling technologies with the up to date ones. The government signed MOU with the International Energy Agency for the adoption of clean and more efficient energy production technologies. Private Companies in India like Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group and Vedanta are aiming towards Zero Water Discharge and Zero Waste and such efforts will create awareness among the industry circle to take further initiatives.
Effect of SDG 12 on India

Business Implications

There have been talks of some government implementing a 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP). According to the framework, the aim is to develop, scale up and replicate sustainable production and consumption. When implemented, this can act as the driver to root out unsustainable business practices from firms. For manufacturing firms, this creates a sense of urgency in the research and development department as they have to come up with practises which complies to the norms otherwise the long-term future of these firms looks bleak.
On a global scale, there has been a huge change in consumption pattern regarding plastics. The use of plastic straws has come under scrutiny and many fast food chains have stopped providing them. Even the use of disposable tea/coffee cups have come under criticism.
Traditionally, there have been industries such as chemicals, plastics manufacturing, packaging etc who are most likely to face difficulties due to SDG 12 as they are traditionally known to highly inefficient consumption. Even newer industries such as fast fashion is known to produce at a rate which is more than the disposal rate. The global apparel consumption is 13 kilograms per person. To make matters worse, the average time a piece of garment worn has come down by a staggering 36% in the last 15 years [3].  All this has led to production of waste which is increasingly getting more and more difficult to dispose.  Not only this, even the natural resources such as water used to produce on piece of T-shirt and a pair of jeans is as high as 5000 gallons [4].
Such high consumption industries could face troubles if the governments decide to levy material taxes or choose to ban products if they do not meet certain recycling guidelines laid down the government. If such steps are taken, the businesses in contention face a major loss in revenue in addition to the risk they face in terms of reputation loss.
Despite these threats, businesses have sensed opportunities in implementation of this SDG. Some progressive businesses in the retail industry as well as technology industry have started working on circular-economy products, encouraging recycling of the products. Even for companies in manufacturing sectors, this could be a blessing in disguise as they may be forced to invest in better materials and more efficient industries which will eventually lead to utilizing the resources to greater output. In addition to this, effective implementation of sustainable policies can lead to reputational gains as environmentally conscious firms and due to the increased efficiency in production might lead to improved financial performance eventually. Following are some of the examples of companies who have implemented sustainable consumption and production practices:
  • The Aditya Birla Group screens their suppliers for risk management to support responsible consumption and production. They also ensure that the feedstock comes from supplier close to their facilities. [5]
  • Disney has set the baseline of 6.93 billion gallons of water consumption, and in 2014 their water consumption was recorded to be 6.89 billion gallons. They continue to implement innovative conservative measures while also promoting effective management of water usage at the existing sites. [6]
  • Citi had set their 2015 operational environmental goals which included a goal of 40% reduction in waste stream to landfill using 2005 as base year. In fact, they achieved the goal in 2013. Now, as their new operational footprints goals, Citi have set goals to reduce their waste to landfill by 60% by 2020. [7]
  • Diageo improved their water efficiency by 4.5% in 2018. They also aim to reach zero waste to landfill target by 2020. They also achieved 96.2% reduction in waste to landfill against the 2007 baseline. Over 80% of their sites have already achieved the target of zero waste to landfill. [8]
  • Johnson & Johnson aims to reduce reliance on single-use model and ensure that 100% of plastic packaging can be reusable, recyclable or compost by the year 2025. [9]
  • GSK has recycled more than 1.5 million inhalers through the Complete the Cycle programme in the UK since its inception in 2012. Over 70% of their sites and offices have achieved zero waste to landfill and with aim of reaching 100% by 2020. GSK also compost 1,500 tonnes of egg waste instead of sending it to landfill. They mix the egg waste with other green waste and sell it as compost. [10]
Analysis

“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
– Native American Proverb

Doing more with less is the aim of sustainable consumption and production. We can increase net welfare gains from economic activities if there is a reduction in resource usage in the process of growing our economies. Any form of growth that harms the environment sets development back.

Sustainable consumption and production is about advocating resource efficiency, whose implementation can reduce future environmental and economic costs while achieving overall development plans currently. It demands a systemic approach and co-operation among various stakeholders in the supply chain, right from the raw material provider to the end consumer. But it can only be feasible if the end consumer demands such product and hence a big part of achieving this SDG involves engaging consumers by raising awareness on sustainable consumption & lifestyles. This can be done by providing them with information through ecolabels which indicate standards in sustainable processes of production and disposal. For this to come true, a partnership is required between various stakeholders such as consumers, businesses, policy makers, researchers, development agencies, etc.

The way Ahead

Path to achieve Sustainability

Looking ahead at the next two decades, developing countries will try to establish themselves as self-reliant and in doing so will depend on conventional sources of energy. Hence, it becomes necessary that developed countries help them in transitioning to superior and more efficient models of production through technology transfer. Global regulations need to be established and followed so that these technologies are widely accepted, and Global Carbon Footprint figures could be kept in check. Mining and metals, Petroleum and Natural gas, Power sector need to be on the forefront in carrying forward these initiatives since they are high on resource consumption and leave a high carbon footprint as well. Paris Agreement has laid out the path that needs to be followed in future and each country must find its way to meet the specified targets. Forecasting of consumption needs to be done diligently in order to minimize waste. Waste Management will be critical, and reuse and recycling technologies must be implemented, and life cycle of resources must be tracked to check areas of misutilization. Water conservation is necessary as well and industries must be regulated to accept zero discharge policy. Public initiatives are necessary and for that awareness needs to be created among people so that they can inculcate sustainable life practices. They need to be sensitized about appreciating and purchasing products which are manufactured in a sustainable manner. Initiatives like banning single use plastic, promoting E-vehicles, ecotourism and mainstreaming renewable sources of energy need to be widely implemented to enable our planet to remain habitable in the future.



The Team:

Atharva Bhave (B19071)
Chirantan Samantray (B19073)
Rana Anshuman (B19097)
Roshan Shah (B19100)
Shrish Garg (B19109)
Lay Solanki (B19112)

References: 

[1] SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://in.one.un.org/page/sustainable-development-goals/sdg-12/.
[2] Goal 12 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg12.
[3] Nini, J., & Nini, J. (2019, November 22). 69 Facts & Statistics About Fast Fashion That Will Inspire You To Become An Ethical Fashion Advocate. Retrieved from https://ecowarriorprincess.net/2018/10/facts-statistics-about-fast-fashion-inspire-ethical-fashion-advocate/.
[4] Fashion Industry Waste Statistics. (2019, April 1). Retrieved from https://edgexpo.com/fashion-industry-waste-statistics/.
[5] Sustainable Development Goals. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sustainability.birlacarbon.com/our-approach/sustainable-development-goals.html.
[6] The Walt Disney Company. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessfor2030.org/the-walt-disney-company.
[7]  Citi. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessfor2030.org/citi.
[8] ​Waste. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.diageo.com/en/in-society/reducing-our-environmental-impact/waste/.
[9]  Johnson. (2018, October 31). Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. Makes a New Pledge to Help Tackle Plastic Waste. Retrieved from https://www.jnj.com/latest-news/johnson-johnson-consumer-inc-joins-the-new-plastics-economy-global-commitment.
[10] Wilson, M., & Gsk. (n.d.). Turning waste into a resource. Retrieved from https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/responsibility/environment/waste/turning-waste-into-a-resource/.

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