Group 1_C | SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
The UNCED (United Nations Conference on Economic Development) held in Rio de Janeiro in the year 1992 identified a major cause of the continued and rapid deterioration of the natural environment across the globe as ‘unsustainable production and consumption patterns’, especially prevalent in the industrialised world. It stressed on the need for changes in consumption and production patterns worldwide to ensure sustainable development. The two key driving forces of the global economy, namely, consumption and production patterns of goods and services across countries, have a lot of pressure on their rapid growth which involves a very destructive use of the natural environment and its resources thereby endangering the very foundation on which our survival and future depends. The current pandemic caused by the coronavirus presents a unique opportunity to countries to envisage efficient recovery plans that will rollback current wasteful trends in our production and consumption patterns and convert them into a more sustainable one.
Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is concerned with social and economic development within the boundaries and limits of ecosystems, reducing resource over exploitation and depletion, preventing toxic waste polluting the environment and increasing efficiency in utilisation of input resources to produce more output. SCP is all about using less to achieve as much as possible. It recognises the need to grow and prosper but untangles it from environmental degradation by stressing on methods to improving resource efficiency and leading sustainable lifestyles by reducing wasteful consumption. These efforts can also lead to alleviation of poverty and development of green and clean societies.
Sustainable consumption emphasises on the importance of being aware about the impact of a consumer's choices on the health of individuals, the quality of our environment and the well-being of the society at large. It must be noted here that sustainable consumption does not insist on consuming less but rather consuming better and more efficiently with minimising risk to our environment and our health. It insists on buying goods and services that promote a sustainable living. Sustainable production on the other hand, focuses on the production aspect of goods and services, their environmental, social and economic impact on the society at large. The emphasis is on improving the production processes to reduce their harmful effects on humans and the environment and to maximise efficiency so as to achieve more with less inputs.
Relevance of sustainable production and consumption in India
Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) encourages social and economic growth within the carrying ability of ecosystems, thus enhancing the efficacy of sustainability in the usage of energy and production processes, reducing the depletion of resources, contamination and waste.
While sustainable consumption focuses on the demand side, sustainable production focuses on the supply side, such as the economic, environmental and social effects of different production and manufacturing processes. So why are these practises very relevant in India? What difference does it make when we follow or don't follow sustainable practices?
As environmental protection initiatives such as awareness about climate change, ecosystem protection and so on are gaining importance, it is becoming more and more evident that our earth is undergoing a massive amount of pressure and strain due to human activities
(unsustainable consumption and production practise), and exploitation of natural resources. If the global population continues at such an exponential rate, and if it were to push 9.6B by 2050, it's been observed that we would require 3 earths to sustain our entire population and their exorbitant lifestyles. An approximate one-third of all food produced each year, equal to 1.3 billion tonnes worth around USD 1 trillion, ends up in customers and retailers' bins due to poor transport and harvesting practices. There is still no access to freshwater for more than one billion people. When considering the energy generation from waste in India, it was found out that a whopping 5600 Mw (enough energy to satisfy the entire Delhi's power demand) could be generated, also keeping in mind we use all of our industrial and urban organic wastes.
Around 15-20% of the renewable energy generated in India is going to waste due to wind and solar energy variations and the lack of adequate electricity storage facilities in India. This is a typical example of obstacles faced by renewable energy technologies followed in India. While these problems can be solved by sustainable consumption and production, which aims to "do more and better with less", sustainable development will be achieved not only through the growth of our economies but also by minimizing waste.
Business Implications and Responses
The single biggest culprit, the cause of climate change and its many repercussions, is the rise in the air's carbon dioxide levels. Till 250 years ago, the air's carbon dioxide levels never rose above 300 parts per million (ppm). Since 1750, this number has skyrocketed decade-after-decade and currently stands at around 410 ppm. This rise in the atmospheric CO2 levels can be attributed to the advent of the industrial revolution and the subsequent rise in demand and consumption. Of course, businesses are at the heart of the industrial revolution and thus form a major focus area for the implementation of this sustainability goal.
The rate at which people worldwide are getting alleviated out of poverty and entering the middle class is on the rise. This increases demand for goods and services, which in turn incentivizes businesses to produce more. Thus, the need for natural resources, which are already constrained, is expected to rise. This is why companies have to be responsible in their actions. They need to ensure that every stage of their operations – from sourcing of raw materials to manufacturing and production to transportation and distribution – meets sustainability criteria.
Businesses should also divert resources to finding new innovative solutions that aid sustainable consumption. They need to conduct studies to understand their products' complete environmental impact throughout their product life cycle. Once this is done, they should identify the areas that on improvement would provide the maximum environmental advantage and work on solutions to improve them. Technology can and should be leveraged in developing these solutions. Additionally, companies can collaborate to find solutions to common problems that span across a particular sector.
Governments and global organizations can aid, push, and incentivize businesses to make their practices more sustainable. An example of this is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) establishment, which aims to transform the palm oil market, which has been a devastating industry for the environment, and make sustainable palm oil the norm. RSPO is a collaboration between various palm oil industry sectors – from oil producers to retailers to investors and bankers – and has developed universal standards for the industry. They currently have almost 5,000 global members and have certified over 17 million palm oil tonnes as sustainable. Such collaborative efforts are the need of the hour in various sectors to ensure that this SDG's targets are met.
Businesses also need to understand the drive for sustainability, and profits are not mutually exclusive. There is no more prominent example of this than the American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. Tesla vehicles are undeniably more eco-friendly than conventional vehicles. What is astonishing is that Tesla’s market capitalization is greater than any other major American car company. In fact, it is greater than the nine largest automakers combined. The Tesla Model S was rated by multiple consumer reports as “best car ever seen”. This is a perfect example of how businesses can boost their bottom lines by leveraging the experience of sustainability to provide customers with exceptional products.
By 2050, agricultural production is expected to increase by 60% and water demand by 55%. With resources already severely strained, the onus falls on businesses to leverage their power and talent to drive innovation that solves these difficult problems. While companies have started realizing the need for change, more needs to be done. The push for this change can either come internally, from consumers, or via regulation. However, businesses can create a more significant sustainable impact than any other stakeholder and we should hold them accountable for the same.
Analysis and Way ahead
To attain sustainable consumption and production, we need to have few targets and potential indicators of the growth. We discussed a few of these targets and indicators below:
Sustainable public procurement: It is a process in which organizations procure goods or services in a way that accrues benefits to both themselves and the society keeping the environmental impact minimal. On average, total public expenditures (including consumption as well as investment) by both central and local governments account for almost 20% of the GDP in OECD nations (15% in non OECD countries). Therefore, sustainable procurement presents India an opportunity to save under this header and consume responsibly.
Awareness and symmetry of information: Making sure that the public understands the importance of adopting sustainable practices and thereby changing their attitude is essential for ensuring a smooth transition to SCP (sustainable consumption and production). Some ways to initiate this change would be--making sustainable development a part of curricula and increasing labeling requirements as well as sales volume of eco-labelled goods.
Create and implement a 10-year framework: This framework should consist of a program on sustainable consumption and production. It should contain promotional and regulatory policies on renewable energy. Government consumption should first become sustainable and then ask the suppliers to practice sustainable practices. The framework should also contain regulations on the usage of hazardous materials.
Target to achieve sustainable use of natural resources by 2030: There is a high level of depletion of the natural resources and degradation of the environment. Hence, the energy produced should be used efficiently across the energy chains in India. All the natural resources such as biomass, minerals, and fossil fuels should be considered while the state is coming up with the key indicator for the sustainable use of natural resources.
The food waste must be halved: Goals should be set to reduce the food waste created at both the consumer and the retail level by at least 50 percent. In India, there are abundant malnutritioned kids and people dying out of hunger. Sustainable processes should be established to reduce food waste and utilize leftover food efficiently. Food wastage and loss happen during different stages of food production such as packaging, distributing, processing, storage etc. Ideally, each of these stages should have a key indicator to quantify the wastage of food. The government of India should spend its monetary resources on infrastructure for supply chain and storage.
Food Waste has to be tackled (source)
Sustainable management of chemicals and harmful waste: India was a victim of many chemical tragedies, the most painful of them being the Bhopal tragedy. Five lakhs plus injuries and 15 thousand deaths were caused due to the gas leak. After this disaster, India played a significant role in Stockholm, Basel and Rotterdam. Three hundred seventy-three districts in India produce over 4.4 million tonnes of hazardous chemicals. Policies and standards should be made around the safe handling of the chemicals which are being produced in 1464 Major Accident Hazard units of India.
Changing practices
Indian Companies, for instance, are working towards aligning and integrating practices with the goal of producing and consuming responsibly. They are seen to have increasingly promoted resource efficiency and development of responsible (sustainable) infrastructure within the workplace. To exemplify, companies are adopting green-practices, the most common ones being dry waste management, recycling, in both day-to-day as well as crucial parts of business activities. Shifting to the use of glass cups or biodegradable alternatives for beverages as against previously used single-use plastic products are some more examples. Therefore, reducing and recycling waste has become one of the most adopted eco-actions for private companies.
Taking the case of Flipkart, the e-commerce giant has recently moved into a new office building in Bengaluru where it has replaced paper cups with ceramic and glass counterparts. Employees have also been given stainless steel bottles that they can use and refill whenever required. Quoting Nagaraj Kulkarni, “This one move is helping us save 4,000 litres of potable water every week, and not add 10,000 plastic bottles to landfills every year”.
Interestingly, many companies have chosen to work with nonprofits and social enterprises that provide waste-audits, designing and maintaining waste management systems, monitoring waste generation and disposal, etc as services. One such social enterprise is Waste Ventures India, which is currently working with around 13 companies, including Infosys, Google India, HUL, and Amazon India, among others.
Way ahead
Even though India has certain elements captured in varied policies, India still does not have a comprehensive policy supporting and encouraging sustainable production and consumption. Adopting an integrated framework should be a starting point for India towards solidifying efforts in this direction. Just like energy efficiency, India must give equal importance to efficient usage of other resources like water and minerals. While India’s per capita consumption remains low, it must adopt measures to ensure delinking of economic progress from heavy resource consumption. India should come up with standards and policies on food waste reduction and disposing of harmful chemical waste. India’s economic growth is dependent on the resource consumption, this link should be disassociated to achieve sustainable consumption and production goals. Recycling and reusing must be inculcated as regular practice for both producers and consumers.
On a positive note, the government of India has launched awareness programmes and campaigns like the Clean India Mission, Make in India and Smart Cities. Efforts should be made to track their progress, promote these campaigns and steer their direction towards mainstreaming resource efficiency and sound waste management.
SIP company sustainability reports
https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/pdfBuilderDownload?name=sustainability-all-in-june-2020
https://www.rb.com/media/5706/sustainability-insights-2019.pdf
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