ABSTRACT
The goal is to realise more sustainable production and consumption patterns, but is it clear what this means? As with many concepts, there is agreement as long as it is expressed as a general notion, but there is interpretative conflict when the notion is specified. The same is the case with the notions of sustainable development and sustainable consumption and production (SCP). This chapter presents some views on how sustainable development and SCP can be interpreted. In order to do this, we first review and discuss some principles of sustainable development and SCP included in policy documents and publications of authoritative thinkers. We then translate this into notions of what sustainable societies may look like. We end by stating what we see as the minimum requirements for a sustainable society.
