Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15

Sustainable consumption and production: Trends, challenges and

options for the Asia-Pacific region
Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder

Abstract
This paper highlights current trends in consumption and production patterns in Asian developing countries and emerging
economies. It describes the main challenges and opportunities for Asian countries making the transition towards sustainable
consumption and production patterns. The main challenge for Asian economies is to address the unsustainable consumption
patterns of urban consumers, which entails a policy shift from the current focus on pollution and inefficient industrial
production. In view of future consumption trends and the global convergence of consumption patterns, the characteristics of
the emerging ‘global consumer class’ are examined, with particular focus on urban ecological footprints and carbon
emissions. Furthermore, the difference between urban and rural consumption is discussed, together with opportunities for
low-carbon urban development in the megacities of Asian developing countries. To conclude, the paper presents an overview
of current policy measures taken in Asian countries to green economic development and realise sustainable consumption and
production patterns. narf_1275 4..15

Keywords: Sustainable consumption and production; Asia, Carbon footprint; SCP policy.

1. SCP — a comprehensive approach for
addressing global environmental change
Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is a
comprehensive approach based on lifecycle thinking. It is
increasingly recognized as an analytical perspective to
understand the complex social, economic and political
drivers of global environmental change, including the
current challenge of global climate change. In addition, the
SCP approach offers a multitude of practical approaches
and policy tools to achieve a resource efficient and low-
carbon economy and to support societies in adapting to
changing global and local environments.
SCP has developed out of the approaches and initiatives
for cleaner and efficient industrial production that have been
implemented in the industrialized countries of Europe,
North America and Japan over the past 30 years. As a result,
the economies of these countries have improved resource
productivity (or eco-efficiency) in many production systems
and industrial processes. An example is the stabilization of
Wei Zhao is the Team Leader of the SWITCH-Asia Network Facility at the
UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable
Consumption and Production, SWITCH-Asia Network Facility,
Wuppertal, Germany. E-mail: wei.zhao@scp-centre.org.
Patrick Schroeder is a short-term expert for the SWITCH-Asia Network
Facility.
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
direct material consumption in countries like Germany,
Japan, the UK and Austria since the 1970s as GDP
continues to grow. While relative decoupling through
efficiency gains has been achieved at national and local
levels, an ‘absolute’ decoupling of global resource use,
environmental degradation and socio-economic
development has, however, not been realised. As a result of
the current resource-intensive economic growth paradigm,
annual global extraction of biotic and abiotic resources has
constantly increased from about 40 billion tonnes in 1980 to
about 58 billion tonnes in 2005. It is anticipated that this
trend will continue and annual resource extraction rates will
grow to 80 billion tonnes by 2020 (Bleischwitz et al., 2009).
Relative decoupling of resource use and environmental
impact has been happening to some degree in OECD
countries over the last decades, but increases in overall
global consumption levels have worsened absolute
environmental impacts and the condition of the natural
environment, including the atmosphere.
The main reasons why absolute decoupling has not been
realised on a global level include, among others, unrealised
potentials in resource efficiency, inability of markets to
successfully disseminate cleaner technologies, subsidies for
fossil fuels and resource-intensive industries and the
globalization of value chains which has resulted in
outsourcing of polluting and inefficient industrial
 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
Figure 1. Sustainable consumption and production seeks to decouple
life satisfaction and economic growth from resource use and greenhouse
gas emissions.
production to developing countries. Another, often omitted,
reasons and the main theme of this paper is increasing levels
of household consumption.
The vision of the SCP approach is to achieve absolute
decoupling of economic growth and human well-being on
the one hand, and resource consumption and greenhouse
gas emissions on the other (see Figure 1). Economic growth
continues to be highly relevant for developing countries,
including those in Asia, to reduce poverty and improve the
living standards of their populations. In contrast, in many
industrialized countries the economic growth paradigm is
increasingly being questioned and alternatives such as
‘qualitative growth’ or even ‘zero-growth’ are proposed
pathways for industrialized countries (Tichy, 2009). A new
focus and measurement for development and achievement
is ‘quality of life’ that does not depend on material opulence
and increasing incomes. The reason for this emerging shift
in thinking is, as has been shown through various studies,
that after achieving annual income levels of about US$
15,000 PPP per capita life-satisfaction scores and happiness
indices do not increase significantly (Jackson, 2009).
In addition to measuring and supporting the efficiency
improvements for resource and energy use on the micro-
level (companies, households and products), it is important
to implement measurement systems and policy instruments
at the global (macro) level, in a way that allows monitoring
and limiting of the planetary growth of material and energy
use. The main goal is therefore absolute decoupling or
‘dematerialisation’, a decreasing absolute level of
environmental pressures of both resource use, pollutants
and greenhouse gases. This needs to happen even in a
situation of continued economic growth for the countries
still struggling with persistent poverty and under-
development. For industrialized countries it means
re-focusing of societies living high-impact lifestyles based
on unsustainable material consumption towards low-impact
lifestyles.
To realise this vision it is necessary to apply the
appropriate analytical tools to make sense of the
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
5
complexities of global production and consumption
systems. Therefore, the most fundamental SCP approaches
are based on lifecycle thinking aiming to transform the
consumption and production patterns of goods and services
along the value chain. Different products exhibit ‘hot spots’
— areas responsible for the highest output of greenhouse
gases — in different places along the value chain. In steel,
aluminium or cement, for example, the ‘upstream’ or
production phases of the value chain use most energy and
emit most gases. For energy consuming products, the
‘downstream’ phase in the value chain is more important
and is nearer to the consumer rather than the producer.
Taking the case of computers as an example, the main hot
spot in terms of energy consumption and climate change
impacts is the use phase during which three times more
emissions are generated than during the manufacturing
stages (Kirby, 2008). For private passenger vehicles,
lifecycle analyses have shown that more than 80% of GHG
emissions are generated during the use phase while driving
the car (WWF-UK, 2008).
Through lifecycle thinking in general, and specifically
through the methods of lifecycle analysis (LCA) and
lifecycle management (LCM), many companies and
researchers have become aware that the total footprint of
many products, such as textiles, vehicles or agricultural
products, can only be measured, and ultimately reduced, by
considering all parts of the value chain. It is no longer
enough to just consider the environmental impacts of
in-house operations in the manufacturing processes, which
in most cases is not the ‘hot spot’ phase with highest
environmental impacts. Identifying and improving systems
and practices in hot spot areas will naturally have the most
effect in reducing environmental impacts such as GHG
emissions. By not focusing on the hot spot areas, as is the
situation in most economies now where 80% of the current
efforts focus on 20% of the risk (WWF-UK, 2004), the
extent to which human society could mitigate global
environmental changes is very limited. The potentials lying
upstream and downstream of the value chain need to be
explored further to make significant progress towards
sustainability (see figure 2).
Moreover, the value chain approach is important
precisely because of the structure of the global modern
economic system. Industrialized countries have over the last
decades typically tended to move progressively away from
domestic manufacturing while developing countries,
particularly in Asia, have become the global hub for
resource and emission-intensive industries. In
industrialized countries the demand for consumer goods has
at the same time increased, therefore more and more
finished goods and semi-finished component parts are
imported from abroad. A product’s many materials and
components are now being supplied, manufactured and
assembled by a multitude of companies, particularly small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), from different
locations and often located in Asia. The environmental ‘hot
6 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
Figure 2. Opportunities for greenhouse gas emission reductions through
SCP along the value chain.
spots’ of the value chain have shifted, effectively
outsourcing many energy and emission intensive processes
to developing countries, in particular in Asia (Kuhndt et al.,
2008).
2. Urban lifestyles and high-impact consumption
patterns in Asia
To achieve absolute decoupling at a global level, it is not
only necessary to explore all the options that are
technologically and economically viable. In addition more
efforts need to be directed towards addressing unsustainable
consumption issues.
On average, a European citizen uses three times as many
resources as a citizen in a developing country, American
citizens about five times as many. Correspondingly,
European or North American citizens are responsible for
about three to five times the emissions of a person living in
a developing country. However, the exclusive focus on a
country’s aggregated per capita emissions is limited as it
does not show the differences of consumption levels of
different social groups within countries. To gain a clearer
picture, the focus needs to be extended to examine the
lifestyles of rich consumer classes, which are increasingly
not only found in the industrialized countries of Europe,
Japan and the US, but also in emerging economies such as
India, China, Mexico and Brazil. While the industrialized
nations of Europe and North America are still the ‘prime
culprits’ of resource-intensive consumption patterns, the
rapid growth in economic activity and incomes in the Asia-
Pacific region has revolutionized access to modern
consumer goods and services for many Asian consumers.
The consumption patterns of millions of consumers in
the newly industrialized countries of the Asia-Pacific region
are now converging with those of western industrialized
countries — especially among younger generations. This
emerging social group is known as the ‘global consumer
class’ and comprises mostly urban consumers who share
certain elements of a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption
regardless of cultural background or nationality — they are
likely to live in modern apartments equipped with
electronic appliances and gadgets, have access to
information technologies and global brands, own cars,
travel by air, etc. In 2004 this global consumer class already
totalled 1.7 billion people — of which almost 40% or 680
million lived in Asia (Worldwatch Institute, 2004).
Over the last decades the Asia-Pacific region has not
only become a global manufacturing hub, but it is now
home to an emerging consumer class. In Singapore, one of
the most developed cities in Asia which is often used as a
benchmark for prospective development trends of other
Asian cities, over the past ten years households consumed
64% more electricity, 21% more water, and generated 21%
more solid waste (Singapore Ministry of the Environment
and Water Resources, 2009). In India, a large population
segment of more than 100 million people leads an affluent
lifestyle. However, this is no more than 10–15% of the
population of this large country, and the majority of India’s
people live still in poverty (Mahajan, 2008). Overall, the
consumer class in Asia is now estimated at around 600
million people, already more than in Europe and North
America combined. As in other parts of the world, the
consumptive lifestyles of the rich consumer classes are the
main drivers for unsustainable economic growth that set
off increasingly higher levels of industrial production for
consumer goods, based on intensive use of mostly non-
renewable resources. Changing consumption patterns in
Asian countries, by sheer virtue of their population sizes,
forebear major environmental impacts, including massive
greenhouse gas emissions. These will not stem mainly
from industrial production as they do today, but from
increased demand for electric and electronic goods, use of
private cars, processed and protein-rich diets based around
meat and dairy, as well as space heating and cooling for
buildings. It is estimated that by 2020 about 700 million
Chinese will be part of this global consumer class,
compared to about 100 million today. In terms of
spending, this increase in consumer numbers translates
into a five-fold increase in urban consumer spending over
the next 20 years, to US$ 2.3 trillion per year (McKinsey
Global Institute, 2008). Asian urbanisation trends are
therefore major drivers of economic development and
social change, resulting simultaneously in massive changes
of consumption and production patterns. Over the next two
to three decades, 80% or more of future urban
infrastructures in Asia will still be built and by around
2035 the urban population will have grown by 70% to
more than 2.6 billion people (ADB, 2006a).
At the same time as the consumption patterns of millions
of urban consumers in the newly industrialized countries of
the Asia-Pacific region are converging with those of western
industrialized countries, there are still stark differences
between rural and urban consumption patterns in many of
these countries. The urban rich living more and more like
their counterparts in the industrialized countries, while the
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
rural poor and many slum dwellers continue to suffer from
lack of access to basic services such as energy, clean water,
food, health care or communication technologies. While the
urban rich need to reconsider their lifestyle choices, the
poor still need to increase their material consumption levels
in order to escape poverty and achieve acceptable standards
of living — in a sustainable way.
2.1. Comparing urban ecological footprints and CO2
emissions
Taking the case of China as an example, ecological
footprint analysis shows that there are large differences
between rural and urban footprints. The rural ecological
footprint lies between 0.8 to 1.2 hectares per inhabitant,
while the urban footprint can be as high as 3 to 6 hectares
per inhabitant (Salat, 2008). The global convergence in
urban lifestyles has resulted in convergence of ecological
urban footprints. The megacity of Beijing has a footprint
of about 4 hectares per inhabitant, which is comparable to
Tokyo. Shanghai has an ecological footprint of 7 hectares
per inhabitant, comparable to that of Singapore, estimated
to be 7.2 hectares per person (ADB, 2008), which is
comparable to the average urban European footprint.
Looking only at China’s mean ecological footprint of 1.6
hectare per inhabitant, which is still below the global
average of 2.2 (CCICED & WWF, 2008), is therefore not
giving a complete picture of the situation. High urban
ecological footprints are closely related to per capita
energy consumption, CO2 emissions and carbon
footprints. In most Asian counties per capita emissions are
still below world average. However, urban per capita
carbon emissions are much higher than rural emissions.
For example, in China the ratio between urban and rural
per capita energy consumption is 6.8 (Dhakal, 2009).
This comparison of cities globally shows that urban
consumer lifestyles of people living in Chinese and other
Asian megacities are becoming comparable in terms of their
environmental impact to those cities in the industrialized
countries of Europe and Japan. In 1999, Beijing’s and
Shanghai’s annual per capita CO2 emissions were 6.9
tonnes and 8.2 tonnes, respectively (Satterthwaite and
Dodman, 2009), and rose to 11.9 tonnes and 16.7 tonnes,
respectively in 2006 according to a study by the Global
Carbon Project (Dhakal, 2009). Comparing cities globally,
the carbon emissions of many Chinese urban citizens are
now higher than those of their counterparts living in, for
instance, Tokyo (5.8 tonnes in 2003), London (6.95 tonnes
in 2003) Seoul (3.8 tonnes) or Barcelona (3.4 tonnes)
(Dodman, 2009; Dhakal, 2009). Similarly, in 2005 the city
of Bangkok had annual per capita carbon emissions of 7.1
tonnes, which is equal to the carbon emissions of New York
City (ROAP-UNEP, 2009) The comparison of urban carbon
emissions also shows that compact cities tend to be more
resource efficient and climate-friendly and sustainable than
sprawling cities.
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
7
As cities consume the majority of the world’s energy,
urbanization is a crucial factor in climate change.
Particularly in developing countries, where 90% of growth
in urban areas is projected to take place over the next 20
years (World Bank, 2009), cities will be key to the future
evolution of global warming. The urban solution to climate
change lies in cities’ density. While most cities derive more
than 70% of their energy from fossil fuels, people who live
in more dense city centres, on average, often produce 30 to
50% less greenhouse gas emissions than inhabitants of
spread-out cities with extensive suburbs (World Bank,
2009). Denser cities use less energy for transportation,
which lowers transport-related emissions, can provide
access to services at lower cost, and better implement
energy efficiency measures. This advantage of denser cities
is due to a range of factors, including among others well-
designed public transport infrastructure, reduced need for
motorized personal transport, waste management and
building efficiency. The World Bank Report (World Bank,
2009) shows that well-designed and well-governed cities
can combine high living standards with much lower
greenhouse gas emissions. Currently in industrialized
countries, the highest carbon emissions can be attributed to
people living in sub-urban and rural areas, while urban
consumers often have up to 50% lower carbon footprints.
3. Housing, mobility and food: projections and
sustainable options for Asian countries
Studies analysing consumption and production patterns in
the European Union have shown that in modern urban
consumer lifestyles currently three ‘demand areas’ are
responsible for about 70–80% of the overall environmental
impact of consumption and production. They are also
thought to be the causes for about 70% of the global
warming potential in the European Union (Tukker et al.,
2006). These demand areas are housing, mobility and food.
Even though reliable data are missing, it is likely that these
three main demand areas of human consumption are also
responsible for the highest environmental impact in Asia —
but the underlying characteristics are contextually different.
Traditional Asian lifestyles, which are still common in
many countries, particularly in rural areas, are generally
less damaging to environment and climate. For example,
there is more communal than individual housing in Asia, the
number of occupants per unit is much higher, and
traditional construction is based on natural materials like
wood and mud. For food production and consumption,
traditional and organic agriculture are still common, there is
less packaging and refrigeration of food, less processing
and fewer “food miles”. In the mobility sector, private car
ownership is still the exception, rather than the norm. While
it is obvious that Asia’s future development path should not
mirror that of Europe or the US, consumption trends in
many regions have changed and are approaching western
8 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
consumption patterns. Addressing future challenges in Asia
through SCP approaches will possibly be most effective by
focusing on these three demand areas. In the following
sections the current development trends in these three
demand areas are illustrated and feasible SCP development
pathways are discussed.
One of the greatest challenges in reducing the
atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases lies with buildings
and housing. At the global level, residential and commercial
buildings account for 10–15% of all greenhouse gas
emissions. In Asia, by around 2035 the urban population
will have ballooned by 70% to more than 2.6 billion people
(ADB, 2006a). More than half the construction going on in
the world is now taking place in China and by 2030 this one
country is expected to have more than 200 cities each with
over one million people (McKinsey Global Institute, 2008).
The lifecycle hot spot for a building is its ‘use’ phase, i.e.,
when people are living in it. About 80% of the total energy
used throughout the lifecycle of a building is consumed at
this time. Electric appliances contribute significantly to this
increase in energy consumption in housing. In Bangkok, for
instance, the market for air conditioners grows at a rate of
15% per year and has contributed to a 240% increase in
residential electricity consumption over the past 20 years
(Wangpattarapong et al, 2008). Energy efficient building
solutions reducing the need for heating or cooling should be
designed and realised early on, at the design phase of any
construction project. There are no one-fits-all solutions;
these will have to be tailored to geography and climate. For
example, in China most energy is needed for space heating
during winter, while in India and South East Asia most is
needed for cooling during hot summer months. Building
solutions which consider local climatic conditions are
therefore the best fit.
At the global level and in Asian countries, greenhouse
gas emissions from the transport sector continue to grow
rapidly. The increase is mainly due to the private use of cars
and air travel. The share of emissions from the transport
sector is projected to rise to about 25% if business-as-usual
patterns of mobility prevail. This would constitute a
dramatic increase in emissions of more than 85% between
2000 and 2030 (Meyer et al., 2007). In Asian countries,
urban road transport continues to grow at very fast rates and
poses many challenges to sustainable urban development.
Private car sales are growing fastest in Asia’s newly
industrialized countries and the total number of motor
vehicles on the road is expected to rise from 300 million in
2005 to more than 1.2 billion in 2025 (see Figure 3). At
present, private car ownership is low, only 2% of the
population in China and less than 1% in India, compared
with 40–50% in Europe and North America. But this level
is expected to rise steeply, and estimates put the number of
private cars in China at 190 million, and in India at 80
million, by 2035 (ADB, 2006b) Passenger air travel in Asia
is increasing equally fast. In 2006, China became the
world’s second largest air transport market. In 2007 more
Figure 3. Emissions from the transport sector will continue to rise
alongside the growing number of motor vehicles.
Source: Clean Air Initiative for Asian City Centres (2008).
than 185 million passengers travelled by air and the market
continues to grow at an annual growth rate of 13.5% (Liu
and Luk, 2009).
As with buildings, about 80% of the total emissions of a
motor vehicle are generated during its ‘use’ phase.
Improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions in
vehicles is one approach to low-carbon mobility. Getting
efficient vehicles on the market can be encouraged by
setting efficiency standards, improving labelling for buyers,
or changing public vehicle fleets towards ‘greener’ cars to
lead a market-pull. Developers are already working on the
next generation of vehicle technologies, including battery-
electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and hydrogen fuel cell
electric vehicles, powered by renewable energy. They may
be niche markets at the moment, but many companies,
including manufacturers in China and India, are working to
mainstream them.
However, a purely technological transformation of the
transport sector will only reduce emissions to a certain
degree. Vehicle and fuel technology with reduced emissions
and improved efficiency alone cannot be expected to
provide the emission cuts in the transport sectors needed to
reduce CO2 emissions. According to a scenario by the World
Business Council for Sustainable Development called
‘Mobility 2030’, the best case scenario for reducing
emissions by 2050 with improved technologies would only
bring them back to the levels of 2000 (WBCSD, 2004). This
is relevant for both industrialized and developing countries,
particularly in cities. It is therefore necessary to reduce the
kilometres driven per vehicle. If it requires people to take
public transport, cycle or walk instead of taking a car, it is
more of a lifestyle or urban planning issue, than a technical
one. Therefore more awareness-raising is needed, to
encourage consumers to make greater use of public
transport, to cycle and walk more, and to avoid excessive air
travel. The right policies are also important, to improve
sustainable urban planning and expand public transport
systems using existing infrastructure (e.g., motorway lines
exclusively used for coaches). Such options offer good
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
potential for saving energy and reducing emissions (WWF-
UK, 2008). Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) systems are suitable
solutions to address these issues and have already been
successfully implemented in several Asian megacities. An
example is found in Jakarta where the first BRT corridors
were introduced in 2004. The BRT shows high performance
and has generally been well received by users, with
relatively low capital investments for infrastructure and
small or no operational subsidies (Hidalgo and Graftieaux,
2008).
The impacts of food production on ecosystems,
biodiversity and the global climate have long been under-
estimated. Until recently most discussions relating to the
food and drink sector have focused on ‘food miles’ and
transportation. Food is often transported over long
distances, which accounts for around 10% of the food-
related climate impact. But the food production phase, in
contrast to the demand areas of housing and mobility, has a
much higher impact, and contributes more than 80% of
food lifecycle emissions (Weber and Matthews, 2008).
In particular, emissions and environmental impacts
from meat and dairy production and consumption require
attention: they have the highest impact and are responsible
for up to 80% of all emissions from agriculture, and for
18% of global greenhouse emissions. The latter figure is
even expected to double by 2050 (FAO, 2006). On
average, red meat is around 150% more greenhouse gas
intensive than chicken or fish, and beef, lamb and shrimp
are even worse (UNEP, 2008). World meat consumption
increased from 47 million tons in 1950 to 260 million tons
in 2005, with consumption per person more than doubling
from 17 kilograms to 40 kilograms (FAO, 2005).
Traditionally, Asian diets have been low in dairy and meat
products, with fish and soy as the main sources of protein.
With around 55 kg consumed per capita per year in China,
25 kg in Thailand, 10 kg in Indonesia and less than 5 kg in
India (Richter et al., 2009), they still are low relative to
the 112 kg consumed per person in the United States, or
even the 89 kg per person consumed in Europe (FAO,
2006). But, as Asian incomes rise, meat and dairy
consumption are rising too. This is driving overgrazing,
water consumption and desertification not only in Asia,
but is also contributing to deforestation in South America.
One of the main feed supplements for animal farming
today is soybean meal. In 2005 only 15 million tonnes of
the 220 million tonnes of the world’s fast-growing
soybean harvest was consumed directly, while the rest was
used for beef, pork, poultry, milk, eggs, and farmed fish
production. In Brazil, large-scale soybean cultivation
started in the late 1990s and has become one of the main
drivers for deforestation. The area of soybean plantations
in the Amazon has grown by 3.3 million hectares between
2000 and 2006 (Volpi, 2007). China, the world’s largest
importer of soy, is expected to import about 40 million
tonnes of soybeans in 2009, mainly from Brazil, Argentina
and the US (China Daily, 2009), most of which is destined
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
9
to feed the country’s growing pig population which had
risen by 5% to more than 469 million head by the end of
2009 (Reuters Analysis, 2009).
In the case of South Korea, population and food
consumption patterns have already outrun the country’s
own land and water resources. South Korea is now heavily
dependent on corn imports. It has recently also become a
leading country in land acquisition overseas. For example, it
signed a deal for some 690,000 hectares (1.7 million acres)
in the Sudan for growing wheat — mainly to sustain its
livestock and poultry production (Brown, 2009).
Not only production of meat and dairy, but also that of
luxury food products such as coffee, often planted for the
consumption in industrialized countries, is causing severe
damage to ecosystems in Asia. For example, nearly half the
rainforests in Sumatra have been lost since 1985 as a result
of coffee plantations. In addition to the negative effects to
the global climate through rainforest loss, illegal plantations
in protected areas are pushing endangered species such as
forest elephants, rhinos and tigers towards extinction
(WWF Indonesia, 2007).
Companies and retailers can use sustainable supply chain
management practices to ensure sustainable food
production upstream in the value chain. Consumers have
the power to influence how food is produced by exercising
choice when making purchases and this can be strengthened
by eco-labelling food products. ‘Carbon footprint’
information is useful, but issues such as water use,
eutrophication or land-use change should also be
considered. Again, awareness-raising activities targeting
consumers can help them avoid diets which are having a
negative impact on the environment. Interestingly, ‘high-
impact diets’ are also usually unhealthy. Being able to make
choices based on organic, seasonal, and local food, and to
cut down on meat and dairy products, offers good potential
for both improving health and reducing the impact of food
production on the climate — potentially by a factor of three
(WWF and SEI, 2005).
4. The role of policy to promote SCP1
4.1. Global economic crisis — realised opportunities or
business-as-usual
Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis and
economic recovery plans, many Asian countries have
implemented stimulus packages, partly dedicated to
‘greening’ the economic structure. The effects of some of
these measures are now visible in the recovery that is
occurring across the region. The Thai government’s “Strong
Thailand” programme is nominally worth around US$ 42
1
We would like to thank Mr. Sudkla Boonyananth from the Thailand
Environment Institute (TEI) and Ms. Han Wei from the China Standard
Certification Centre (CSC) for providing us with information about
national SCP policies.
10 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
billion, or 16% of GDP over three years. China announced
a US$ 585 billion package in November 2008 which,
together with a stimulus provided by local governments
equivalent to 2–4% of GDP, amounts to about 10–12% of
the country’s GDP. South Korea and Japan have stimulus
packages worth about 5.5% of GDP, similar in size to
programmes in India, the Philippines and Vietnam.
According to a report by HSBC, many governments are
allocating large shares of their fiscal stimulus spending to
green initiatives. South Korea tops the list in terms of
percentage (more than 80%) of overall spending, whilst
China leads in terms of the size of planned green spending
(US$ 200 billion) (HSBC, 2009).
As governments design financial packages to stimulate
economic development, innovative policies are important to
determine the future direction of government spending and
economic development. The danger is that fast economic
recovery based on business-as-usual principles will be
promoted to prevent unemployment, at the expense of
environmental policies. In this scenario, relaxed
environmental policies and unsustainable industrial
development will continue to be supported.
Officially, China’s stimulus package includes a range of
measures, such as support for renewable energy
companies and environmentally-friendly investments and
policies, specifically related to rail transportation
investments, upgrades to the electric grid (more than 1.1
trillion yuan), and waste and water management. Railway
investments are a large component of China’s plans to
spend more than five trillion yuan (US$ 730 billion)
overall on constructing more than 16,000 kilometres of
railway track for transporting passengers. Furthermore,
280 billion yuan (US$ 41 billion) are allocated for
housing projects which could be a major boost for
improving energy and water efficiency in buildings. In
practice, the implementation of the stimulus has not been
as successful and green as set out in the plan. The bulk of
the stimulus spending has been funnelled into energy-
intensive sectors and large infrastructure projects. So far
the main beneficiaries of the stimulus package have been
cement, iron and steel producers. Many of the projects
supported by the stimulus package had previously been
halted by negative Environmental Impact Assessments
(EIA). A negative side-effect of the stimulus package is
the establishment of a fast-track system for stimulus
package projects which can bypass the regular EIA
procedures (Horn-Phathanothai, 2009).
Another obstacle on the path to sustainable development
is the strategy to stimulate consumer spending, which in the
short term might encourage economic development and
growth, but in the long term perpetuates the underlying
unsustainable patterns of consumption and production.
Overall, the green stimulus packages might help to
overcome the economic crises, but cannot be expected to
solve the long-term systemic issues regarding unsustainable
consumption and production systems.
Figure 4. Policy instruments for SCP and climate change mitigation.
Source: Kuhndt et al. (2007).
4.2. Looking beyond short-term economic recovery
Currently, many policies globally as well as in Asia focus
only on increasing industrial energy and resource efficiency
and reducing GHG emissions on the production side. In
order to mitigate the impacts of global environmental
change, innovative sets of policies targeted at consumers are
required as well. Innovative policies positively influencing
consumption patterns are particularly important.
Scaling up SCP solutions with climate change mitigation
and adaptation benefits requires effective and strong policy
support. Although most SCP solutions are carried out by
businesses or civil society, it is policy which enables certain
SCP solutions to become the mainstream way of doing
things. A number of region-specific policy instruments
for climate change mitigation through SCP already
exist, including economic, regulatory, informational,
cooperational, and educational instruments (CSCP, WI,
GTZ, 2007). Figure 4 presents a general overview of the
instruments which have already been successful in
promoting SCP in a number of Asian countries.
In addition to current stimulus packages, some Asian
countries have adopted strategic policy frameworks to
promote sustainable consumption and production.
However, most countries, including developing countries in
the Asia-Pacific region, do not have a comprehensive policy
on sustainable consumption and production yet, but would
have much to gain from building on this new approach.
While policies, regulations and actions for SCP and global
environmental issues such as climate change are often
considered to be separate domains, there are many
important overlaps. Through integrated policy-making
addressing industrial production, resource and energy
efficiency, consumer behaviour and climate change jointly,
further progress can be made to address unsustainable
consumption and production patterns.
An important solution to the challenges is the integration
of national sustainability programmes into National Action
Plans (NAP) for SCP. National Action Plans for SCP are
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
Table 1. National Action Plans in the Asia-Pacific region
Country SCP NAP Policy (year)
China The Law on Circular Economy (2006)
Indonesia Sustainable Consumption and Production
Programme (under development)
Japan Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound
Material-Cycle Society (2003)
Korea SCP as “Implementation Task” in the National
Strategy for Sustainable Development (2006–2010).
Thailand SCP strategy is one of the four national strategies
of the 10th National Economic and Social
Development Plan (2006–2011)
Source: UNEP-DTIE website at www.unep.fr.
often still under-developed, not implemented across all
sectors or even missing altogether. The lack of integration
between policies often stems from lack of coordination and
division between principal institutions of governance. To
accelerate progress towards SCP in Asia, government
agencies dealing with finance, trade and economic
development and those dealing with SCP, climate or the
environment can cooperate on many issues. Table 1
provides an overview of already established National
Action Plans in the Asia-Pacific region.
In Thailand, the National Sustainable Consumption
Strategies have been developed to accommodate the 10th
National Economic and Social Development Plan, which is
effective from 2006 to 2011. The plan aims to achieve
sustainable development via traditional Thai cultural and
religious principles of moderation and sufficiency.
Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development
Board (NESDB) together with environmental NGOs,
particularly the Thailand Environmental Institute (TEI),
have played an important role in the drafting of the relevant
strategies. This cooperation and design of national SCP
strategy is the first step towards implementing clear and
continuous policies, public infrastructures, and mechanisms
to create knowledge and awareness of sustainable
consumption. The SCP strategy is a comprehensive
systematic approach with the overarching goal to increase
the happiness of the Thai population through sustainable
development (see figure 5).
The government of South Korea is developing a policy
framework vision of “Low Carbon, Green Growth” strategy,
which was presented by President Lee on the occasion of the
60th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea on
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
11
Description/ focus
Ecological efficiency in economic development;
Construction of eco-industrial parks;
Public participation;
Extending producer responsibility
Support for Indonesia National Action Plan on climate change
Restrain the consumption of natural resources;
Reduction of material input and resource extraction;
Waste minimization (3Rs);
Reduced energy consumption
Eco-labelling;
Procurement of environmentally friendly products in public and private sectors;
Dissemination of cleaner production technologies;
Establishment of Eco-Industrial Parks
Provide basic needs and quality of life;. balanced state of happiness, self
sufficiency, and social security;
Education and public awareness campaigns;
Reduce government subsidies for dirty production;
Taxes on dirty industry sectors;
Promote government green procurement
August 15, 2008. A Presidential Commission on Green
Growth was established in February 2009. In July 2009 the
National Strategy of Green Growth was adopted along with
the first 5-year (2009–2013) rolling plan. South Korea is also
working to enact a Framework Law on Green Growth. As a
means of green transportation, the expanded use of rail and
bicycles will be promoted. A green lifestyle index will be
developed for citizens and a nationwide green life
movement, dubbed Green Start, will be launched.
Furthermore, a carbon footprint labelling system for goods
will be enacted.
In China, SCP is officially promoted through the Circular
Economy Law, adopted in 2007. It has the potential to have
a very significant impact, especially for new developments
in the metals and mining, petrochemical and construction
industries. It includes stricter controls on emissions and
waste, promoting the re-use and recycling of water and
energy efficiency in industrial production. Since the
implementation of the Circular Economy Law, carbon
emissions intensity has decreased by 10.1% and sulphur
dioxide and chemical oxygen demand (COD) has already
decreased by 8.95% and 6.61%, respectively (Xiong, 2009).
The circular economy policy framework is, however,
mainly concerned with reducing industrial pollution
through effective industrial waste management. Issues of
unsustainable consumption practices are so far not
comprehensively addressed at the national policy level. In
addition to the circular economy law, other policies dealing
with consumption behaviour are also emerging in China.
One policy example addressing the issue of unsustainable
use and disposal of plastic bags is the ‘Plastic Bag
Restriction Order’. Plastic bags have become a major
12 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
Figure 5. Thailand’s formulation of National SCP Strategies.
Source: NESDB & TEI (2008).
source of pollution across the whole country. From June 1st
2008 the order prohibits the free distribution of plastic
shopping bags by retailers and shopkeepers. Furthermore,
the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags
thinner than 0.025 millimetres has been banned in China
under a State Council decree. So far, after over a year of
implementation, the policy has shown some degree of
success. Large retail chains and supermarkets have
significantly reduced the number of plastic bags handed out.
However, surveys undertaken by Chinese environmental
NGOs and researchers show that the current policy
design and implementation is insufficient to address the
issue of increasing waste through plastic bags in the long
term. In street markets and smaller cities, plastic bags are
still widely used. Often the main obstacle is the
unwillingness of consumers to change their purchasing
behaviour. Other issues that need to be addressed are
“double charging” by supermarkets (as the cost for plastic
bags prior to the legislation was included in the prices for
products), lack of sustainable substitutes, and lax
enforcement (Xing, 2009).
To address energy consumption in buildings from
lighting, China has now initiated the third stage of the
Green Lighting Programme, which started in 1996. The
programme consists of several components including
among others pricing, product quality standards, market
promotion and consumer awareness. As part of the
programme the Chinese government started a financial
subsidy plan for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)
promotion in 2008. The main goal of this subsidy plan is
to make CFLs more affordable to consumers. So far, the
main consumers of energy-saving lamps in China are
high-income urban groups. They have higher awareness
of environmental protection and can afford the higher
price for CFLs. In July 2009, the third stage of the
programme which addresses quality standards was started.
Presently the third version of CFL performance standards
and the limited quantity requirement of toxic and
hazardous substances in lighting electrical appliances are
being updated (China Standard Certification Centre,
2009).
Regarding urban transport, increase of private vehicle
ownership and air pollution continues to be a major
issue for many Chinese cities. To control the growth of
vehicles in China’s urban centres, policies have been
implemented at the city level. The examples from Beijing
and Shanghai show that different demand side
management policies influencing private car ownership
and car use can have very different effects. To reduce the
use of cars the Beijing Municipality has adopted a number
plate regulation, while the Shanghai Municipal
Government has adopted policies to restrict the purchase
of private vehicles such as high registration fees for
private vehicles. The result of these different policies is
that, although personal income level in Beijing is lower
than it is in Shanghai, private vehicle ownership is much
higher. New policies for SCP can also be conflicting with
existing ones. An example is the Beijing Municipal
Government which has adopted policies to stimulate the
purchase of private vehicles, such as the provision of
mortgages for vehicles and the reduction of relevant fees
for vehicle use (Liu et al., 2007).
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
While not all countries have established national action
plans for SCP, some Asian countries are planning to
implement some specific polices targeting unsustainable
consumption patterns and development trends in the
areas of housing, mobility and food. In Singapore, for
instance, an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable
Development (IMCSD) was set up in January 2008 to
formulate a national strategy for Singapore’s sustainable
development. The strategy sets targets to achieve
reductions in environmental impacts through changing
unsustainable consumption habits and becoming more
resource efficient. For instance, a 35% improvement in
energy efficiency from 2005 levels by 2030 is planned.
The country wants to attain a recycling rate of 70% and
aims to reduce domestic water consumption to 140 litres
per person per day by 2030. In the area of mobility the
plan is to improve accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists
and have 70% of all trips made via public transport. The
instruments through which to achieve these goals include
setting energy prices to reflect the environmental impact
of energy production and to encourage conservation. A
further aim is to have 80% of existing buildings achieve at
least a Green Mark Certification rating by 2030. The
Green Mark Scheme is a rating system to evaluate the
environmental impact and performance of buildings.
Buildings can be awarded Certified, Gold, GoldPlus or
Platinum ratings, corresponding to an energy efficiency
improvement of about 10–15, 15–25, 25–30 or more than
30% respectively. Other criteria include water efficiency,
site/project development and management, indoor
environmental quality and environmental protection, as
well as innovation. The government will introduce
minimum energy performance standards for household
air-conditioners and refrigerators by 2011. Furthermore, to
encourage civil society participation, the government will
make available funding to help NGOs spearhead new
initiatives, facilitate more networking platforms, both
locally and overseas, to promote cooperation among the
NGOs and encourage the exchange of ideas on sustainable
lifestyles (Singapore Ministry of the Environment and
Water Resources, 2009).
In addition to national policy approaches, regional
initiatives exist to support the transition to an economy
based on sustainable consumption and production patterns
in Asia. One is the Asian Green Growth strategy, lead by
UNESCAP. This strategy has identified five pillars, one of
which is the promotion of SCP in Asian countries.
UNESCAP is undertaking a range of initiatives to assist
governments and policy-makers in the design and
implementation of effective policies to address
unsustainable consumption and production patterns through
regional policy dialogues, workshops and partnership
building activities.
The European Union has implemented the SWITCH Asia
Programme to support sustainable consumption and
production in Asia. With a total funding of more than 90
© 2010 United Nations. No claim to original US government works
13
million Euro for the five-year period from 2008–2012,
around 60 projects in Asian countries will be carried out
particularly targeting SMEs from various industry sectors,
but also consumer groups, public authorities, and other
stakeholders. The SWITCH Asia Programme further
includes a policy component through which collaboration
with policy-makers is sought to find opportunities in which
successful project results can contribute to successful
policy frameworks for SCP.
5. Conclusion
The approach of sustainable consumption and production
(SCP) offers possible and practical solutions to address a
range of global environmental and socio-economic
challenges, including climate change. SCP offers the
potential and necessary tools to create low-carbon and
resource efficient economies. While the resource-intensive
lifestyles of industrialized countries historically and
presently are responsible for the highest impacts, in the
emerging economies of Asia similar patterns are taking
hold. The so-called ‘global consumer class’ comprised of
mainly urban consumers already ‘enjoy’ equally high-
impact material lifestyles.
For most Asian countries and policy-makers the current
environmental challenges mainly stem from inefficient and
polluting industrial production. Within the next one to two
decades the challenges in the three consumption areas with
the highest environmental impacts — housing, mobility and
food — will become equally important. Through decisive
action the setting up of sustainable consumption and
production systems in the early and medium stages of
development can still be realised and Asian societies can
avoid becoming locked-in by unsustainable infrastructures
and consumption behaviour.
Against the backdrop of the current economic crisis, the
coordination of SCP and economic development strategies
is an important challenge for policy-makers. While many
stimulus packages have earmarked ‘green’ spending for
environmental sectors of the economy, in practice many
opportunities for greening economic development have not
been realised.
So far the gap between existing policies and strategies and
the challenges implied by increasing consumption trends is
the main obstacle to realising sustainable consumption
patterns. However, multiple options for innovative policy-
making for SCP already exist; some have been applied in
different Asian country contexts with some success although
further adjustment is necessary to improve the effectiveness
of policies. This goal can be achieved through better dialogue
and involvement of civil society organisations and
businesses, the so-called ‘triangle of change’.
Most policies currently in place aim to address the
immediate impacts caused by urban transportation, energy
and water consumption in housing, or waste reduction.
14 Wei Zhao and Patrick Schroeder / Natural Resources Forum 34 (2010) 4–15
Policies addressing the demand side of food are still lacking
and will require more attention in the future. This challenge
is related to the indirect environmental footprints caused
overseas. In this respect Asian policy-makers face the same
challenges as policy-makers in Europe and elsewhere.
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