A Reasonable Consumer for Responsible Consumption & Production.

Economic growth is a perennial theme that rules modern day discourse with entire nations & their government investing thousands of man-hours as well as big money into planning, implementing & monitoring various programmes to achieve ever-increasing targets of economic growth. Economic growth has a direct bearing on the standard of living, absolute poverty levels & life expectancy of a population. However, to ensure that people everywhere enjoy peace & prosperity by 2030, and well into the future, as emphasised in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by UN member states, it is imperative that economic growth march hand-in-hand with sustainable development measures. To put things into perspective, globally, energy needs account for 60% of total green-house gas emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions caused by humans need to fall 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 reaching net-zero around 2050 to limit climate change catastrophe. It is pertinent to note here that carbon dioxide emissions stood at 38.47 billion metric tonnes in 2010, rose to 43.04 billion metric tonnes in 2019 before hovering just over 39 billion metric tonnes in 2020. The problem at hand is acute which can only be managed through sweeping policy changes, heightened sense of our impact on the planet, technological breakthroughs, greater entrepreneurship in this area as well as intentional effort by each of us, as consumers, to adopt more planet-friendly lifestyles. 

SDG 12, which is ‘responsible consumption & production, brings into focus the need to reduce our ecological footprint by shifting the demands we make on the planet to maintain modern day lifestyles. It is alarming to realise that, as per 2018 data, it would take nearly 1.7 planets to fulfil the demands of the global population. This number is much higher when developed & highly industrialised nations are considered alone. Ecological footprint takes into account how fast we consume and generate waste to meet our needs for energy, housing, timber & paper, food & fibre and products from fisheries. With an ecological footprint of 1.2 global hectares per person per year, in 2017, India’s per capita bio-capacity deficit, which is the difference between how much a country consumes compared to how much its ecosystems can renew, stands at 0.8 global hectares. 

In this regard, the UNDP has set various global targets. Amongst the comprehensive list of global targets, relating to efficient use of natural resources, waste handling, reduction of waste in the food industry among others, there are some that are critical for ensuring continuity of sustainable development across the globe, well beyond the 2030 timeline. The following are stepping stones that will help nations & communities develop indigenous solutions to local challenges that threaten the planet by disturbing the ecological balance of nature. Some of these are as follows:

i. By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information & awareness for sustainable development & lifestyles in harmony with nature

ii. Support developing countries to strengthen scientific & technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of development.

Sustainable Lifestyles & Education is one of the six components of the UNDP’s 10-year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption & Production. 

A short quiz on www.footprintcalculator.org will take the test-taker through a battery of questions about lifestyles choices, commute, primary energy sources & waste generated by the test-taker’s household. This is a great starting point, where the test taker finds out her/his own ecological footprint as well as a deep dive into its components. Finally, it ends with useful suggestions that nudge the test taker in the direction of sustainable lifestyle choices. Most people from the developed & industrialised nations will be appalled to find out that their seemingly innocuous lifestyles, if maintained for the rest of the world population, may require 3 or 4 or even more planets. 

For most people, the biggest chunk of their ecological footprint comes from carbon dioxide emissions, which result from using fossil fuels for powering our homes & commuting to work. At present, globally the share of renewable energy is only 20%. India has made some progress in this aspect with 26% of its energy needs being met through clean sources. An encouraging policy environment & increased focus on renewable sources such as wind & solar energy, by major oil companies is a positive shift in energy consumption patterns, which could help India achieve its target of generating 40% of its energy from clean sources and thereby cutting on carbon emissions by 30-33% by 2030. 

It is significant to note the impact social entrepreneurs can create in the sphere of sustainability. Santipada Con Chaudhari, the ‘Solar Man’ of India who developed the first centralised power station, was able to successfully introduce solar energy in the villages of Tripura by procuring government funding in the 1980s. Availability of clean energy has contributed significantly to the economic progress in the region. Today, there are various start-ups invested in making electric vehicles widely available in the Indian market. Take the case of Hyderabad based Gear Head Motors, who help convert existing bikes & auto-rickshaws into electric vehicles. A combination of the right policy initiatives, such as the India Inclusive Innovation Fund, set up to scale innovation, and entrepreneurial initiative from within local communities, is the need of the hour to propel progress in a manner that’s least hurtful to the planet. There are several inspiring examples within the country where indigenous innovation has led to creative problem solving for local communities. With seed funding from IIT Bombay, Thane based RuKart Technologies, makers of on-site ‘sub jee-coolers’, have been able to provide a low cost solution to the problem of spoilage of food crops. The unique ‘subjee coolers’ work on the evaporation principal and hence do not require the additional investment in power utility. Solutions like these can hugely help mitigate the challenge of wastage in the food industry, at a time when forests are increasingly being converted into croplands while 2 billion people go hungry or malnourished. The food industry alone accounts for 22% of total greenhouse gas emissions. 

As consumers of various goods, we must be conscious of the impact we create. For those of us, consuming a animal products based diet, perhaps, once a week or once a fortnight, we can decide to try a refreshing vegetarian recipe. Vegetarianism or vegan food choices can help reduce emissions by 63-70%. 

A single pair of jeans, requires 3781 litres of water, from the production of cotton to the final delivery to the store. Investing in good quality items of clothing or including outfits made from up-cycled fabric can help shift our pattern of consumption over time. While, we can immediately make easy tweaks to our lifestyles, we can also control how are homes are designed & built to be environment-friendly. Households can cut water use by 45% just by installing water efficient fittings and fixtures. An important first step on the journey towards sustainability, is awareness of our impact as well as the availability of smarter alternatives for our needs. In this regard, social media is significant in not only gaining mass traction for ideas around sustainability but also connecting consumers to conscious businesses that offer products & services that supportive of our planet.

Written by Pearl Singh