Group1_ B | SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production

Introduction

What are the two forces that drive human society? That are demand and supply or consumption and production. For centuries, our ancestors lived almost the same life, but towards the fall of the 19^th century, a miracle called the Industrial Revolution took place, and human society never looked back. Technological innovations and economic growth have changed human life in such a way that an alternate way of living cannot even be thought of. But in this process, we created an enemy for ourselves, that is environmental degradation.

The UN explains Sustainable Development Goal 12: “Sustainable consumption and production is about promoting resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and providing access to basic services, green and decent jobs and a better quality of life for all. Its implementation helps to achieve overall development plans, reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty.” 11 targets and 13 indicators have been set for this SDG. While targets are the set goals, indicators present a metric for accessing the level of success in achieving these goals.[1]

One may think that in recent years, consumption and production practices have improved. After all, we have more efficient LED lamps, electric vehicles and what not. But to our surprise, we have become even more unsustainable in recent years. The annual global material footprint has grown from 73.2 billion to 85.9 billion tons between 2010 - 2017, and, there is not just one but multiple reasons why this has increased. The most exciting factor is the rebound effect [2]. As technological advancement made things more efficient, it also made production easier and cheaper. The result is that even more people can buy products which were earlier out of their reach. We now use bulbs (LED), electronic devices, cars etc. more often than they were used earlier, which means that our per capita consumption rate has gone up.

On the other hand, the background and foreground associated with the life cycle of products can also delude into believing of becoming more sustainable. Consider electric cars. In popular belief, EV is a one-stop solution for all the vehicular pollution. In the foreground, indeed, an EV will not consume the fossil fuels and release greenhouse gases, but in the background, problem aggravates as in most of the countries the significant chunk of electricity is produced by the thermal power plants run on coal. So, it turns out that in many cases, EV can be even more damaging to the environment than the traditional vehicles.

India and Challenges

India, a land of diversity, has a long way to go before it achieves this sustainable development goal. The main challenge with India is that it is an economically developing country with a growing population. This restricts the number of tough measures India can take to move towards responsible production and consumption as it can hamper with the country’s ability to cater the basic demands of its growing population and on the other hand a brake on the economic development can lock up many in the vicious cycle of poverty which in turn also harms the environment indirectly. Any initiative to move towards sustainable production and consumption involves two parts, tailoring the production practices which are in line with the needs of the country and on the other hand making people aware about the need for sustainability to facilitate self-correction in the consumption practices.

The particular challenge for India lies less in the efficiency improvement of production processes but the development of the necessary infrastructure. For instance, it was only recently that India could achieve almost 100% electrification all over the country [3], but although lines had reached the last mile, electricity had not. India still suffered from a shortage of electricity. The problem was that there was not enough capacity to produce enough electricity and to deal with it the cheapest and easiest way of harbouring energy from thermal power plants run on coal. Today, 54.6% of power in India is generated by coal which has a massive impact on the environment, but India doesn’t have many options as well as it has to meet the needs of almost 18% of the world population with scarce resources at hand.[4]

 

Business Implications and Responses

There are various socioeconomic and demographic changes that will happen in the next two decades which includes globally people moving to a higher economic level and hence their demands would increase. These changes show that the individual is prospering but puts pressure on businesses to satisfy these demands. To satisfy these demands, the ecological limits of the planet are exceeded, and it results in resource depletion and pollution. To keep all this in check, there are talks of implementing the 10-Year Framework of Programs (10YFP) on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns. The aim is to develop, scale up and replicate sustainable production and consumption. Implementing this framework can help put a check on the unsustainable business practices by firms. It would create a sense of urgency in the R&D department for the manufacturing firms as they would have to produce practices which complies to the norms.

It is astonishing to know that the food sector accounts for 22% of the global Greenhouse Gas emission and around 30% of the World’s Total Energy Consumption. On top of that 3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year while 1 billion people in the world are hungry. Plastic is something whose consumption pattern has changed drastically. [5] The fast food chains provided plastic straws and it came under scrutiny, post which many restaurants have stopped that practice. Even the use of plastic cups has come under criticism.

The global apparel consumption has increased to 13 kilograms per person, which includes the average garment worn time reducing by 36% over the last 15 years. The main reason being the Fast Fashion industry whose production rate is more than the disposal rate. This has lead to increased wastage not only of the material that is used to make these garments but also energy and water. [6]

If Material taxes are levied or other stricter measures are taken by the Government to meet certain recycling guidelines, some of the high consumption industries could face troubles. This could also result in diminishing profit and reputation loss as well.

Some businesses in the retail industry and even technological industry have started encouraging recycling of products, hence promoting circular-economy products. Another measure by the manufacturing firms can be to implement product portfolio analysis tools. They would help understand the environmental footprint of the products. Upcycling and Recycling can help reduce manufacturing impacts. Another technique could be to separate the constituent parts of a product, and further process them, recycle or dispose. Additionally, implementing sustainable policies could result in reputational gains and hence may be beneficial financially as well in the longer run. [7]

Following are some of the examples of companies who have implemented sustainable consumption and production practices:

 

•        Standard Chartered have reduced their water use by 72% since 2008 and committed to cut emissions to Net Zero from their operational Activities. They had also committed to reduce annual energy consumption by 35% which was fulfilled in Dec 2019 with a reduction of 38%. [8]
•        JPMorgan Chase and Co is working towards a 100% renewable energy for all the global needs by the end of 2020. They have made a dedicated team and evaluating stress testing approaches to understand the relationship between their financial activities and climate. [9]
•        Bain & Company have worked on 300 sustainable projects across all geographies since 2000. They have targeted to invest $1 billion in pro bono consulting by 2025. They are implementing Smart lights and recyclable materials in the offices, hence reducing energy and waste consumption. [10]
•       The Aditya Birla Group ensures that the feedstock for their use comes from suppliers which are close to their facilities, hence reducing energy consumption. [11]
•      Wed Me Good, in partnership with Feeding India facilitates distribution of waste and excess food at marriages reaches the needy.
•      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. [12]

Analysis and Suggested Path ahead

CO2 emissions in kg per PPP dollar of GDP can be a key metric to judge the polluting nature of a country. India scores about 0.3, which is similar to USA, lower than China (0.5) and higher than United Kingdom (0.1). India contributes about 7% to the global GDP, which is about same as its contribution to the greenhouse gases[14]. This proportionate emission and impact might convey that India isn’t worse off than other countries, but given that about 30% of our population lives in poverty, the per capita consumption is distorted by the affluent and resourceful.

As a part of the 10-year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10FYP), India is moving towards implementing across the 6 programme areas[15].

•  Natural resource management and food systems: Through the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) and other initiatives, the government in putting measures to increase agricultural productivity, mitigate climate change impacts, give access to knowledge and skills to farmers, promote water conservation. Employing 42% of population and contributing 16% to the GDP, agricultural sustainability is key for India
•  Resource efficiency:  This is strongly coupled with economic interests, increasing material productivity and reduce dependence on internationally sourced ‘critical’ materials (cobalt, copper, lithium etc). The aim is to increase recycling (presently at about 20-25%) taking place in the country.
• Sustainable construction and buildings: India is seeing an increase in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified projects totalling over 24.81 million gross square meters of space. In the global listing, India ranks among the top 10 for LEED.
• Public procurement: Being a key contributor to the general economic activity, adoption of environment and energy efficiency criteria has been incorporated by the government entities. This revolves around procuring the more eco-friendly LED lamps, considering Energy Star ratings of BEE, and adoption of Life Cycle costing in certain areas.
• Sustainable tourism: The government has launched Comprehensive Sustainable Tourism criteria for the three major segments – tour operators, accommodations, and beaches, back waters, lakes and river sectors. Measures like Sewage Treatment Plant, rain water harvesting, waste management etc have been implemented.

“Doing more and better with less”, the aim of sustainable consumption and production, is not mutually exclusive from economic efficiencies. The systemic inefficiencies are a key reason for wastages. The logistic sector for example accounts for 14% of the Indian GDP, where as it is only 8-10% in developed countries. Operating a sustainable supply chain, including everyone from the producer to final consumer is crucial. According to FAO, about 40% of the food produced in India is wasted. This implies that all the raw materials – water, fertilisers and other resources are also wasted. The disposed food also produces methane, 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

On the demand side, there are no regulations to promote sustainable consumption. Most of the activities are voluntarily, and hence education level is crucial. With poor literacy rates and education system, propagating sustainability ideas is a challenge. The social and cultural beliefs of the nation, however, are aligned towards prudence and minimalism. Vegetarianism, for example, is an extremely sustainable consumption practise. Reusing and recycling are also key values of the people, although with roots in economic prudence. Hence, I t can be said that the scarce availability of resources has had helped people develop sustainable practises. The challenge remains to ensure that the western ideas of consumerism do not over ride when economic prosperity occurs in the future. Additionally, guidelines on sustainable consumption can be made accessible to shoppers – helping them identify the correct size SKU or even asking if they need the product. These can be adopted by communities, and even responsible retailers.

As a developing country, India is expected to receive assistance in developing scientific and technology abilities. This would have two parts – financial monetary help and technology assistance. While measuring financial help would be easy, measuring technology has proven to be difficult. India also to carry forward the practise and help other developing nations. India already provides this under the framework of South-South Cooperation and is at part with major donors.

While India does have several policies around environment and pollution that capture elements of sustainability, having comprehensive sustainable consumption policy would serve good. Energy efficiency has taken a front seat in sustainability discourse, but other resources like water and minerals have not gotten the prime focus. The poor air quality around the NCR region, especially in the winters is a typical problem that can be solved with government interventions and awareness campaigns. The development of new smart cities provide a key opportunity to include sustainable consumption and production approaches in the community design itself.

 

 

References:

[1] Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Retrieved from. https://sdg-tracker.org/sustainable-consumption-production

[2] Sustainable Development Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production - Sami Kara retrieved from https://youtu.be/RX2elsVjY-c

[3] Modi Announces 100% Electrification – But That Doesn't Mean Everyone Has Power. Retrieved from. https://thewire.in/government/narendra-modi-government-rural-electrification-power

[4] SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption And Production. Retrieved from. https://in.one.un.org/page/sustainable-development-goals/sdg-12/

[5] Ensure Sustainable consumption and production patterns. Retrieved from. https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/sustainable-development-goals/why-do-sustainable-development-goals-matter/goal-12

[6] 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/.

[7] SDG 12: Ensure Sustainable consumption and production patterns. Retrieved from. https://sdgcompass.org/sdgs/sdg-12/

[8] Standard Chartered – Sustainability Summary 2019. Retrieved from.  https://av.sc.com/corp-en/content/docs/2019-sustainability-summary.pdf

[9] JPMorgan and Chase – Environmental Social and Governance Report 2019. Retrieved from. https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/documents/jpmc-cr-esg-report-2019.pdf

[10] Bain Environmental Policy. Retrieved from. https://www.bain.com/about/bain-environmental-policy/

[11] Sustainable Development Goals. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sustainability.birlacarbon.com/our-approach/sustainable-development-goals.html.

[12] 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.

[13] Johnson & Jonson – ESG Policies. Retrieved from. https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/policies-and-positions

[14] CO2 emissions (kg per PPP $ of GDP). Retrieved from. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PP.GD

[15] SDG-India-Index-2.0. Retrieved from. https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/SDG-India-Index-2.0_27-Dec.pdf

Contributors: Group 1, BMB22
Akarsh Saxena	BJ20065	BJ20065@astra.xlri.ac.in
Harsh Paliwal	BJ20079	BJ20079@astra.xlri.ac.in
Kaustubh Vats	BJ20083	BJ20083@astra.xlri.ac.in
Karan Agarwal	BJ20082	BJ20082@astra.xlri.ac.in
Nadeem Ahmed	BJ20090	BJ20090@astra.xlri.ac.in