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.

Elsevier,

Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, Volume 4: Encyclopedia of Ecology (Second Edition), 2019, Pages 344-351

This book chapter addresses goals 11, 12, and 15 by showing that human population growth is not the only matter for consideration in ecological engineering. What matters for the future is not only how many people there will be, but what they will do in their everyday life; this will impact the life systems surrounding them and how equipped they will be to face emerging challenges. In coming decades, the survival and well-being of humans and the security of environmental resources will continue to be challenged by rapid population growth.
This solution-focused report — the fourth in its series — offers 10 new markets which could help get the Global Goals back on track, such as blockchain-based land rights for Goal 10 and energy-efficient cooling for Goal 13. The report aims to demonstrate how global sustainability challenges and risks can be seen as opportunities.
Water resources are an essential and determining factor for food production, ecosystem health, and socio-economic development. The socio–economic water cycling system is a complex adaptive system. Changes in the socio-economic system at the macro level, such as industrial transformation, technical progress, and water price reform, will have impacts on water resources utilization at the micro level.
Elsevier, TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Volume 109, December 2018
This review discusses the identification and quantification of microplastic (MP) using Raman microspectroscopy (RM). It addresses scientists investigating MP in environmental and food samples. We show the benefits and limitations of RM from a technical point of view (sensitivity, smallest particle sizes, speed optimizations, analysis artefacts and background effects) and provide an assessment of the relevance of lab analyses and their interpretation (sample sizes for the analysis, uncertainty of the analysis).
Elsevier, TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Volume 109, December 2018
The Mediterranean Sea is affected by one of the most significant plastic pollution worldwide. This review critically evaluates the most recent literature on the presence of microplastics in sediments, suggested to be long term sinks and have a high potential to accumulate this kind of marine debris. A picture of microplastic levels in coastal environments is given, evidencing information gaps and considering also estuary, lagoons and areas influenced by the contribution of rivers. A wide range of contamination levels has been found, with the highest in lagoon and estuary environments.
Elsevier,

TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Volume 109, December 2018

Explore in-depth analysis on microplastic pollution in soil, its ecological risks, and innovative analytical methods for managing this emerging challenge.
Microplastics pollution in aquatic ecosystems has aroused increasing global concern, leading to an explosive growth of studies regarding microplastics published in the past few years. To date, there is still a lack of standardized methodologies used for the detection of microplastics within environmental samples, thus hampering comparison of the reported data.
The chapter advances goal 2 by discussing the need for a shift in dietary patterns from animal-derived protein to plant-based protein, particularly in the more developed economies.
To advance goals 12 and 6, this article reviews the exposure scenarios and potential mechanisms of action after exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) that are unbound or incorporated into products in occupation-, consumer-, and environment-focused areas.
Elsevier,

Insects as Sustainable Food Ingredients, Production, Processing and Food Applications, 2016, Pages 1-27.

This chapter addresses goal 2 by demonstrating the feasibility and value of insects as a sustainable commodity for food, feed and other applications.

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