Group6_C | SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Introduction
The 12th
Sustainable Development Goal of Sustainable Consumption and Production was
introduced to focus on increased economic wellbeing coupled with efficient
resource use and preventing environmental degradation. As we analyse why
sustainable production and consumption are essential in modern times, we try to
understand whether having less also means having less capability and explaining
how even with the minimum use of resources, an organisation can extract the
maximum profits that also positively impact in the long run.
With more
than 5 million tonnes of plastic dumped each year and one-third of the food
produced is wasted, there is an urgent need to pay greater attention to the
life cycle of products and services that we consume. If the current patterns of
consumption and production continue with only a focus on short term economic
viability, the planet will not be able to sustain itself for future
generations.
The SDG
focuses on shifting to SCP patterns by engaging with governments and fostering
partnerships with industries and businesses to shift towards green economies.
By focusing on policies to prevent overconsumption and mitigate the economic
gap, it aims to promote sustainable lifestyles and come up with resilient
societies.
Relevance of SDG to India
India is the
third largest emitter of greenhouse gases and is responsible for approximately
6.9% of the global emissions, hence making the issue of effective resource use
vital for the country. With the large amount of waste and pollutants generated
in the country, it is a major challenge, with only about 20% of the urban waste
processed. There are a number of flagship schemes which have been launched by
the government, namely The National Policy on Biofuels and the National Clean
Energy Fund to encourage increasing sustainability in both consumption and
production. The country can save 500 billion units of energy by focusing on
energy efficiency and sustainable infrastructure.
With the
signing of the Paris Agreement on 2nd October 2016, India has been actively
treading on the path of achieving economic growth while also focusing on
sustainability. We should encourage recycling and reducing at both the
industrial, business, and personal level to reach sustainable patterns of
consumption while also focusing on food security to help build a resource
efficient economy by 2030. More and more Indian companies like Flipkart and OLX
are adopting the SDG in their workplace and integrating green practices like
recycling and dry waste management in their day-to-day operations which makes
cost of recovery more efficient by saving resources.
Business Implications and responses
Businesses have
been playing an important role in transforming the consumption and production
systems, however, a product-based sustainable consumption approach will not
suffice and there is a huge potential to make significant progress.
Many Indian
companies are now trying to integrate SDG 12 in their core business activities
by adopting strategies for energy efficiency, resource conservation, and
responsible consumption and production methods such as recycling products and
efficient waste management. Firms are becoming increasingly focussed on
becoming “green” with the additional incentive of capturing the environmentally
conscious consumers.
There are
several ways in which companies can ensure sustainable consumption and
production patterns, some of which include instituting an internal carbon
price, increasing energy efficiency across the value chain, reducing packaging
and recycling products, reducing water consumption in the production processes,
and raising awareness among their respective consumers.
Being among
the top polluters in the world, some of the leading FMCG companies such as
Nestle have championed carbon pricing, by setting an internal price high enough
to keep their greenhouse gas emissions in control in order to contribute to
reduction in the global plastic pollution levels.
Walmart has
launched the Sustainability Leaders Shop that helps consumers find products
made by companies that score the highest on the Walmart Sustainability Index
and help them understand how some companies are doing better than others with
regards to sustainable production.
Tech giants like Microsoft have been committed towards increasing computing power per unit of energy consumed across devices and offers power management tools and efficiency enhancement features.
Analysis
and suggested path ahead:
Natural
resources are the foundations for building an economy. The poor households,
that form 22% of population in India (Below Poverty Line), are directly
dependent on natural resources for food, fuel, shelter, and livelihood. Therefore,
let us analyse where we are and what we can do to make our consumption of food,
water, and energy responsible along with an analysis on waste management.
Food
Each year,
1.3 tonnes of food gets wasted or lost, which is 1/3rd of all food
produced in the world [1]. Given 14% of Indian population is
undernourished, this is a serious concern from the human development aspect for
India too [2].
India
majorly faces the food wastage problem at two levels:
1. India faces structural and financial
limitation in harvesting techniques, storage, and transport. This leads to most
food loss in harvesting and transportation part of the supply chain. This is in
contrast to the problem in consumption and marketing strategies in more
developed countries, leading to food wastage in the last legs of the supply
chain.
2. An interesting study in fact revealed
that while people take care not to waste food at homes, substantial amounts is
wated in social gatherings that forms 15-25 percentage of all food wasted [3].
While the Government has voiced the need
for regulation of food wasted in social gatherings at hotels, restaurants and
weddings, there has not been any progress or change observed towards its
adherence.
While the
above two challenges can only be tackled through change in agriculture
infrastructure and social behaviour in the long run, some initiatives can help
reduce wastage and redirect the excess. Partnerships with charity organisations
and food banks can help in ensuring donation of extra food from hotels and
retail outlets to those in need. The expired food can also be used for biofuel.
Water
India only
has around 4 percent of world’s renewable water resources for 18 percent of the
world’s population. The uneven distribution of this already scarce resource
only makes the situation for the country worse.
- Underground water
Majority of household consumption in India rely on underground water. It caters around 85 percent of rural demand, 60 percent of irrigation demand and 50 percent of urban requirements. Also, 91 percent of this water is used for irrigation [4]. The uneven and unregulated extraction and exploitation of groundwater is well beyond recoverable levels.
The only solution to
contain the exploitation of underground water is raising consciousness about
the overall scarcity and economic value of water and helping the public with
proper infrastructure requirements (e.g., rainwater harvesting) to reduce
wastage and inefficient use.
-
Water bodies
Despite being endowed with several rivers and other clean
water bodies, India suffers acute shortage of clean water from them. While the
unequal supply to different geographies, leading to scarcity in some areas and
overuse in another, can be partly blamed for the same, rapid urbanisation and
unrelenting stress has led to serious encroachments. For example, in 1960,
Bangalore housed 262 lakes, of which, only 10 hold water today.
The solution to the overuse and encroachment is government
intervention in planning the equal distribution of the scarce resource to
different regions, especially in the emerging urban areas. Also, it is
important that local people get encouraged to collaborate with other
stakeholders to utilize the water resources sustainably and ensure protection
and conservation of the same.
Energy
The
extraction of primary resources has tripled over the last four decades, which
has led to severe environmental degradation and depletion of reserves of these
natural resources. If the world population is expected to reach 9.6 billion by
2050, almost three planets would be required to provide the necessary natural
resources to sustain current levels of lifestyle [7]. India is the
3rd largest consumer of primary energy globally (5.8% of the global share).
India is mostly dependent on fossil fuels to meet its energy requirements.
Around 80% of the country's electricity is by way of fossil fuels [8].
Globally, 29% of the energy is consumed by households, contributing 21% to
global CO2 emissions. The reserves of fossil fuels have reached abysmally low
levels due to rapid development and increasing population globally. According
to Our World in Data, oil and natural gas reserves would only last around 50
more years and coal only 114 years based on the energy consumption and
extraction levels of 2015 [9]. Even after advances in renewable
energy production, only 20% of the global energy was produced through renewable
resources.
Therefore,
it is needed to shift to the sustainable production of energy and try curbing
the demand immediately. One way is to shift to renewable sources that can solve
the problem of depleting reserves and safeguard the planet in terms of reducing
pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss. The governments should create
a conducive environment to influence the economies as a whole while promoting
the extraction of energy through sustainable ways themselves to drive
innovation in these sectors. They can collaborate with businesses to foster
research and innovation in sustainability sectors and encourage them to shift
their business practices to be more sustainable. They should also spread
awareness among the citizens on responsible consumption of energy to reduce
wastage.
Waste
Due to
unsustainable consumption and production, the waste generated over the years
has been increasing. Every year 4.8 to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic is dumped
into the oceans. Electronic waste has been growing at 4-5% annually, causing
severe damage to ecosystems [10]. India has seen waste generation
increase rapidly due to rapid urbanization and development. According to a World
Bank report 2018, India was the biggest waste generator globally at 277 million
tonnes annually. This number is expected to reach 543 million tonnes by 2050.
Out of the total waste generated, 77% of the waste is dumped openly, 18% is composted,
and only 5% is recycled. Of the total waste collected in the country, only 20%
is processed further, and the rest is dumped in landfills [11].
Around 1.9 million tonnes of e-waste was also generated in India in 2016 [12].
The government has a set of solid waste management rules, but it has not
resolved the problem. They are hardly followed.
Given that
most of the waste generated in India consists of organic waste, it has an
immense opportunity to compost a lot of it. The informal waste collectors and
recyclers play a crucial role in the Indian economy in segregating and
recycling the waste. The government should try and spread awareness among
citizens to segregate the waste at its source only. 'Swachh Bharat' and other
campaigns launched by states are a step in the right direction, but they lack
financial penalties, and hence the results have not been effective. India can
also look for a decentralized waste collection system by educating and training
the informal sector recyclers on proper segregation and recycling. This can
help reduce the burden on the centralized waste collectors and help them focus
on recycling complex waste. Further, public-private partnerships can be
explored to collect waste and foster innovation in treating these wastes.
Conclusion
India will need
to spend a lot to effectively manage its waste at the current waste generation
level. But once done, it can be compensated by attracting more tourists to a
cleaner India. It will also reduce the expenditure on public healthcare due to
excessive pollution that waste generation causes. It will also help save money
in terms of the relief work done in the monsoon floods that occur due to choked
drains due to plastic waste. Moreover, new job opportunities can be created in
search of creating wealth through waste as well. We believe that India should
not follow the West's unethical trend of dumping waste to developing countries.
Instead, Indian citizens and the government should focus that the country
should not reach the extremely high per capita waste levels as that in the
West.
References:
[3] https://www.consumeraffairs.nic.in/sites/default/files/FoodWastage_0.pdf
[4] https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/water/challenges-in-the-management-of-water-in-india-58275
[5] https://d306pr3pise04h.cloudfront.net/docs/issues_doc%2Fdevelopment%2FSDGMatrix-ConsumerGoods.pdf
[9] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/years-of-fossil-fuel-reserves-left
[10]https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25764/SDG12_Brief.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management_in_India#E-waste_in_India
[13] https://www.recycling-magazine.com/2020/05/06/waste-management-crisis-in-india/
[14] https://corporate.walmart.com/article/sustainability-leaders-shop
[15] https://www.asianpaints.com/sustainability/pdf/Sustainability%20Report-2019-20.pdf
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