Sustainable Consumption: Stakeholder Perspectives

The document presents a collection of perspectives from business leaders, NGOs, and international organizations on shifting global consumption patterns. It emphasizes that sustainable consumption is not about consuming less, but 'consuming right' by decoupling economic prosperity from resource intensity. The text outlines a four-step roadmap—firming the foundation, rebuilding business, creating new value chains, and establishing balanced systems—to move toward a circular economy. Key contributors discuss specific initiatives, such as the UK's 'Love Food Hate Waste' campaign and the UN's Marrakech Process, while highlighting the need for policy shifts, such as reforming fossil fuel subsidies and redefining GDP to include well-being metrics.

• Sustainable consumption is defined as "consumption that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
• The document argues that sustainable consumption should be viewed as an opportunity for growth and innovation rather than a threat, focusing on reducing the volume of materials used while maintaining or increasing the value delivered.
• A significant 'action gap' exists where consumers express a high willingness to 'buy green' (approximately 95% of American consumers), but this intent rarely translates into actual purchasing behavior due to trade-offs with price, quality, and convenience.
• The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in the UK achieved a 15% reduction in household food waste between 2007 and 2014, saving consumers at least £3.3 billion annually.
• The Marrakech Process, a bottom-up multistakeholder initiative, led to the adoption of the UN's 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) on sustainable consumption and production at the Rio+20 summit in 2012.
• The document proposes a four-step roadmap for organizations to achieve sustainable consumption: 1) Firm up the Foundation, 2) Rebuilding Business, 3) New Value Chains, and 4) Balanced Systems.
• The text advocates for 'decoupling' at three levels: decoupling environmental impact from resource use (circular economy), decoupling resource use from consumption (dematerialization), and decoupling consumption from prosperity (qualitative growth).
• Global fossil fuel subsidies are estimated to be between US$ 600 and US$ 900 billion annually, creating a perverse incentive for consumers to prefer carbon-based fuels over sustainable alternatives.
• The OECD's research indicates that price-based measures are effective; for example, households charged for water on a volumetric basis consume approximately 20% less water than those who are not.
• The document suggests that GDP is an inadequate measure of success because it focuses on material throughput rather than well-being, proposing alternatives like the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) or Bhutan's Gross National Happiness (GNH).

APA

World Economic Forum (2013). Sustainable Consumption: Stakeholder Perspectives. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ENV_SustainableConsumption_Book_2013.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Sustainable Consumption: Stakeholder Perspectives. 2013. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ENV_SustainableConsumption_Book_2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Sustainable Consumption: Stakeholder Perspectives |date=2013 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ENV_SustainableConsumption_Book_2013.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2013sustainable, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Sustainable Consumption: Stakeholder Perspectives}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2013}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_ENV_SustainableConsumption_Book_2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }