Chapter 5. Sustainable Consumption and Production. In Lutter, S., Luks, F., Stagl, S. (Eds.), Towards a Socio-Ecological Transformation of the Economy. Background Report for “Growth in Transition”

Introduction: Why sustainable consumption and production? The central question of “Sustainable Consumption and production” (SCP) research is “How do humans thrive and, at the same time, use less, waste less, and pollute less?” A socio-ecological transformation of the provisioning systems of goods and services that support human flourishing is necessary in order to avoid the negative effects of current consumption levels and production methods. The increasing pressures on natural resources worldwide used by current human activity leading to global climate change, biodiversity loss, polluted ecosystems, and the like (as described in Chapter 1) and the macro-and microeconomic challenges related to environmental damages (discussed in Chapter 2) originate from the individual and collective practices of consumption and production. Therefore, SCP is the lynchpin challenge for achieving a socio-ecological transformation towards sustainability, both in developed and developing regions.