Sustainable consumption and production

Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is at the core of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically addressed by SDG 12. This goal aims to "ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns," acting as a cross-cutting theme that feeds into other SDGs such as those related to climate change, poverty, health, and sustainable cities.

SCP involves using services and products in a way that minimizes environmental damage, preserves natural resources, and promotes social equity. The purpose is to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, which means pursuing economic development in a way that can be sustained by the planet over the long term. SCP requires changes at all levels of society, from individuals to businesses to governments.

At the individual level, SCP implies making lifestyle choices that reduce environmental impact. This might include reducing, reusing, and recycling waste, choosing products with less packaging, and opting for more sustainable forms of transport like cycling or public transport.

For businesses, SCP entails adopting sustainable business models and practices. This could include improving resource efficiency, investing in renewable energy, designing products that are durable and recyclable, and ensuring fair labor practices.

At the government level, SCP involves implementing policies that support sustainable business practices and incentivize sustainable consumer behavior. This might involve regulations to reduce pollution, subsidies for renewable energy, and campaigns to raise awareness about sustainable consumption.

SCP also plays a role in several other SDGs. For example, sustainable production practices can help mitigate climate change (SDG 13) by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, by reducing the pressure on natural resources, SCP supports the goals related to life below water (SDG 14) and life on land (SDG 15).

While progress has been made in certain areas, challenges remain in achieving the shift towards SCP. These include existing patterns of overconsumption, limited awareness about the impacts of consumption, and the need for technological innovation to enable more sustainable production.

An Article in support of SDGs 2 and 3, identifying the populations whose nutrient needs are most costly to meet, focusing on current food policies and systems
Elsevier,

Agriculture's Ethical Horizon (Third Edition), 2022, Pages 1-15

This book chapter advances SDGs 2, 12, and 15 by explaining how those engaged in agriculture must begin to examine and expand agriculture’s ethical horizon—the full range or widest limit of our perception, interest, appreciation, knowledge, and experience. It is necessary to explore agriculture’s intellectual horizon, because our unexamined, ethical position, may limit what agriculture’s ethical horizon defines. This book will encourage those involved in all phases of the agricultural enterprise to initiate and continue discussion of agriculture’s ethical foundation.
This Comment article supports SDG 3 by highlighting the role and vision of the Pacific School Food Network in fostering healthier school food environments, with the involvement of members from the government, UN agencies, academia, and NGO's representing the areas/sectors of agriculture, biodiversity, education, health, natural resource management, school nutrition and sustainable development.
Elsevier,

Sustainable Production and Consumption, Volume 29, January 2022

This paper explores the potential for sustainable Melamine Etherified Resin (MER) fibre production, where all the required feedstocks could be from either renewable or waste origin.
Elsevier, One Earth, Volume 4, 17 December 2021
Behavioral science approaches to promoting sustainable action have mainly focused on cognitive processes, whereas the role of emotions has received comparably little attention. However, emotions have a great but currently not fully exploited potential to contribute to a sustainable behavior change. In this perspective, we summarize recent research emphasizing the central and indispensable role of emotion in human thinking and judgment.
Elsevier,

Dincer, Exergy - Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, 2021, Pages 61-89

This book chapter advances SDGs 7 and 9 by connecting exergy with three essential areas in terms of energy, environment and sustainable development.
In an explorative, cross-cultural survey, we assessed the underlying cultural concepts of meat, evaluated consumer readiness in four groups of study participants from China (20), India (20), Colombia (20), and Switzerland (20). In addition, study participants and lay people around the world used an app to make their own predictions on important future milestones defined by experts in the field, as a contribution towards a crowd-sourced timeline of the future of cultured meat.
To feed the world's growing population in the future, there must be a protein transition from animal-based to more sustainable, plant-based sources. Hybrid plant-meat products can bridge the protein-transition and are also focused on nutritional and sustainability aspects. While the addition of powdered proteins changes the texture of meat products, textured proteins have been shown to achieve higher sensorial acceptability.
Transition towards more sustainable diets is imminent and marketers are looking for guidance on type of the advertising appeal that could effectively persuade consumers to buy products that could support this transition, such as hybrid products. While prior research has investigated the value of self-interest/-transcendent goal appeals and independent/interdependent self-construal, only a small number of studies have investigated these factors in combination.
Elsevier, Food Quality and Preference, Volume 94, December 2021
Studies on the drivers of household consumer engagement in various food waste reduction strategies have been limited. We thus address this gap by developing a research model that utilises two well-known theories, namely, the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour (TIB) and the Comprehensive Model of Environmental Psychology (CMEP), to explain food waste reduction behaviour in household consumers. The model hypothesises positive associations between emotional, social, and cognitive factors and food waste reduction behaviour, as conceptualised using the 3Rs (reuse, reduce, and recycle).

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