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Twenty years ago, the global action plan Agenda 21 proclaimed: »The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialised countries« (Section I, Chapter 4.3). Beyond the necessity »to promote efficiency in production processes and reduce wasteful consumption in the process of economic growth«, it defined the need forgovernments »to develop a domestic policy framework that will encourage a shift to more sustainable patterns of production and consumption« (Chapter 4.17). Thus, sustainable consumption was supposed to comprise not only efficiency gains in resource consumption, but also reductions in the overall consumption levels in industrialised countries, as well as fundamental changes in current consumption patterns. More than 20 years later, however, debates continue to focus on aspects of product efficiency and »smarter«, »greener« ways of consuming, while neglecting politically explosive – yet necessary – debates on sufficiency, de - growth, and radical change, as well as the questions of justice that sustainable consumption raises. As a consequence, emphasis is placed on consumers, who are being persuaded into believing that they can make a difference by buying the right products, thus saving both the market and the environment through the sheer power of their demand. While the impact of consumers′ decisions cannot be denied, the instrumentalisation of consumer behaviour obscures interests. Furthermore, it distracts from the common political responsibility to overcome the societal unease, which requires a notion of change that extends far beyond aesthetic corrections. Against this backdrop, the Friedrich - Ebert - Stiftung′s online portal, FES Sustainability, invited experts from different parts of the world to address the question of consumer responsibility in the necessary transformation process towards more sustainable consumption - production patterns, from an environmental and social justice perspective. How powerful is the consumer? How relevant are his decisions with regard to the necessary transformation of our production - consumption patterns? How do individual and collective responsibility, or lifestyle change and systematic change, respectively, relate to each other? How much power does the consumer have with respect to business?
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↑ Gouverneur2013,IsDifferentReallyEnough,ThoughtsonaNewRoleforConsumption.pdf