by: United Nations Environment

In the course of the ongoing discussions and negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, a consensus emerged that current and future social, environmental and economic challenges are interlinked and must be addressed through an integrated approach. In the introduction of the Outcome Document of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), The Future We Want, poverty eradication, the promotion of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and the protection and management of natural resources are outlined as the “overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development” (UNGA Resolution 66/288, paragraph 4).

In the same spirit of pursuing focused and coherent action on sustainable development, the intergovernmental Open Working Group (OWG) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) put forward, in July 2014, a proposal comprising 17 goals and 169 targets. The proposal makes achieving sustainable consumption and production (SCP) an integral component of the SDGs. SCP is reflected as a crosscutting enabler (in the form of both targets and means of implementation) for the achievement of many of the SDGs as well as in a stand-alone goal 12 on “ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns”.

Download PDF