Sustainable consumption for policymakers: measuring, learning and acting

Current patterns and levels of consumption are a key driver of unsustainable resource use and pollution, which contributes to global environmental degradation. Rapid reductions in environmental pressures are required to avoid irreversible loss of fragile ecosystems and social and economic crises. Consumption must become sustainable. Governments have an essential role to play in delivering this. The aim of this thesis is to examine three aspects of the policymaking process on sustainable consumption – measuring, learning and acting – and the links between them. Each aspect has a linked objective. Measuring: Assess existing and novel techniques for calculating the environmental pressures of consumption that enable government to measure and monitor a country’s progress towards sustainable consumption Learning: Determine whether – and, if so, how – consumption-based indicators might better support policymaker learning on sustainable consumption Acting: Identify ways in which governments can enhance their actions to support sustainable consumption The research is presented in six papers and organised in three parts: one for each objective. Parts 1 and 2 investigate current and future opportunities for policymakers to measure the environmental pressures linked to their country’s consumption, what these mean for achieving sustainable consumption and whether consumption-based indicators support learning about sustainable consumption. These parts are based on the Swedish experience of sustainable consumption. Part 3 examines various sustainable consumption interventions and what these could mean for government action in the future. This part draws on examples from several countries. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used to answer these questions. These comprise systematic review and mapping, macro-environment economic modelling and analysis, interviews, workshops and focus groups. The results provide a number of insights. First, novel consumption-based measurements for Sweden highlight the scale of the challenge involved in achieving sustainable consumption and the importance of increasing the policy applicability of indicators. Second, while indicators provide some learning for policymakers, their contribution to changing existing practices and navigating political or institutional barriers is limited. The learning potential of indicators is constrained by institutional environments. Instead, learning must be structured and enabled by institutions. Third,