ABSTRACT
The growing attention to the issues of sustainable consumption is a natural outcome of decades of work on cleaner production and eco-efficient industrial systems. It represents the final step in a progressive widening of the horizons of pollution prevention; a widening which has gone from a focus on production processes (cleaner production), to products, (eco-design), then to product-systems (incorporating transport logistics, end-of-life collection and component re-use or materials recycling) and to eco-innovation and eco-effectiveness (new products and product-systems and enterprises designed for win–win solutions for business and the environment).
Action focused on consumption has highlighted the need to address the creation of new systems of production and consumption, systems that might be truly sustainable, environmentally, economically – systems that will enhance the quality and equality of cultural, social and physical existence for all people.
UNEP, Sustainable Consumption: Global Status Report 2002