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CHAPTER 6: SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION
Summary
6.1 Building on the findings of an evidence-review undertaken for the Sustainable Development Research Network (Jackson, 2005b), this chapter looks at a range of issues, from social, economic and geographical trends affecting consumption levels to individual behaviour and the role of government. The efficacy of a range of policy responses are assessed and current debates about the current state of consumption and possible remedies are outlined.
Definitions and concepts
6.2 Two key players in the consumption process are the state and the consumer. The review examines 'consumer sovereignty', whereby the state practices a 'hands-off' approach to consumer behaviour, allowing the market to dictate levels of consumption, in relation to the need for more sustainable futures.
Global
6.3 Global consumption has risen markedly in recent years as global wealth increases. This wealth, however, is shared disproportionately. Oil is a key issue, particularly its role in the international economy. The urbanization of the world's population is significant, begging a reassessment of consumption patterns and issues. There is also a theoretical debate underway as to the role of government in controlling consumption levels, which has a bearing on the search for effective policy responses, but also raises more philosophical questions about the role of the state.
European
6.4 There are different theoretical perspectives towards consumption and the approach governments should take are evident, with a pluralist Europe, an individualist Europe and an egalitarian Europe all being outlined. The relationship between economic growth and consumption is being analyzed. The question of how to turn seemingly niche markets into mainstream markets for green and sustainable produce also features in debates about consumption levels in Europe, particularly given the effects of globalisation.
UK
6.5 There is considerable concern about the rate at which consumption levels are increasing in Britain, raising fundamental questions about the robustness of previous policy interventions and suggesting the need for a more rounded approach. Information and communication are seen as much undervalued policy tools in the battle to change individual behaviour.
Scottish
6.6 Scotland inevitably shares many of the challenges experienced at the UK, European and international levels. The need to progress towards a less carbon intense economy is seen as a central priority, with reduced car-use seen as key.
Global
Priorities
6.7 Due to a range of independent factors - an increase in the planet's population, advances in technology and business structures, cheap energy and generally rising prosperity - we are currently witnessing something of a 'consumption revolution', with private household consumption topping $20 trillion in 2000, up from $4.8 trillion in 1960 (based on 1995 US dollars). These figures do, however, hide an enormous disparity in spending, with the 12% of the world's population in North America and Western Europe accounting for 60% of global consumption. This disparity is most apparent in household expenditure on food, a startlingly regressive pattern. For example, 1998 figures show the average Tanzanian household spent $375 on food (a share of 67% of total household expenditure) with the average American household spending $21,515 (a 13% share) (Gardner, Assadourian and Sarin, 2004).
6.8 Unsurprisingly, from a global perspective a principle area for concern and considerable discourse is the consumption of oil and its future as an energy source and as a contributor to the international economy (Sabour, 2005).
6.9 The problem of obesity in industrial societies, alongside other central health issues such as nutrition and the sustainability of our daily life-styles, is increasingly salient (Von Schirnding and Yach, 2002). It is significant that obesity and nutrition (and the consumption patterns associated with them) in developed societies are being seen as global issues.
6.10 With the growing urbanization of national populations the world over, a trend recognised in Chapter 8, is that levels of car use in cities and towns is becoming a greater concern (Lafferty, Meadowcroft and Turnock, 1997). That this is seen in consumption terms, rather than as a transport or planning issue, suggests a refocusing of the issue onto lifestyle and cultural factors, which is particularly pertinent given the links between social mobility and levels of car use. China is a foreboding embodiment of this, with industry analysts expecting 150 million cars to be jamming the country's streets, 18 million more than US levels in 1999 (Gardner, Assadourian and Sarin, 2004).
6.11 With such reassessments in mind, a search has begun for stronger indicators of consumption with a firmer theoretical underpinning. A notion that the US, Europe and Japan, having industrialized and created the world in their own image through colonialism and manipulating global markets, should take responsibility for spiralling global consumption patterns is reappearing and gaining prominence (Lorek, Spangenberg and Joachim, 2001). This is not an echo, however, of dependency or neo-Marxist theories, but stems from an assessment of household consumption.
6.12 From a theoretical perspective, a considerable debate has emerged over the last five years as to whether increased consumption necessarily means a rise in quality of life (for example, Jackson, 2005). This is coupled by a considerable critique of previously commonly held beliefs. The neo-classical assumption that consumers are rational and autonomous actors, with the market effectively displaying consumer preferences, is beginning to be debunked. Mass consumption economics, accepting unlimited consumption, conflicts fundamentally with life patterns of the natural world (Gardner, Assadourian and Sarin, 2004), and, indeed, consumption is widely being seen as something inherently more complex, with considerably more complicated social, cultural and psychological factors than a simple economic model can account for (Jackson, 2004). The shortcomings of the neo-classical hegemony in sustainable development policy and practice are noted in other chapters of this review. The concomitant notion of 'consumer sovereignty', key in an industrial society, is also becoming more vulnerable, raising questions of when and how a liberal state can interfere with individual consumption (Jackson, 2005a). Libertarian ideology presents particular difficulties for governments and intergovernmental organisations trying to make sense of 'sustainable consumption'. Some have argued that sustainable consumption is about consuming differently, not less, that it is about consuming more efficiently, or choosing sustainable products (Michaelis, 2005).
6.13 Businesses mostly interpret sustainable consumption as the consumption of sustainable products. An approach based on using technology to attempt to reduce the throughput of resources, a response with similarities to the, arguably too, heavy emphasis placed on innovation in business enterprise, has been criticized as misguided and failing to address the basic, principle problems with global consumption. The technological community are seen by some as being some way behind the policy community and civic organisations when it comes to sustainable consumption (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, 2002; Taylor, 2005). Harder approaches to engagement would involve fundamental shifts in the business model (Haywood, 2005).
6.14 Echoing other topics in this review, is recognition of the need for policy integration when approaching consumption and sustainable development (Taylor, 2005).
Policy responses
6.15 As a recap of the ideas set out at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the UNEP report, Consumption Opportunities: Strategies for change, places a strong emphasis on shared responsibility, not wishing to portion out blame to one area, sector or industry ( UNEP, 2000). At the Johannesburg Summit of 2002, a ten-year framework was presented, placing the burden of leadership with the developed world, and encouraging an integrated approach to implementation ( UN, 2002). Chapter III of the WSSD Plan of Implementation, Changing Unsustainable Patterns of Consumption and Production, aims to promote social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems, delinking economic growth and environmental degradation. The need to increase investment in cleaner production and eco-efficiency, while promoting an integrated approach to policy-making at the national, regional and local levels, is also outlined.
6.16 The UNEP report (2000a), Sustainable Consumption - a global status report, significantly sought a clearer conceptual framework and a definition of sustainable development, recapping on progress made since Agenda 21. This was followed up with the UNEP report (2000b) Tracking Progress - implementing sustainable consumption policies. The OECD Program of Sustainable Consumption focused on household consumption ( OECD, 2002).
Possible lessons
6.17 Travel Smart, Perth, Western Australia, is a community-based programme that encourages people to use alternatives to travelling in their private car.
6.18 The Australian Federal Government's Bag Yourself a Better Environment campaign, launched December 2002, is an education campaign to persuade shoppers to stop using plastic bags, while pushing the use of calico bags. The National Working Group on plastic bags, after assessing the campaign, concluded that a mandatory levy was necessary ( DEMOS, 2003).
European
6.19 The link between globalization and sustainable household consumption is becoming more apparent and better appreciated. Shifts in political capacity brought about by capital concentration and trade liberalization, the increased diffusion of information and increased technological innovation, are changing the nature and quality of regulation, information and intervention regarding the three consumption clusters of food, mobility, and energy (Fuchs, Lorek and Sylvia, 2001). This is a considerable challenge for Europe.
6.20 Economic growth is one of the highest priorities for governments in Europe. There is an assumption that consumption patterns will faithfully reveal personal preferences, with greater levels of consumption increasing consumers' personal utility, in line with neo-classical economics.
6.21 However, there are competing narratives present in European society, suggesting a more complex picture than the widely established 'rational theory' approach - a pluralist Europe, an individualist Europe and an egalitarian Europe, all with different implications for consumption. Two indicate a reassessment of blind faith in the market mechanism, 'hierarchists' advocating a strengthening of social responsibility and law and order, along with a revival of traditional values; 'egalitarians' advocating a strengthening of community, direct democracy and shared values, with an emphasis on social and environmental concerns. Neither narrative is exclusive to the last five years, but when applied to consumption both perspectives offer a clear alternative to more individualist market-driven approaches.
6.22 Governments potentially have an extremely significant role to play, particularly given that, as supply chains become cleaner and more efficient in Europe, household consumption accounts for a growing share of resource use and the environmental burden. There is seemingly a need for new systems of consumption that decouple economic development and quality of life from environmental and cultural deterioration, developed in collaboration with all stakeholders.
6.23 With this in mind, thinking is being directed toward the question of how to turn niche markets (green products) into mainstream markets, along with the necessary institutional changes needed to achieve this, increasing the use of informative instruments (eco-labels, environmental product declarations) and life-cycle analysis. Research into the concept of 'household metabolism' and its potential value has also been undertaken.
Policy responses
6.24 The EU Sustainable Development Strategy encourages individual and collective responsibility toward consumption, emphasising recycling and bio-fuels for transport. The European Environment Agency publication Late lessons from early warnings: the precautionary principle 1896-2000 encourages accessible science-based information and more effective stakeholder participation in the governance of economic activity, targeting environmental and health costs, while trumpeting innovation.
6.25 EU regulatory measures to promote sustainable production and consumption are:
- Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ( WEEE) Directive,
- The End of Life Vehicles ( ELV) Directive
- The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive,
- The IPPC Directive (including BAT requirement)
- The Water Framework Directive
Possible lessons
6.26 International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics ( IIIEE), Sweden, 1995, was created by the Swedish Parliament to undertake interesting work on consumer acceptance and product-service systems, life cycle and integrated product policy.
6.27 The 2000 W per capita society initiative, of the Board of the Swiss Institutes of Technology, targets the identification of major technological breakthroughs to reduce the per capita primary energy use of Switzerland by two-thirds within five decades ( ETH Zurich, 2005).
6.28 The BioEnergy Village, Göttingen, Germany, is a pioneering project to convert the entire heat and electricity supply of a village of 800 people in Lower Saxony to biomass.
6.29 Waste Management (Environmental Levy Plastic Bag) Regulations saw the Irish Government impose a point-of-sale levy on plastic bags in 2002, leading to a 90% reduction in use.
UK
Priorities
6.30 There is considerable concern about Britain's current levels of consumption. The concept of consumer 'lock-in', a product of incentive structures, institutional barriers, inequalities in access, and restricted choice, is a considerable problem. Habits, routines, and social norms, as well as dominant cultural values, contribute to this. Prevailing concepts such as 'consumer sovereignty' and 'hands-off' governance are widely coming to be seen as ineffective and need to be reassessed. Added to this is the fact that, given the lack of impetus from Government, there needs to be better understanding of the nature of voluntary actions and behaviours. Community change initiatives such as Global Action Plan's 'Action at Home' initiative, the Quakers' 'Living Witness' project and the Environmental Issues Network of 'Churches Together' in Britain and Ireland's 'eco-congregations' are good examples of this.
6.31 There is a need for a combination of all approaches from government and statutory bodies, from 'hard tactics' like taxes and regulation to 'soft tactics' like informational campaigns. There are signs that mistrust in society is expanding from a mistrust of criminals to increasing mistrust of governments and the corporate sector, a level of wariness having a disabling effect on communication strategies aimed at changing consumption patterns (Onora O'Neill's 2002 Reith Lecturer, cited in Demos/Green Alliance, 2003). There is, furthermore, considerable ethnographic evidence to suggest that people will be sceptical of or ignore a pro-environmental campaign if it appears inconsistent with other government policy, or is seen to be at odds with the behaviour of other statutory bodies, companies and key social actors (Demos, 2003).
6.32 Inadequate knowledge and information, along with low levels of awareness, are cited as obstacles to the implementation of sustainable practices such as ethical purchasing, recycling schemes and composting. In Britain, recycling at work is significantly less common than recycling at home, a disparity that very much needs to be addressed. The relative merits of eco-labelling are also being re-examined, while a distinction has been made between green consumerism and sustainable consumption (Cooper, 2000).
6.33 Sustainable consumption, it has been argued, requires a combination of efficiency and sufficiency. Increased product durability could be one way of offering this (Cooper, 2004, 2005).
Policy responses
6.34 To put policy responses in context: forty-five per cent of all consumer spending in 2002 was on recreation and transport (mainly spending on the purchase and running of cars). Water consumption per head in households increased by seven per cent between 1992 and 2002 in England and Wales. However, average demand, as measured by water entering public supply, was four per cent lower in 2002 than in 1993, partly as a result of a reduction in leakage. New refrigerators in 2002 consumed on average 36 per cent less electricity than new models bought in 1989 and pesticide residues in food have continued to fall.
6.35 Transport is a central area of concern, with progress clearly not being made in overseas travel or in freight by mode. Overseas flights by UK residents more than quadrupled between 1980 and 2002, and visits to the UK by air more than doubled. Total freight movement increased by 81 per cent between 1970 and 2001. In 2001, 64 per cent of freight transport was by road, similar to the proportion in 1970, whilst the proportion moved by rail fell from 18 per cent to 8 per cent.
6.36 Defra and the DTI (2003) jointly produced Changing Patterns: UK Government Framework for Sustainable Consumption and Production, the first major statement from a government since the WSSD in Johannesburg. In this, programmes for decoupling environmental degradation from economic growth, including funding of the Business and Resource Efficiency and Waste Fund, the waste strategy review, and the review work by the Sustainable Development Research Network on more sustainable consumption and production, are outlined.
6.37 The Sustainable Consumption and Production: Business Support Review (Defra, 2004) contains key objectives such as breaking the link between economic growth and environmental pollution and improving resource efficiency. The review focuses on areas where environmental damage is greatest, examining the whole life-cycle of a product, through design, production, use and disposal, to help reduce its effect on the environment, while enabling consumers to receive more information on products and services.
6.38 Chapter Three of the UK Government's Sustainable Development Strategy, Securing the Future, looks for a major shift in our consumption behaviour, placing an emphasis on innovation. An international vision has been adopted, looking to create a 'one planet economy'. The Government will also convene a new Sustainable Consumption and Production Business Task Force and, significantly, challenges the FTSE All Share and large private companies to report their sustainability performance transparently.
6.39 The Environmental Audit Committee (2004) concurs with this more radical approach:
"If the UK takes an enthusiastic approach to the development of a sustainable consumption and production strategy, it could pave the way for a radical review of the use of resources in the UK. The preparation of such a strategy offers a key opportunity to weave together strands of existing energy, waste and procurement policy and ensure that each reinforces sustainable resource use. We look to the Government to produce a clear vision for sustainable resource use which avoids merely cobbling together existing policies into a strategy for business as usual."
6.40 In terms of communication and attempts to achieve behaviour-change the apparent failure of Defra's Are You Doing Your Bit? Campaign has been significant. When approaching consumption, policy in general is either info-intensive or tax-based and interventionist. In the UK, cigarette advertising offers a good example, though the results are not necessarily positive. (A lesson could be learnt from the example of a California utility which spent more money on advertising the benefits of home insulation than it would have cost to install the insulation itself in the targeted homes.) Traditionally, policy-makers have taken too basic an approach to complex behavioural patterns. A variety of different obstacles and barriers are blamed for this, but generally there is a need to think outside the existing policy option parameters.
Possible lessons
6.41 The Department of Health's Five-a-Day plan: encouraged people to eat five pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables a day and provided free fruit in schools, but was undermined by conflicting and confusing advertising campaigns from different food manufacturers.
6.42 GAP EcoTeams: groups of households who, for four months, commit to monitoring their consumption habits with regard to waste, gas, electricity, water, transport and shopping and aim to make them more sustainable.
6.43 Lambeth's Private Landlords Energy Award Scheme involves the local authority offered landlords 50% grants towards energy efficiency improvements, with interest free loans of up to 25%. Uptake was very low, with the council concluding that although landlords valued the idea of reducing costs through energy efficiency (this concern was not great enough to make them pay upfront).
6.44 Harlock Hill Wind Farm, Cumbria: the UK's first co-operatively owned wind energy project, constructed in 1997 and consisting of five 500kW Wind World turbines.
6.45 Awel Aman Tawe Community Energy Project, Wales: supports and promotes community renewable energy projects and offers advice on energy efficiency to local residents.
6.46 Bedzed, Beddington: the UK's largest 'carbon neutral' eco-village. Initiated by BioRegional, Bedzed provides 100 sustainable, low-energy living for around residents.
6.47 Environmental Action Fund: a Defra-funded scheme; priorities for 2005-2008 include community-based initiatives on sustainable consumption.
6.48 Small Change, East London: a community project run by Global Action Plan, aimed at helping primary school children and their families to use energy more efficiently, eat more healthily and reduce waste and pollution.
6.49 Woking Borough Council: a progressive local council strategy aiming to serve the local community with community heating, combined heat and power and renewable energy.
Scottish
Priorities
6.50 Sustainable consumption embraces a wide range of policy concerns, some of which the Executive has little influence over. For example, product lifecycle issues are a reserved matter for the DTI, as is overall energy policy, although the Executive can set distinct targets for electricity generated by renewables and can promote energy efficiency. Thus, although there was in the past a certain focus on waste-energy-travel (which was not without its critics), there are certainly some constraints on what the Executive can do in this context as regards energy and product lifecycle issues.
6.51 One priority for government concerns implementation of EU Directives that promote sustainable consumption, largely in relation to industry but also, indirectly, to citizens. For instance, the Landfill Directive places obligations on states but clearly has implications for waste separation to facilitate recycling. One of the most significant aims of the Water Framework Directive is the provision of a sufficient supply of good quality surface water and groundwater as needed for sustainable, balanced and equitable water use.
6.52 Breaking the link between economic development and increased consumption, and hence pollution, has been presented as a key priority in debates (Birley, 2001, para 32). This is recognised in the Executive's Indicators for Sustainable Development, which includes an indicator note of progress towards a less carbon intense economy. There is an aim to work towards more efficient use of resources including the reduction of unnecessary car use although this had been hampered by the lack of a national spatial framework and restricted Executive responsibilities in the railway sphere, both of which have now been addressed (see below).
Policy responses
6.53 Scottish legislation to implement relevant EU Directives in this area has included:
- Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000, SSI 2000/323;
- the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003, SSI 2003/235;
- the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003;
- and the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005, SSI 2005/348.
6.54 At a general level, much of the focus of Meeting the Needs, the last Scottish sustainable development strategy from 2002, did concern the theme of sustainable consumption, given that its priorities were more efficient resource use, promotion of renewable energy and travel minimization.
6.55 Internally, the greening of the Executive's procurement agenda is designed to promote more sustainable consumption and to lead by example. The wider issue of efficient use of resources in the business sphere is addressed in the Green Jobs Strategy (2005g) and is considered more fully in the section of the report dealing with Green Jobs and Enterprise, while efficient resource use is also being promoted through the Executive's renewable energy policy and enhanced thermal standards for new buildings.
6.56 There are a number of policy initiatives to reduce car use, such as the National Planning Policy Guideline 17, Transport and Planning and public transport initiatives, including the transfer of most rail functions from Westminster to facilitate devolved control over rail infrastructure and service enhancements. The National Planning Framework adopted in 2004 also provides a clear spatial context for major public transport improvements and shifts the policy framework away from competitive bidding for funds for such projects towards a more coherent national approach, making the delivery of such projects more likely.
6.57 The White Paper Modernising the Planning System envisages that certain types of projects will be regarded as national developments or major developments and the Scottish Ministers will, therefore, be given the opportunity to call them in to deal with them on a national basis. The development planning system is to be reformed to ensure better delivery of policies within such plans. These are policy reforms which certainly have the potential to lead to more sustainable levels of car use. Lorry use has been targeted by the system of Freight Facilities Grants or Track Access Grants available from the Executive to assist a shift to rail or waterborne freight, an initiative which has been largely suspended in England over the past two years, although the Executive has been fairly active in awarding such grants. Provision has also been made for the introduction of congestion charging schemes, but this is counterbalanced by a significant road-building and air travel expansion programmes and the failure of some attempted initiatives, notably the proposed Edinburgh Congestion Charge.
6.58 The importance of communication strategies in trying to encourage more sustainable consumption has long been recognised and acted upon, in for instance, television advertising campaigns that have targeted, for example, energy-saving and car use reduction.
Possible lessons
6.59 Slateford Green, in Edinburgh, is a car-free, low-energy sustainable housing development consisting of 120 mixed tenure units, which has been the subject of positive, independent evaluation (Young 2001).
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