Sustainable Consumption and Production
Introduction
Increasing prosperity, in the UK and across the world, has allowed many people to enjoy the benefits of goods and services that were once available to just a few. Nevertheless, the environmental impacts from our consumption and production patterns remain severe, and inefficient use of resources is a drag on the UK's economy and business.
At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the UK Government committed themselves to "encourage and promote the development of a ten year framework of programmes … to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production".
Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) is about achieving economic growth whilst respecting environmental limits, finding ways to minimise damage to the natural world and making use of the earth's resources in a sustainable way. It is therefore not a challenge restricted to just a few countries or areas of the world, but one which must engage the whole global community.
Securing the future
Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) is an important area for
the UK. It is one of the four priority areas for UK action set out in
the new Sustainable Development Strategy Securing
the Future published in March 2005. Chapter 3 One
Planet Economy 
(400 KB) sets out our strategy for moving the SCP agenda forward. It is based around
a range of activity, including through measures to promote:
- Better products and services, which reduce the environmental impacts from the use of energy, resources, or hazardous substances
- Cleaner, more efficient production processes, which strengthen competitiveness, and
- Shifts in consumption towards goods and services with lower impacts.
An overview of our work on Sustainable Consumption and Production arising from the strategy is available under our actions.
Changing patterns
Securing the Future builds on 'Changing
Patterns' (231
KB) published in September 2003. This was the first major statement from
a Government on SCP since the World
Summit on Sustainable Development. Changing Patterns was led jointly by Defra
and DTI and provides a framework to take forward a very broad, ambitious
and challenging agenda now set out in more detail in Securing the Future.
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Page last modified: 18 August 2006
Page published: 1 April 2003