This blog entry is about an important topic regarding the European Union's future in business and indurstry.
Why is encouraging sustainable consumption important?
First of all, I want to point out the importance of sustainable consumption. Have you heard about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN? You probably have. One goal on this list (number 12) is called "RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION".
Worldwide consumption and production — a driving force of the global economy — rest on the use of the natural environment and resources in a way that continues to have destructive impacts on the planet.
A few facts and figures:
Each year, an estimated one third of all food produced – equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes worth around 1 trillion dollars – ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers, or spoiling due to poor transportation and harvesting practices.
If people worldwide switched to energy efficient light bulbs the world would save 120 billion dollars annually.
Should the global population reach 9.6 billion by 2050, the equivalent of almost three planets could be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles.
A report of a French member of the Greens says that the current system of products' built-in obsolescence and lack of access to spare parts, information about guarantees and repair possibilities pushes people to buy new items instead of repairing them. 59% of consumers do not know that the legal minimum guarantee period in the EU is two years.
Attitudes of Europeans toward reuse and repair in numbers
It’s pretty clear there is public demand for sustainability. According to a Eurobarometer survey, 77% of Europeans try to repair items before replacing them and the European Commission’s 2018 behavioural study says consumers are three times more likely to buy a product if it is labelled as durable and repairable.
Some 79% of EU citizens say that manufacturers of digital devices should be required to make it easier to repair or replace individual parts.
How do MEPs want to achieve sustainable consumption?
MEPs want better access to information on repairs, promotion of home repairs, support for local, independent repairers and a guarantee to cover product repairs. They also want to solve the issue of intellectual property rights that leave the right to repair only with a designer or distributor.
In addition, they are calling for legislation on labelling to indicate the durability and reparability of a product.
MEPs also want more responsible advertising, including rules covering the extraction of personal data for personalised ads and greenwashing, which is when companies give the impression that a product is more environmentally friendly than it really is.
I think it will take some time until we really achieve a state of sustainable consumption but it will be necessary. Everyone is asked to join in and especially bigger companies and the legislative have to make the first steps towards a more sustainable Europe.
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