sustainable consumption and production trends challenges

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Sustainable consumption and production: Trends, challenges and

options for the Asia-Pacific region

Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder

Abstract

This paper highlights current trends in consumption and production patterns in Asian developing countries and emerging

economies. It describes the main challenges and opportunities for Asian countries making the transition towards sustainable

consumption and production patterns. The main challenge for Asian economies is to address the unsustainable consumption

patterns of urban consumers, which entails a policy shift from the current focus on pollution and inefficient industrial

production. In view of future consumption trends and the global convergence of consumption patterns, the characteristics of

the emerging global consumer class are examined, with particular focus on urban ecological footprints and carbonemissions. Furthermore, the difference between urban and rural consumption is discussed, together with opportunities for

low-carbon urban development in the megacities of Asian developing countries. To conclude, the paper presents an overview

of current policy measures taken in Asian countries to green economic development and realise sustainable consumption and

production patterns.narf_1275 4..15

Keywords: Sustainable consumption and production; Asia, Carbon footprint; SCP policy.

1. SCP a comprehensive approach for

addressing global environmental change

Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is a

comprehensive approach based on lifecycle thinking. It is

increasingly recognized as an analytical perspective to

understand the complex social, economic and political

drivers of global environmental change, including the

current challenge of global climate change. In addition, the

SCP approach offers a multitude of practical approaches

and policy tools to achieve a resource efficient and low-

carbon economy and to support societies in adapting to

changing global and local environments.

SCP has developed out of the approaches and initiatives

for cleaner and efficient industrial production that have been

implemented in the industrialized countries of Europe,

North America and Japan over the past 30 years. As a result,

the economies of these countries have improved resource

productivity (or eco-efficiency) in many production systems

and industrial processes. An example is the stabilization of

direct material consumption in countries like Germany,

Japan, the UK and Austria since the 1970s as GDP

continues to grow. While relative decoupling throughefficiency gains has been achieved at national and local

levels, an absolute decoupling of global resource use,

environmental degradation and socio-economic

development has, however, not been realised. As a result of

the current resource-intensive economic growth paradigm,

annual global extraction of biotic and abiotic resources has

constantly increased from about 40 billion tonnes in 1980 to

about 58 billion tonnes in 2005. It is anticipated that this

trend will continue and annual resource extraction rates will

grow to 80 billion tonnes by 2020 (Bleischwitz et al., 2009).

Relative decoupling of resource use and environmental

impact has been happening to some degree in OECD

countries over the last decades, but increases in overall

global consumption levels have worsened absolute

environmental impacts and the condition of the natural

environment, including the atmosphere.

The main reasons why absolute decoupling has not been

realised on a global level include, among others, unrealised

potentials in resource efficiency, inability of markets to

successfully disseminate cleaner technologies, subsidies for

fossil fuels and resource-intensive industries and the

globalization of value chains which has resulted in

outsourcing of polluting and inefficient industrial

Wei Zhao is the Team Leader of the SWITCH-Asia Network Facility at the

UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable

Consumption and Production, SWITCH-Asia Network Facility,

Wuppertal, Germany. E-mail: [email protected].

Patrick Schroeder is a short-term expert for the SWITCH-Asia Network

Facility.

Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 415

2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works


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production to developing countries. Another, often omitted,

reasons and the main theme of this paper is increasing levels

of household consumption.

The vision of the SCP approach is to achieve absolutedecoupling of economic growth and human well-being on

the one hand, and resource consumption and greenhouse

gas emissions on the other (see Figure 1). Economic growth

continues to be highly relevant for developing countries,

including those in Asia, to reduce poverty and improve the

living standards of their populations. In contrast, in many

industrialized countries the economic growth paradigm is

increasingly being questioned and alternatives such as

qualitative growth or even zero-growth are proposed

pathways for industrialized countries (Tichy, 2009). A new

focus and measurement for development and achievement

is quality of life that does not depend on material opulenceand increasing incomes. The reason for this emerging shift

in thinking is, as has been shown through various studies,

that after achieving annual income levels of about US$

15,000 PPP per capita life-satisfaction scores and happiness

indices do not increase significantly (Jackson, 2009).

In addition to measuring and supporting the efficiency

improvements for resource and energy use on the micro-

level (companies, households and products), it is important

to implement measurement systems and policy instruments

at the global (macro) level, in a way that allows monitoring

and limiting of the planetary growth of material and energy

use. The main goal is therefore absolute decoupling or

dematerialisation, a decreasing absolute level of

environmental pressures of both resource use, pollutants

and greenhouse gases. This needs to happen even in a

situation of continued economic growth for the countries

still struggling with persistent poverty and under-

development. For industrialized countries it means

re-focusing of societies living high-impact lifestyles based

on unsustainable material consumption towards low-impact

lifestyles.

To realise this vision it is necessary to apply the

appropriate analytical tools to make sense of the

complexities of global production and consumption

systems. Therefore, the most fundamental SCP approaches

are based on lifecycle thinking aiming to transform the

consumption and production patterns of goods and services

along the value chain. Different products exhibit hot spots

areas responsible for the highest output of greenhouse

gases in different places along the value chain. In steel,

aluminium or cement, for example, the upstream orproduction phases of the value chain use most energy and

emit most gases. For energy consuming products, the

downstream phase in the value chain is more important

and is nearer to the consumer rather than the producer.

Taking the case of computers as an example, the main hot

spot in terms of energy consumption and climate change

impacts is the use phase during which three times more

emissions are generated than during the manufacturing

stages (Kirby, 2008). For private passenger vehicles,

lifecycle analyses have shown that more than 80% of GHG

emissions are generated during the use phase while driving

the car (WWF-UK, 2008).

Through lifecycle thinking in general, and specificallythrough the methods of lifecycle analysis (LCA) and

lifecycle management (LCM), many companies and

researchers have become aware that the total footprint of

many products, such as textiles, vehicles or agricultural

products, can only be measured, and ultimately reduced, by

considering all parts of the value chain. It is no longer

enough to just consider the environmental impacts of

in-house operations in the manufacturing processes, which

in most cases is not the hot spot phase with highest

environmental impacts. Identifying and improving systems

and practices in hot spot areas will naturally have the most

effect in reducing environmental impacts such as GHGemissions. By not focusing on the hot spot areas, as is the

situation in most economies now where 80% of the current

efforts focus on 20% of the risk (WWF-UK, 2004), the

extent to which human society could mitigate global

environmental changes is very limited. The potentials lying

upstream and downstream of the value chain need to be

explored further to make significant progress towards

sustainability (see figure 2).

Moreover, the value chain approach is important

precisely because of the structure of the global modern

economic system. Industrialized countries have over the last

decades typically tended to move progressively away from

domestic manufacturing while developing countries,

particularly in Asia, have become the global hub for

resource and emission-intensive industries. In

industrialized countries the demand for consumer goods has

at the same time increased, therefore more and more

finished goods and semi-finished component parts are

imported from abroad. A products many materials and

components are now being supplied, manufactured and

assembled by a multitude of companies, particularly small

and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), from different

locations and often located in Asia. The environmental hot

Figure 1. Sustainable consumption and production seeks to decouple

life satisfaction and economic growth from resource use and greenhouse

gas emissions.

5Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 415



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spots of the value chain have shifted, effectively

outsourcing many energy and emission intensive processes

to developing countries, in particular in Asia (Kuhndt et al.,

2008).

2. Urban lifestyles and high-impact consumption

patterns in Asia

To achieve absolute decoupling at a global level, it is not

only necessary to explore all the options that are

technologically and economically viable. In addition more

efforts need to be directed towards addressing unsustainable

consumption issues.

On average, a European citizen uses three times as many

resources as a citizen in a developing country, American

citizens about five times as many. Correspondingly,European or North American citizens are responsible for

about three to five times the emissions of a person living in

a developing country. However, the exclusive focus on a

countrys aggregated per capita emissions is limited as it

does not show the differences of consumption levels of

different social groups within countries. To gain a clearer

picture, the focus needs to be extended to examine the

lifestyles of rich consumer classes, which are increasingly

not only found in the industrialized countries of Europe,

Japan and the US, but also in emerging economies such as

India, China, Mexico and Brazil. While the industrialized

nations of Europe and North America are still the prime

culprits of resource-intensive consumption patterns, the

rapid growth in economic activity and incomes in the Asia-

Pacific region has revolutionized access to modern

consumer goods and services for many Asian consumers.

The consumption patterns of millions of consumers in

the newly industrialized countries of the Asia-Pacific region

are now converging with those of western industrialized

countries especially among younger generations. This

emerging social group is known as the global consumer

class and comprises mostly urban consumers who share

certain elements of a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption

regardless of cultural background or nationality they are

likely to live in modern apartments equipped with

electronic appliances and gadgets, have access to

information technologies and global brands, own cars,

travel by air, etc. In 2004 this global consumer class already

totalled 1.7 billion people of which almost 40% or 680

million lived in Asia (Worldwatch Institute, 2004).

Over the last decades the Asia-Pacific region has notonly become a global manufacturing hub, but it is now

home to an emerging consumer class. In Singapore, one of

the most developed cities in Asia which is often used as a

benchmark for prospective development trends of other

Asian cities, over the past ten years households consumed

64% more electricity, 21% more water, and generated 21%

more solid waste (Singapore Ministry of the Environment

and Water Resources, 2009). In India, a large population

segment of more than 100 million people leads an affluent

lifestyle. However, this is no more than 1015% of the

population of this large country, and the majority of Indias

people live still in poverty (Mahajan, 2008). Overall, the

consumer class in Asia is now estimated at around 600million people, already more than in Europe and North

America combined. As in other parts of the world, the

consumptive lifestyles of the rich consumer classes are the

main drivers for unsustainable economic growth that set

off increasingly higher levels of industrial production for

consumer goods, based on intensive use of mostly non-

renewable resources. Changing consumption patterns in

Asian countries, by sheer virtue of their population sizes,

forebear major environmental impacts, including massive

greenhouse gas emissions. These will not stem mainly

from industrial production as they do today, but from

increased demand for electric and electronic goods, use ofprivate cars, processed and protein-rich diets based around

meat and dairy, as well as space heating and cooling for

buildings. It is estimated that by 2020 about 700 million

Chinese will be part of this global consumer class,

compared to about 100 million today. In terms of

spending, this increase in consumer numbers translates

into a five-fold increase in urban consumer spending over

the next 20 years, to US$ 2.3 trillion per year (McKinsey

Global Institute, 2008). Asian urbanisation trends are

therefore major drivers of economic development and

social change, resulting simultaneously in massive changes

of consumption and production patterns. Over the next two

to three decades, 80% or more of future urban

infrastructures in Asia will still be built and by around

2035 the urban population will have grown by 70% to

more than 2.6 billion people (ADB, 2006a).

At the same time as the consumption patterns of millions

of urban consumers in the newly industrialized countries of

the Asia-Pacific region are converging with those of western

industrialized countries, there are still stark differences

between rural and urban consumption patterns in many of

these countries. The urban rich living more and more like

their counterparts in the industrialized countries, while the

Figure 2. Opportunities for greenhouse gas emission reductions through

SCP along the value chain.

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rural poor and many slum dwellers continue to suffer from

lack of access to basic services such as energy, clean water,

food, health care or communication technologies. While the

urban rich need to reconsider their lifestyle choices, the

poor still need to increase their material consumption levels

in order to escape poverty and achieve acceptable standards

of living in a sustainable way.

2.1. Comparing urban ecological footprints and CO2emissions

Taking the case of China as an example, ecological

footprint analysis shows that there are large differences

between rural and urban footprints. The rural ecological

footprint lies between 0.8 to 1.2 hectares per inhabitant,

while the urban footprint can be as high as 3 to 6 hectares

per inhabitant (Salat, 2008). The global convergence in

urban lifestyles has resulted in convergence of ecological

urban footprints. The megacity of Beijing has a footprint

of about 4 hectares per inhabitant, which is comparable to

Tokyo. Shanghai has an ecological footprint of 7 hectaresper inhabitant, comparable to that of Singapore, estimated

to be 7.2 hectares per person (ADB, 2008), which is

comparable to the average urban European footprint.

Looking only at Chinas mean ecological footprint of 1.6

hectare per inhabitant, which is still below the global

average of 2.2 (CCICED & WWF, 2008), is therefore not

giving a complete picture of the situation. High urban

ecological footprints are closely related to per capita

energy consumption, CO2 emissions and carbon

footprints. In most Asian counties per capita emissions are

still below world average. However, urban per capita

carbon emissions are much higher than rural emissions.For example, in China the ratio between urban and rural

per capita energy consumption is 6.8 (Dhakal, 2009).

This comparison of cities globally shows that urban

consumer lifestyles of people living in Chinese and other

Asian megacities are becoming comparable in terms of their

environmental impact to those cities in the industrialized

countries of Europe and Japan. In 1999, Beijings and

Shanghais annual per capita CO2 emissions were 6.9

tonnes and 8.2 tonnes, respectively (Satterthwaite and

Dodman, 2009), and rose to 11.9 tonnes and 16.7 tonnes,

respectively in 2006 according to a study by the Global

Carbon Project (Dhakal, 2009). Comparing cities globally,

the carbon emissions of many Chinese urban citizens are

now higher than those of their counterparts living in, for

instance, Tokyo (5.8 tonnes in 2003), London (6.95 tonnes

in 2003) Seoul (3.8 tonnes) or Barcelona (3.4 tonnes)

(Dodman, 2009; Dhakal, 2009). Similarly, in 2005 the city

of Bangkok had annual per capita carbon emissions of 7.1

tonnes, which is equal to the carbon emissions of New York

City (ROAP-UNEP, 2009) The comparison of urban carbon

emissions also shows that compact cities tend to be more

resource efficient and climate-friendly and sustainable than

sprawling cities.

As cities consume the majority of the worlds energy,

urbanization is a crucial factor in climate change.

Particularly in developing countries, where 90% of growth

in urban areas is projected to take place over the next 20

years (World Bank, 2009), cities will be key to the future

evolution of global warming. The urban solution to climate

change lies in cities density. While most cities derive more

than 70% of their energy from fossil fuels, people who livein more dense city centres, on average, often produce 30 to

50% less greenhouse gas emissions than inhabitants of

spread-out cities with extensive suburbs (World Bank,

2009). Denser cities use less energy for transportation,

which lowers transport-related emissions, can provide

access to services at lower cost, and better implement

energy efficiency measures. This advantage of denser cities

is due to a range of factors, including among others well-

designed public transport infrastructure, reduced need for

motorized personal transport, waste management and

building efficiency. The World Bank Report (World Bank,

2009) shows that well-designed and well-governed cities

can combine high living standards with much lowergreenhouse gas emissions. Currently in industrialized

countries, the highest carbon emissions can be attributed to

people living in sub-urban and rural areas, while urban

consumers often have up to 50% lower carbon footprints.

3. Housing, mobility and food: projections and

sustainable options for Asian countries

Studies analysing consumption and production patterns in

the European Union have shown that in modern urban

consumer lifestyles currently three demand areas areresponsible for about 7080% of the overall environmental

impact of consumption and production. They are also

thought to be the causes for about 70% of the global

warming potential in the European Union (Tukker et al.,

2006). These demand areas are housing, mobility and food.

Even though reliable data are missing, it is likely that these

three main demand areas of human consumption are also

responsible for the highest environmental impact in Asia

but the underlying characteristics are contextually different.

Traditional Asian lifestyles, which are still common in

many countries, particularly in rural areas, are generally

less damaging to environment and climate. For example,

there is more communal than individual housing in Asia, the

number of occupants per unit is much higher, and

traditional construction is based on natural materials like

wood and mud. For food production and consumption,

traditional and organic agriculture are still common, there is

less packaging and refrigeration of food, less processing

and fewer food miles. In the mobility sector, private car

ownership is still the exception, rather than the norm. While

it is obvious that Asias future development path should not

mirror that of Europe or the US, consumption trends in

many regions have changed and are approaching western




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consumption patterns. Addressing future challenges in Asia

through SCP approaches will possibly be most effective by

focusing on these three demand areas. In the following

sections the current development trends in these three

demand areas are illustrated and feasible SCP development

pathways are discussed.

One of the greatest challenges in reducing the

atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases lies with buildingsand housing. At the global level, residential and commercial

buildings account for 1015% of all greenhouse gas

emissions. In Asia, by around 2035 the urban population

will have ballooned by 70% to more than 2.6 billion people

(ADB, 2006a). More than half the construction going on in

the world is now taking place in China and by 2030 this one

country is expected to have more than 200 cities each with

over one million people (McKinsey Global Institute, 2008).

The lifecycle hot spot for a building is its use phase, i.e.,

when people are living in it. About 80% of the total energy

used throughout the lifecycle of a building is consumed at

this time. Electric appliances contribute significantly to this

increase in energy consumption in housing. In Bangkok, forinstance, the market for air conditioners grows at a rate of

15% per year and has contributed to a 240% increase in

residential electricity consumption over the past 20 years

(Wangpattarapong et al, 2008). Energy efficient building

solutions reducing the need for heating or cooling should be

designed and realised early on, at the design phase of any

construction project. There are no one-fits-all solutions;

these will have to be tailored to geography and climate. For

example, in China most energy is needed for space heating

during winter, while in India and South East Asia most is

needed for cooling during hot summer months. Building

solutions which consider local climatic conditions aretherefore the best fit.

At the global level and in Asian countries, greenhouse

gas emissions from the transport sector continue to grow

rapidly. The increase is mainly due to the private use of cars

and air travel. The share of emissions from the transport

sector is projected to rise to about 25% if business-as-usual

patterns of mobility prevail. This would constitute a

dramatic increase in emissions of more than 85% between

2000 and 2030 (Meyer et al., 2007). In Asian countries,

urban road transport continues to grow at very fast rates and

poses many challenges to sustainable urban development.

Private car sales are growing fastest in Asias newly

industrialized countries and the total number of motor

vehicles on the road is expected to rise from 300 million in

2005 to more than 1.2 billion in 2025 (see Figure 3). At

present, private car ownership is low, only 2% of the

population in China and less than 1% in India, compared

with 4050% in Europe and North America. But this level

is expected to rise steeply, and estimates put the number of

private cars in China at 190 million, and in India at 80

million, by 2035 (ADB, 2006b) Passenger air travel in Asia

is increasing equally fast. In 2006, China became the

worlds second largest air transport market. In 2007 more

than 185 million passengers travelled by air and the market

continues to grow at an annual growth rate of 13.5% (Liu

and Luk, 2009).

As with buildings, about 80% of the total emissions of amotor vehicle are generated during its use phase.

Improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions in

vehicles is one approach to low-carbon mobility. Getting

efficient vehicles on the market can be encouraged by

setting efficiency standards, improving labelling for buyers,

or changing public vehicle fleets towards greener cars to

lead a market-pull. Developers are already working on the

next generation of vehicle technologies, including battery-

electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and hydrogen fuel cell

electric vehicles, powered by renewable energy. They may

be niche markets at the moment, but many companies,

including manufacturers in China and India, are working tomainstream them.

However, a purely technological transformation of the

transport sector will only reduce emissions to a certain

degree. Vehicle and fuel technology with reduced emissions

and improved efficiency alone cannot be expected to

provide the emission cuts in the transport sectors needed to

reduce CO2 emissions. According to a scenario by the World

Business Council for Sustainable Development called

Mobility 2030, the best case scenario for reducing

emissions by 2050 with improved technologies would only

bring them back to the levels of 2000 (WBCSD, 2004).This

is relevant for both industrialized and developing countries,

particularly in cities. It is therefore necessary to reduce the

kilometres driven per vehicle. If it requires people to take

public transport, cycle or walk instead of taking a car, it is

more of a lifestyle or urban planning issue, than a technical

one. Therefore more awareness-raising is needed, to

encourage consumers to make greater use of public

transport, to cycle and walk more, and to avoid excessive air

travel. The right policies are also important, to improve

sustainable urban planning and expand public transport

systems using existing infrastructure (e.g., motorway lines

exclusively used for coaches). Such options offer good

Figure 3. Emissions from the transport sector will continue to rise

alongside the growing number of motor vehicles.

Source: Clean Air Initiative for Asian City Centres (2008).




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potential for saving energy and reducing emissions (WWF-

UK, 2008). Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) systems are suitable

solutions to address these issues and have already been

successfully implemented in several Asian megacities. An

example is found in Jakarta where the first BRT corridors

were introduced in 2004. The BRT shows high performance

and has generally been well received by users, with

relatively low capital investments for infrastructure andsmall or no operational subsidies (Hidalgo and Graftieaux,

2008).

The impacts of food production on ecosystems,

biodiversity and the global climate have long been under-

estimated. Until recently most discussions relating to the

food and drink sector have focused on food miles and

transportation. Food is often transported over long

distances, which accounts for around 10% of the food-

related climate impact. But the food production phase, in

contrast to the demand areas of housing and mobility, has a

much higher impact, and contributes more than 80% of

food lifecycle emissions (Weber and Matthews, 2008).

In particular, emissions and environmental impactsfrom meat and dairy production and consumption require

attention: they have the highest impact and are responsible

for up to 80% of all emissions from agriculture, and for

18% of global greenhouse emissions. The latter figure is

even expected to double by 2050 (FAO, 2006). On

average, red meat is around 150% more greenhouse gas

intensive than chicken or fish, and beef, lamb and shrimp

are even worse (UNEP, 2008). World meat consumption

increased from 47 million tons in 1950 to 260 million tons

in 2005, with consumption per person more than doubling

from 17 kilograms to 40 kilograms (FAO, 2005).

Traditionally, Asian diets have been low in dairy and meatproducts, with fish and soy as the main sources of protein.

With around 55 kg consumed per capita per year in China,

25 kg in Thailand, 10 kg in Indonesia and less than 5 kg in

India (Richter et al., 2009), they still are low relative to

the 112 kg consumed per person in the United States, or

even the 89 kg per person consumed in Europe (FAO,

2006). But, as Asian incomes rise, meat and dairy

consumption are rising too. This is driving overgrazing,

water consumption and desertification not only in Asia,

but is also contributing to deforestation in South America.

One of the main feed supplements for animal farming

today is soybean meal. In 2005 only 15 million tonnes of

the 220 million tonnes of the worlds fast-growing

soybean harvest was consumed directly, while the rest was

used for beef, pork, poultry, milk, eggs, and farmed fish

production. In Brazil, large-scale soybean cultivation

started in the late 1990s and has become one of the main

drivers for deforestation. The area of soybean plantations

in the Amazon has grown by 3.3 million hectares between

2000 and 2006 (Volpi, 2007). China, the worlds largest

importer of soy, is expected to import about 40 million

tonnes of soybeans in 2009, mainly from Brazil, Argentina

and the US (China Daily, 2009), most of which is destined

to feed the countrys growing pig population which had

risen by 5% to more than 469 million head by the end of

2009 (Reuters Analysis, 2009).

In the case of South Korea, population and food

consumption patterns have already outrun the countrys

own land and water resources. South Korea is now heavily

dependent on corn imports. It has recently also become a

leading country in land acquisition overseas. For example, itsigned a deal for some 690,000 hectares (1.7 million acres)

in the Sudan for growing wheat mainly to sustain its

livestock and poultry production (Brown, 2009).

Not only production of meat and dairy, but also that of

luxury food products such as coffee, often planted for the

consumption in industrialized countries, is causing severe

damage to ecosystems in Asia. For example, nearly half the

rainforests in Sumatra have been lost since 1985 as a result

of coffee plantations. In addition to the negative effects to

the global climate through rainforest loss, illegal plantations

in protected areas are pushing endangered species such as

forest elephants, rhinos and tigers towards extinction

(WWF Indonesia, 2007).Companies and retailers can use sustainable supply chain

management practices to ensure sustainable food

production upstream in the value chain. Consumers have

the power to influence how food is produced by exercising

choice when making purchases and this can be strengthened

by eco-labelling food products. Carbon footprint

information is useful, but issues such as water use,

eutrophication or land-use change should also be

considered. Again, awareness-raising activities targeting

consumers can help them avoid diets which are having a

negative impact on the environment. Interestingly, high-

impact diets are also usually unhealthy. Being able to makechoices based on organic, seasonal, and local food, and to

cut down on meat and dairy products, offers good potential

for both improving health and reducing the impact of food

production on the climate potentially by a factor of three

(WWF and SEI, 2005).

4. The role of policy to promote SCP1

4.1. Global economic crisis realised opportunities or

business-as-usual

Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis andeconomic recovery plans, many Asian countries have

implemented stimulus packages, partly dedicated to

greening the economic structure. The effects of some of

these measures are now visible in the recovery that is

occurring across the region. The Thai governments Strong

Thailand programme is nominally worth around US$ 42

1 We would like to thank Mr. Sudkla Boonyananth from the Thailand

Environment Institute (TEI) and Ms. Han Wei from the China Standard

Certification Centre (CSC) for providing us with information about

national SCP policies.




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billion, or 16% of GDP over three years. China announced

a US$ 585 billion package in November 2008 which,

together with a stimulus provided by local governments

equivalent to 24% of GDP, amounts to about 1012% of

the countrys GDP. South Korea and Japan have stimulus

packages worth about 5.5% of GDP, similar in size to

programmes in India, the Philippines and Vietnam.

According to a report by HSBC, many governments areallocating large shares of their fiscal stimulus spending to

green initiatives. South Korea tops the list in terms of

percentage (more than 80%) of overall spending, whilst

China leads in terms of the size of planned green spending

(US$ 200 billion) (HSBC, 2009).

As governments design financial packages to stimulate

economic development, innovative policies are important to

determine the future direction of government spending and

economic development. The danger is that fast economic

recovery based on business-as-usual principles will be

promoted to prevent unemployment, at the expense of

environmental policies. In this scenario, relaxed

environmental policies and unsustainable industrialdevelopment will continue to be supported.

Officially, Chinas stimulus package includes a range of

measures, such as support for renewable energy

companies and environmentally-friendly investments and

policies, specifically related to rail transportation

investments, upgrades to the electric grid (more than 1.1

trillion yuan), and waste and water management. Railway

investments are a large component of Chinas plans to

spend more than five trillion yuan (US$ 730 billion)

overall on constructing more than 16,000 kilometres of

railway track for transporting passengers. Furthermore,

280 billion yuan (US$ 41 billion) are allocated forhousing projects which could be a major boost for

improving energy and water efficiency in buildings. In

practice, the implementation of the stimulus has not been

as successful and green as set out in the plan. The bulk of

the stimulus spending has been funnelled into energy-

intensive sectors and large infrastructure projects. So far

the main beneficiaries of the stimulus package have been

cement, iron and steel producers. Many of the projects

supported by the stimulus package had previously been

halted by negative Environmental Impact Assessments

(EIA). A negative side-effect of the stimulus package is

the establishment of a fast-track system for stimulus

package projects which can bypass the regular EIA

procedures (Horn-Phathanothai, 2009).

Another obstacle on the path to sustainable development

is the strategy to stimulate consumer spending, which in the

short term might encourage economic development and

growth, but in the long term perpetuates the underlying

unsustainable patterns of consumption and production.

Overall, the green stimulus packages might help to

overcome the economic crises, but cannot be expected to

solve the long-term systemic issues regarding unsustainable

consumption and production systems.

4.2. Looking beyond short-term economic recovery

Currently, many policies globally as well as in Asia focus

only on increasing industrial energy and resource efficiencyand reducing GHG emissions on the production side. In

order to mitigate the impacts of global environmental

change, innovative sets of policies targeted at consumers are

required as well. Innovative policies positively influencing

consumption patterns are particularly important.

Scaling up SCP solutions with climate change mitigation

and adaptation benefits requires effective and strong policy

support. Although most SCP solutions are carried out by

businesses or civil society, it is policy which enables certain

SCP solutions to become the mainstream way of doing

things. A number of region-specific policy instruments

for climate change mitigation through SCP alreadyexist, including economic, regulatory, informational,

cooperational, and educational instruments (CSCP, WI,

GTZ, 2007). Figure 4 presents a general overview of the

instruments which have already been successful in

promoting SCP in a number of Asian countries.

In addition to current stimulus packages, some Asian

countries have adopted strategic policy frameworks to

promote sustainable consumption and production.

However, most countries, including developing countries in

the Asia-Pacific region, do not have a comprehensive policy

on sustainable consumption and production yet, but would

have much to gain from building on this new approach.

While policies, regulations and actions for SCP and global

environmental issues such as climate change are often

considered to be separate domains, there are many

important overlaps. Through integrated policy-making

addressing industrial production, resource and energy

efficiency, consumer behaviour and climate change jointly,

further progress can be made to address unsustainable

consumption and production patterns.

An important solution to the challenges is the integration

of national sustainability programmes into National Action

Plans (NAP) for SCP. National Action Plans for SCP are

Figure 4. Policy instruments for SCP and climate change mitigation.

Source: Kuhndt et al. (2007).




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often still under-developed, not implemented across all

sectors or even missing altogether. The lack of integration

between policies often stems from lack of coordination and

division between principal institutions of governance. To

accelerate progress towards SCP in Asia, government

agencies dealing with finance, trade and economic

development and those dealing with SCP, climate or the

environment can cooperate on many issues. Table 1

provides an overview of already established NationalAction Plans in the Asia-Pacific region.

In Thailand, the National Sustainable Consumption

Strategies have been developed to accommodate the 10th

National Economic and Social Development Plan, which is

effective from 2006 to 2011. The plan aims to achieve

sustainable development via traditional Thai cultural and

religious principles of moderation and sufficiency.

Thailands National Economic and Social Development

Board (NESDB) together with environmental NGOs,

particularly the Thailand Environmental Institute (TEI),

have played an important role in the drafting of the relevant

strategies. This cooperation and design of national SCP

strategy is the first step towards implementing clear and

continuous policies, public infrastructures, and mechanisms

to create knowledge and awareness of sustainable

consumption. The SCP strategy is a comprehensive

systematic approach with the overarching goal to increase

the happiness of the Thai population through sustainable

development (see figure 5).

The government of South Korea is developing a policy

framework vision of Low Carbon, Green Growth strategy,

which was presented by President Lee on the occasion of the

60th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea on

August 15, 2008. A Presidential Commission on Green

Growth was established in February 2009. In July 2009 the

National Strategy of Green Growth was adopted along with

the first 5-year (20092013) rolling plan. South Korea is also

working to enact a Framework Law on Green Growth. As a

means of green transportation, the expanded use of rail and

bicycles will be promoted. A green lifestyle index will be

developed for citizens and a nationwide green life

movement, dubbed Green Start, will be launched.Furthermore, a carbon footprint labelling system for goods

will be enacted.

In China, SCP is officially promoted through the Circular

Economy Law, adopted in 2007. It has the potential to have

a very significant impact, especially for new developments

in the metals and mining, petrochemical and construction

industries. It includes stricter controls on emissions and

waste, promoting the re-use and recycling of water and

energy efficiency in industrial production. Since the

implementation of the Circular Economy Law, carbon

emissions intensity has decreased by 10.1% and sulphur

dioxide and chemical oxygen demand (COD) has already

decreased by 8.95% and 6.61%, respectively (Xiong, 2009).

The circular economy policy framework is, however,

mainly concerned with reducing industrial pollution

through effective industrial waste management. Issues of

unsustainable consumption practices are so far not

comprehensively addressed at the national policy level. In

addition to the circular economy law, other policies dealing

with consumption behaviour are also emerging in China.

One policy example addressing the issue of unsustainable

use and disposal of plastic bags is the Plastic Bag

Restriction Order. Plastic bags have become a major

Table 1. National Action Plans in the Asia-Pacific region

Country SCP NAP Policy (year) Description/ focus

China The Law on Circular Economy (2006) Ecological efficiency in economic development;

Construction of eco-industrial parks;

Public participation;

Extending producer responsibility

Indonesia Sustainable Consumption and Production

Programme (under development)

Support for Indonesia National Action Plan on climate change

Japan Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound

Material-Cycle Society (2003)

Restrain the consumption of natural resources;

Reduction of material input and resource extraction;

Waste minimization (3Rs);

Reduced energy consumption

Korea SCP as Implementation Task in the National

Strategy for Sustainable Development (20062010).

Eco-labelling;

Procurement of environmentally friendly products in public and private sectors;

Dissemination of cleaner production technologies;

Establishment of Eco-Industrial Parks

Thailand SCP strategy is one of the four national strategies

of the 10th National Economic and Social

Development Plan (20062011)

Provide basic needs and quality of life;. balanced state of happiness, self

sufficiency, and social security;

Education and public awareness campaigns;

Reduce government subsidies for dirty production;

Taxes on dirty industry sectors;

Promote government green procurement

Source: UNEP-DTIE website at www.unep.fr.




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source of pollution across the whole country. From June 1st

2008 the order prohibits the free distribution of plastic

shopping bags by retailers and shopkeepers. Furthermore,

the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags

thinner than 0.025 millimetres has been banned in China

under a State Council decree. So far, after over a year of

implementation, the policy has shown some degree of

success. Large retail chains and supermarkets havesignificantly reduced the number of plastic bags handed out.

However, surveys undertaken by Chinese environmental

NGOs and researchers show that the current policy

design and implementation is insufficient to address the

issue of increasing waste through plastic bags in the long

term. In street markets and smaller cities, plastic bags are

still widely used. Often the main obstacle is the

unwillingness of consumers to change their purchasing

behaviour. Other issues that need to be addressed are

double charging by supermarkets (as the cost for plastic

bags prior to the legislation was included in the prices for

products), lack of sustainable substitutes, and lax

enforcement (Xing, 2009).

To address energy consumption in buildings from

lighting, China has now initiated the third stage of the

Green Lighting Programme, which started in 1996. The

programme consists of several components including

among others pricing, product quality standards, market

promotion and consumer awareness. As part of the

programme the Chinese government started a financial

subsidy plan for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)

promotion in 2008. The main goal of this subsidy plan is

to make CFLs more affordable to consumers. So far, the

main consumers of energy-saving lamps in China are

high-income urban groups. They have higher awareness

of environmental protection and can afford the higher

price for CFLs. In July 2009, the third stage of the

programme which addresses quality standards was started.

Presently the third version of CFL performance standards

and the limited quantity requirement of toxic and

hazardous substances in lighting electrical appliances are being updated (China Standard Certification Centre,

2009).

Regarding urban transport, increase of private vehicle

ownership and air pollution continues to be a major

issue for many Chinese cities. To control the growth of

vehicles in Chinas urban centres, policies have been

implemented at the city level. The examples from Beijing

and Shanghai show that different demand side

management policies influencing private car ownership

and car use can have very different effects. To reduce the

use of cars the Beijing Municipality has adopted a number

plate regulation, while the Shanghai Municipal

Government has adopted policies to restrict the purchase

of private vehicles such as high registration fees for

private vehicles. The result of these different policies is

that, although personal income level in Beijing is lower

than it is in Shanghai, private vehicle ownership is much

higher. New policies for SCP can also be conflicting with

existing ones. An example is the Beijing Municipal

Government which has adopted policies to stimulate the

purchase of private vehicles, such as the provision of

mortgages for vehicles and the reduction of relevant fees

for vehicle use (Liu et al., 2007).

Figure 5. Thailands formulation of National SCP Strategies.

Source: NESDB & TEI (2008).




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While not all countries have established national action

plans for SCP, some Asian countries are planning to

implement some specific polices targeting unsustainable

consumption patterns and development trends in the

areas of housing, mobility and food. In Singapore, for

instance, an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable

Development (IMCSD) was set up in January 2008 to

formulate a national strategy for Singapores sustainabledevelopment. The strategy sets targets to achieve

reductions in environmental impacts through changing

unsustainable consumption habits and becoming more

resource efficient. For instance, a 35% improvement in

energy efficiency from 2005 levels by 2030 is planned.

The country wants to attain a recycling rate of 70% and

aims to reduce domestic water consumption to 140 litres

per person per day by 2030. In the area of mobility the

plan is to improve accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists

and have 70% of all trips made via public transport. The

instruments through which to achieve these goals include

setting energy prices to reflect the environmental impact

of energy production and to encourage conservation. Afurther aim is to have 80% of existing buildings achieve at

least a Green Mark Certification rating by 2030. The

Green Mark Scheme is a rating system to evaluate the

environmental impact and performance of buildings.

Buildings can be awarded Certified, Gold, GoldPlus or

Platinum ratings, corresponding to an energy efficiency

improvement of about 1015, 1525, 2530 or more than

30% respectively. Other criteria include water efficiency,

site/project development and management, indoor

environmental quality and environmental protection, as

well as innovation. The government will introduce

minimum energy performance standards for householdair-conditioners and refrigerators by 2011. Furthermore, to

encourage civil society participation, the government will

make available funding to help NGOs spearhead new

initiatives, facilitate more networking platforms, both

locally and overseas, to promote cooperation among the

NGOs and encourage the exchange of ideas on sustainable

lifestyles (Singapore Ministry of the Environment and

Water Resources, 2009).

In addition to national policy approaches, regional

initiatives exist to support the transition to an economy

based on sustainable consumption and production patterns

in Asia. One is the Asian Green Growth strategy, lead by

UNESCAP. This strategy has identified five pillars, one of

which is the promotion of SCP in Asian countries.

UNESCAP is undertaking a range of initiatives to assist

governments and policy-makers in the design and

implementation of effective policies to address

unsustainable consumption and production patterns through

regional policy dialogues, workshops and partnership

building activities.

The European Union has implemented the SWITCHAsia

Programme to support sustainable consumption and

production in Asia. With a total funding of more than 90

million Euro for the five-year period from 20082012,

around 60 projects in Asian countries will be carried out

particularly targeting SMEs from various industry sectors,

but also consumer groups, public authorities, and other

stakeholders. The SWITCH Asia Programme further

includes a policy component through which collaboration

with policy-makers is sought to find opportunities in which

successful project results can contribute to successfulpolicy frameworks for SCP.

5. Conclusion

The approach of sustainable consumption and production

(SCP) offers possible and practical solutions to address a

range of global environmental and socio-economic

challenges, including climate change. SCP offers the

potential and necessary tools to create low-carbon and

resource efficient economies. While the resource-intensive

lifestyles of industrialized countries historically and

presently are responsible for the highest impacts, in theemerging economies of Asia similar patterns are taking

hold. The so-called global consumer class comprised of

mainly urban consumers already enjoy equally high-

impact material lifestyles.

For most Asian countries and policy-makers the current

environmental challenges mainly stem from inefficient and

polluting industrial production. Within the next one to two

decades the challenges in the three consumption areas with

the highest environmental impacts housing, mobility and

food will become equally important. Through decisive

action the setting up of sustainable consumption and

production systems in the early and medium stages ofdevelopment can still be realised and Asian societies can

avoid becoming locked-in by unsustainable infrastructures

and consumption behaviour.

Against the backdrop of the current economic crisis, the

coordination of SCP and economic development strategies

is an important challenge for policy-makers. While many

stimulus packages have earmarked green spending for

environmental sectors of the economy, in practice many

opportunities for greening economic development have not

been realised.

So far the gap between existing policies and strategies and

the challenges implied by increasing consumption trends is

the main obstacle to realising sustainable consumption

patterns. However, multiple options for innovative policy-

making for SCP already exist; some have been applied in

differentAsian country contexts with some success although

further adjustment is necessary to improve the effectiveness

of policies.Thisgoal canbe achieved through better dialogue

and involvement of civil society organisations and

businesses, the so-called triangle of change.

Most policies currently in place aim to address the

immediate impacts caused by urban transportation, energy

and water consumption in housing, or waste reduction.




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Policies addressing the demand side of food are still lacking

and will require more attention in the future. This challenge

is related to the indirect environmental footprints caused

overseas. In this respect Asian policy-makers face the same

challenges as policy-makers in Europe and elsewhere.

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