Sustainable consumption within a sustainable economy – beyond green growth and green economies

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.08.045

Journal of Cleaner Production

Volume 63, 15 January 2014, Pages 33-44

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.08.045 Get rights and content

Abstract

In 1992, one unambiguous result of the UNCED conference was the need for changing consumption and production patterns, with affluent countries taking the lead. 20 years later, at the 2012 UNCSD, little is left over and instead the “green economy” has been the theme pursued by the OECD, the EU and other countries. So the question needs to be answered if this is finally an attempt to put into practice what was promised 20 years ago, or another diversion from what needs to be accomplished.

Sustainable development is still a convincing concept, if the original definition is taken, avoiding the confusion caused by partisan interests reinterpreting the concept. Focussing on human needs fulfilment and respecting environmental limits, it can still guide strong sustainable consumption. Green economy/green growth, on the other hand, is a new terminology for what is known since 40 years as ecological modernisation. It is indeed overdue, but with its focus on efficiency and innovation it cannot guarantee to fulfil the Brundtland sustainability criteria. A factor analysis based on the I = P*A*T formula demonstrates how optimistic the assumptions regarding future technologies must be to support the green growth concept. Consequently, the authors pledge for a pragmatic, risk avoiding approach by slimming the physical size of the economy. This requires ‘strong sustainable consumption’ (including production as resource consumption), which in turn requires a change of the societies' institutional settings (formal and informal, mechanisms and orientations).

Finally some elements of a strategy towards this end are pointed out, with special emphasis on the role of non-governmental organisations NGOs. Through networking and advocacy they can both stimulate bottom-up action and mobilise the pressure necessary for the institutional changes which are needed to mainstream strong sustainable consumption.

Section snippets

Sustainable development – still a convincing concept

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:
•
the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
•
the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.”
(WCED, 1987)¹.

Green economy and green growth – no concept to overcome social and environmental problems

Greening the economy is an old demand, and a re-emerging issue of the policy debate every ten years since the early 1970s. By now, the need to ‘green’ our production and consumption is hardly any more denied, while the implications are disputed and the distribution of burdens and benefits is a bone of contention.

Green growth is a political catchword, coined to overcome reservations of the business sector against all kinds of ‘greenery’, regardless of the potential economic benefits. It is at

A factor analysis of the green growth challenge

Like all kind of growth concepts also green growth depends on the promise of technological solutions. For instance it assumes sufficient affordable energy supply without climate impacts through energy efficiency, or expects substitution ending the threat to biodiversity. However, this is a cheque drawn on the future, and nobody can be sure if it will be honoured. As there can be no certainty about future inventions, the precautionary principle suggests a pragmatic approach of stimulating

A sustainable economy – a necessary condition for sustainable development

The green economy as discussed at Rio+20 (United Nations, 2012) cannot provide a solution, although a substantial greening of the economy would be one of the corner stones for the transition to a sustainable society. However, such a transition requires not only sustainable production and consumption patterns, but – as enshrined in the 1992 Rio Principles and in Agenda 21 (UNCED, 1992a, UNCED, 1992b) – more justice and democracy, empowerment of marginalised groups, and international

Making sustainable economies possible

As research on globalisation and sustainable consumption has already shown (Fuchs and Lorek, 2002), intervention points to foster sustainable consumption lie partly inside, partly outside the domain of household consumption decisions, national framework setting or even the regional (e.g. EU) sphere of influence. Recalling the factor analysis (Fig. 2), elements like resource extraction and production are part of the unsustainable consumption system. They are quite often located in developing

Conclusion

Sustainable development is characterized by both: living within the ecological limits and meeting the needs of everyone. The concepts of green growth and green economy claim to fulfil these two aspects. A closer look, however, shows that they will not be able to deliver what they promise. Previous experience shows that growth neither leads to reduced environmental impacts nor substantially reduces poverty. The technology based approach green growth is based on might be a necessary step towards

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Sustainable consumption within a sustainable economy – beyond green growth and green economies

Abstract

Section snippets

Sustainable development – still a convincing concept

Green economy and green growth – no concept to overcome social and environmental problems

A factor analysis of the green growth challenge

A sustainable economy – a necessary condition for sustainable development

Making sustainable economies possible

Conclusion

J. Clean. Prod.

J. Clean. Prod.

Ecol. Econ.

Global Environ. Chan.

Ecol. Econom.

Futures

Ecol. Econ.

J. Clean. Prod.

J. Clean. Prod.

Res. Pol.

Res. Pol.

J. Clean. Prod.

Ecol. Econom.

Ecol. Econom.

J. Clean. Prod.

Ecol. Econ.

Ecol. Econ.

Ecol. Econ.

J. Clean. Prod.

Ecol. Econ.

Organizational development and sustainability of non-governmental organizations in central and Eastern Europe

CEU Polit. Sci. J.

Besser als sein Ruf - Der Sozialstaat als erfolgreiches Modell

Witteilungen

Impact of self-designed products on customer satisfaction

Interdisciplinary J. Contemp. Res. Bus.

Policy Instruments to Promote Sustainable Consumption

Industrial Metabolism: Restructuring for Sustainable Development

Industrial Ecology: Towards Closing the Materials Cycle

Risikogesellschaft: Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne

Overcoming systemic roadblocks to sustainability: the evolutionary redesign of worldviews, institutions, and technologies

Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.

Sozialgeschichte des 15–18. Jahrhunderts Bd. 1–3

An Update to the World Bank’s Estimates of Consumption Poverty in the Developing World

Linking policy and practice in sustainable production and consumption: an assessment of the role of NGOs

Int. J. Innov. Sustain. Develop.

For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy towards Community, the Environment and a Sustainable Future

What is degrowth? From an Activist slogan to a social movement

Environ. Val.

Does money buy happiness?

Pub. Interest

The European Environment – State and Outlook 2010: Consumption and the Environment

Being a pretty good citizen: an analysis and monetary valuation of formal and informal voluntary work by gender and educational attainment

Br. J. Sociol.

Impact of population growth

Science

A New European Consumer Agenda – Boosting Confidence and Growth by Putting Consumers at the Heart of the Single Market

Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe

Design Activism: Beautiful Strangeness for a Sustainable World

Understanding Business Power in Global Governance

Sustainable consumption governance in a Globalizing world

Global Environ. Pollut.

The Affluent Society

Sustainability – a Cultural History

Sustainable Consumer Services: Business Solutions for Household Markets

Ende der Märchenstunde. Wie die Industrie die Lohas und Lifestyle-Ökos vereinnahmt

Ecological Economics from the Ground up

The Party's over

Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, & Risk Managements