Sustainable Production and Consumption

CONSUMING SUSTAINABLY-About consumption and 

production patterns

INTRODUCTION

The issue of ‘sustainable development’ has been a favourite of development economists for more than four decades. A very important constituent of this expansive concept which was getting step-motherly treatment was ‘sustainable production and consumption’.

It assumed the status of ‘everybody’s issue’ when the 1992 Earth Summit took place. The resultant Agenda 21 became famous as it clearly challenged the callous attitude that the West had adopted till then in the areas of sustainable production and consumption.

The OECD countries took an initiative and arranged a series of meetings to understand and act on the multifaceted issue of sustainable consumption. The second Oslo symposium (1995) ultimately succeeded in stating an ‘umbrella’ concept of sustainable development and worked out broader concepts to initiate policy measures.

This Briefing Paper looks at the evolution of the concept of sustainable development and subsequently evaluates the concepts chosen by the OECD countries to frame their policies and its relativity with the problems faced by developing countries.

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