ABSTRACT
Sustainable consumption is most commonly defined as the use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life. By 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, consumption had emerged as a dominant theme in the sustainability discourse. Market logic favors the removal of state regulation in favor of voluntary market-based mechanisms which allows free and rational actors to act in own self-interests. Proponents of sustainable consumption also claims that democratic movements provides a new, expanded and promising means for democratic political participation. This chapter focuses on the mother of all environmental issues consumption. It begins with an historical review of the emergence of sustainable consumption as a dominant theme in international development circles, developed nations environmental movements and more recently, governmental policies. The chapter links various perspectives on sustainable consumption to their policy implications and proposes strategies that helps to reconcile both the promise and perils of the concept.
