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.

Metal halide perovskite materials have revolutionized the solution-processed solar cells and become the vanguard of research focus with an unprecedented improvement of power conversion efficiencies up to 23.3%, which pose a remarkable challenge to thin film and multicrystalline silicon photovoltaics. Nevertheless, for conventional perovskite solar cells based on lead, it is ineluctable to take the toxicity of lead and the long-term stability of the devices into consideration when the deployment of this technology in mass production is put on the agenda.
Elsevier, TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Volume 113, April 2019
Although the study of the effects of microplastics increased in the last years, terrestrial ecosystems remain less studied. In fact, the effects of microplastics in insects, the most abundant group of animals and major providers of key Ecosystem Services, are not well known despite the potential cascading negative effects on the ecosystems functioning in the habitats where they occur.
Elsevier, TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Volume 113, April 2019
Microplastic (MP) studies in freshwater environments are gaining attention due to the huge quantities of plastic particles reported from lakes and rivers and the potential for negative impacts in these environments. Different units have been used to report MP densities, which makes it difficult to compare data and can result in reports of extremely high concentrations that do not reflect the original sample size. We recommended that the density of MPs from bulk samples be reported as number L −1 , while density from net samples should be reported as number m −3 .
Plastic pollution is a global problem since 2016 when its production reached 322 million tonnes, excluding fibers. Daily discharges of microplastics (MPs, defined as
Lithium ion batteries (LIB) continue to gain market share in response to the increasing demand for electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and energy storage. The increased demand for LIB has highlighted potential problems in the supply chain of raw materials needed for their manufacture. Some critical metals used in LIB, namely lithium, cobalt, and graphite are scarce, are not currently mined in large quantities, or are mined in only a few countries whose trade policies could limit availability and impact prices.
Elsevier, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 104, April 2019
The advent of more proactive consumers, the so-called “prosumers” with production and storage capabilities, is empowering the consumers and bringing new opportunities and challenges to the operation of power systems in a market environment. Recently, a novel proposal for the design and operation of electricity markets has emerged: these so-called peer-to-peer (P2P) electricity markets conceptually allow the prosumers to directly share their electrical energy and investment.
Provides some details about the hydrologic cycle and then discusses the physical geology of groundwaters.
This book chapter addresses goals 9, 12 and 15 by looking at how green nanotechnology can facilitate sustainable methods leading to reduced environmental impacts, improved conservation, and the protection of resources and human health.
This book chapter addresses goals 12, 7, 11 and 15 by looking at the environmental and economic impact of the utilization of biomass resources.
Elsevier, Joule, Volume 3, 20 March 2019
Solar photovoltaic modules have suddenly emerged as one of the cheapest options for bulk electricity supply. In a recent Energy Policy article, Kavlak et al. (2018) describe a methodology for quantifying causes of such cost movements and apply it to photovoltaic modules. Their approach, however, overlooks the “butterfly effect” of serendipitously interacting people and events, without which photovoltaics likely would still be expensive.

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