SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12 or Global Goal 12), titled “responsible consumption and production”, is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording of SDG 12 is “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. SDG 12 is meant to ensure good use of resources, improve energy efficiency and sustainable infrastructure, provide access to basic services, create green and decent jobs, and ensure a better quality of life for all. SDG 12 has 11 targets to be achieved by at least 2030, and progress towards the targets is measured using 13 indicators.

Sustainable Development Goal 12 has 11 targets. The first 8 are outcome targets, which are: implement the 10‑Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns; achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources; reducing by half the per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and the reduction of food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses; achieving the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle; reducing waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse; encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices; promote public procurement practices that are sustainable; and ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development. The three means of implementation targets are: support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity; develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts; and remove market distortions, like fossil fuel subsidies, that encourage wasteful consumption.

Countries are working towards the implementation of the “10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns”.

To ensure that plastic products are more sustainable, thus reducing plastic waste, changes such as decreasing usage and increasing the circularity of the plastic economy are expected to be required. An increase in domestic recycling and a reduced reliance on the global plastic waste trade are other actions that might help meet the goals.

Background
In recent decades, consumption rates have increased drastically due to the advancement of technology and associated economic growth. The era of human dominance or Anthropocene is marked by the overconsumption of resources. Countries rose to power with economic growth fueled by technological advancement, the industrial revolution, and increased crop production with the extensive use of chemical fertilizers. Contributing to the economic growth of individuals, resulting in more consumption of commodities, spending more on lifestyle and travel, and more new buildings and houses being constructed to accommodate the rising middle class, thus leading to more people shifting to urban regions, causing urban expansion. While everything looked in shape and everyone was having their share of profit, one of the aspects got neglected, i.e., the impact of these advancements on the Earth’s environment. Altogether human negligence resulted in phenomena like global warming, extinction of species, soil degradation, and a drop in air and water quality. All these, in tum, also caused harm to human health and quality of life – leading to the realization and increased emphasis on sustainable development and coexistence.

Changes in consumption and production patterns can help to promote the decoupling of economic growth and human well-being from resource use and environmental impact. They can also trigger the transformations envisaged in global commitments on biodiversity, the climate, and sustainable development in general.

Targets	Indicator(s)
12.1 Implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries	12.1.1 Number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production
12.2 By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources	12.2.1 Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP   12.2.2 Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP
12.3 By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses	12.3.1 (a) Food loss index and (b) food waste index
12.4 By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment	12.4.1 Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement   12.4.2 (a) Hazardous waste generated per capita; and (b) proportion of hazardous waste treated, by type of treatment
12.5 By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse	12.5.1 National recycling rate, tons of material recycled
12.6 Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle	12.6.1 Number of companies publishing sustainability reports
12.7 Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities	12.7.1 Degree of sustainable public procurement policies and action plan implementation
12.8 By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature	12.8.1 Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment
12.a Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production	12.a.1 Installed renewable energy-generating capacity in developing countries (in watts per capita)
12.b Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products	12.b.1 Implementation of standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and environmental aspects of tourism sustainability
12.c Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and	12.c.1 Amount of fossil-fuel subsidies (production and consumption) per unit of GDP

Custodian agencies
Custodian agencies are in charge of reporting on the following indicators:

• Indicators 12.1.1, 12.2.1, 12.2.2, 12.7.1 and 12.c.1: United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
• Indicator 12.3.1: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
• Indicator 12.4.1: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Indicator 12.4.2: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Statistics Division (DESA/UNSD)
• Indicator 12.5.1: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)
• Indicator 12.6.1: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Environment (United Nations Environment Programme/UNEP)
• Indicator 12.8.1: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UNESCO-UIS) and the UNESCO Education Sector, Division for Peace and Sustainable Development, Section of Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO-ED/PSD/ESD)
• Indicator 12.a.1: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
• Indicator 12.b.1: United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Links with other SDGs and other issues
SDG 12 has targets related to SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 8, SDG 9, SDG 13, SDG 14 and SDG 15.

Organizations

• United Nations University
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Statistics Division (DESA/UNSD)
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
• UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UNESCO-UIS)
• UNESCO Education Sector, Division for Peace and Sustainable Development, Section of Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO-ED/PSD/ESD)
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
• United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)

India’s progress so far in SDG 12
India is home to 18% of global population, but only 4% of global water resources. Controlling waste and pollutant accumulation is a big challenge in itself. Hardly 20% of India’s urban waste is processed. India is the third-highest emitter of carbon dioxide and is responsible for 6.9% of global emissions. However, in October 2015, India committed to reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20-25% from its 2005 levels by 2020 and by 33-35% by 2030. On 2 October 2016, India formally ratified the historic Paris Agreement. NITI Aayog is the governing body dealing with Sustainable Development Goals in India and monitoring its progress. The SDG India Index & Dashboard are the primary tools used in India to monitor the goals.

In India, to implement Sustainable Development Goal – 12, NITI Aayog took seven national-level indicators to capture four of eleven SDG targets set for 2030 based on data availability. The score for this goal ranges from 47 and 99 for states and 50 to 95 for union territories. Presently Tripura, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir have been the top performers, and twenty-three states, including states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, and Assam, have become frontrunners in achieving SDG 12. States like Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Gujarat need to perform better to improve their scores.

Circular Economy and Circularity Gap Report
In simple terms, we can say that humans currently consume and produce the most waste in seven major sectors of human needs. i) HOUSING, ii) SERVICES, iii) NUTRITION, iv) HEALTHCARE, v) MOBILITY, vi) COMMUNICATION, vii) CONSUMABLES. As humans, with the development of technology, and in order to maximize economic growth, shifted from a circular model of consumption, i.e., reduce, reuse, and recycle, to a linear model of consumption, enormous waste materials were added to the environment, causing a stressful situation in the biosphere to the point that it is time that we adopt circularity model in policies, production and daily life.

Circular economy is a radical departure of conventional linear economy model: take-make-consume-throw. In European Union the circular economy is understood as model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended. In practice, it implies reducing waste to a minimum. When a product reaches the end of its life, its materials are kept within the economy wherever possible. These can be productively used again and again, thereby creating further value.

The circular economy is based on the cyclic production and consumption of resources on the idea of recycling and reducing the waste or utilizing the waste in a different ways to minimize their adverse effects. This process helps to reduce waste to almost zero. Reusing the raw materials reduces energy consumption The World’s population and demand for basic resources are at an all-time high level, making it even more challenging to balance economic stability and environmental sustainability. A country imports raw materials not present within its geographical which also costs energy and contributes more to waste generation. However, proper use of technology and efficient transportation of goods results in less power consumption and CO2 emissions. Large manufacturers and governing bodies can design better products with extended longevity and less resource consumption to bring down 45 percent of CO2 emissions coming from manufacturing industries. Adoption of the principle of circular economy can substantially reduce emissions as elaborated in Circularity Gap Report (2018).

The inaugural Circularity Gap Report in 2018 provided us with a trackable figure for global circularity. The global circularity index fell from 9.1 percent in 2018 to 8.6 percent in 2020 in just two years. There is still hope that businesses, communities, and nations can cut resource consumption and emissions by 28%, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 39%, and keep global warming by less than 1.5-degree. It is time for a collective effort to reset our economy and eradicate social characteristics, with a circular economy becoming the norm globally.

Role of Individuals towards sustainability
At a personal level, we can follow the below-listed ways for mindful consumption and a minimalistic lifestyle to contribute toward sustainability:

• We can tum off lights and appliances as we leave a room. Moreover, avoid glowing bulbs in day time.
• Use energy-efficient lighting that saves energy at our homes/offices and maintain cleanliness to obtain maximum light
• Judicious use of appliances and public transport systems to reduce em1ss1ons.
• Use a pressure cooker or a vessel with a lid for cooking whenever possible, as it also retains the nutritional components and helps save energy for cooking.
• We should use the same appliances for a longer time, and industries should build machines that last longer.
• Discard fast fashion and use the same clothing for many more years.
• Build homes with green spaces.
• Plant trees as much as possible to prevent desertification.
• Travel in carpools, use cycles and walk for shorter distances.
• Buy vehicles that use cleaner energy, like solar-powered batteries
• Minimal use of ACs and high energy-consuming appliances at home.
• Use regular water filters instead of ROs in regions with fresh water supplies and rainwater harvesting to reduce groundwater stress.
• We should change our diet to plant-based products and reduce use of agrochemicals.

FOR MORE DETAIL DISCUSSION ON SDG 12 – RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION, LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE ON ‘RESEARCH WITH NJ’.