This course provides the student with an introduction to Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)1, the 12th of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).2 This goal seeks to ensure more sustainable consumption and production patterns. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012 reaffirmed that "the promotion of more sustainable patterns of consumption and production is one of three general objectives and indispensable requirements for sustainable development" and that "Fundamental changes in the way societies produce and consume are indispensable for achieving global sustainable development" and adopted the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP)3.
The course draws on the resources of the 10YFP in support of the standalone SDG #12, and specifically, its information and knowledge platform on SCP to enable stakeholders to share tools, initiatives, and best practices.
The course examines production and consumption systems with an emphasis on life cycle sustainability assessments (LCSAs) of different products involving material, energy, and monetary flows, as well as the impacts of production and consumption of all actors – workers, local communities, consumers, and society itself – along the respective value chains.4 This evaluation process focuses specifically on social, environmental, and economic management systems, reflecting the three pillars of sustainable development (SD) along the value chains of specific products.