Sustainable consumption and production… “doing more and better with less,”

SDG 12: RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
Consumption and production are at the core of the global economy. Yet current unsustainable production and consumption patterns lead to deforestation, water scarcity, food waste, and high carbon emissions, and cause the degradation of key ecosystems. Accomplishment of this goal will create synergies and support attainment of other goals on food, water and energy, while also contributing to climate change mitigation.

​SDG 12: What does it mean?
Sustainable consumption and production is about “the use of services and related products, which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations”.

Why is SDG 7 important to the world?
Did you know?

• Each year, an estimated one third of all food produced – equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes worth around $1 trillion – ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers, or spoiling due to poor transportation and harvesting practices
• When it comes to consumers, households consume 29 per cent of global energy and contribute to 21 per cent of resultant CO2 emissions. If people worldwide switched to energy efficient lightbulbs the world would save US$120 billion 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
• Water pollution is also a pressing issue that needs a sustainable solution. We are polluting water faster than nature can recycle and purify water in rivers and lakes.

More people globally are expected to join the middle class over the next two decades. This is good for individual prosperity but it will increase demand for already constrained natural resources. If we don’t act to change our consumption and production patterns, we will cause irreversible damage to our environment.

Why is SDG7 important to Seychelles?
Seychelles in general faces enormous challenges in managing their wastes and waste treatment remains in general very capital intensive. The Seychelles developed a sewerage system for Victoria and its suburbs in the early 90’s and associated wastewater treatment works. 97% of all households use flush toilet and sewage is treated to a high level. However not all the people are connected and the sewer network is out-dated requiring major renovation. Consequently, most of the rivers and water bodies are receiving greater pollution loads and advancement in water treatment technologies combined with sewer upgrading works is urgently required.
 
In parallel, the country is implementing through the energy commission projects that consider deriving energy from waste. Advanced waste treatments are however costly and reliant on a trained workforce both of which are limiting in SIDS. The need for landfill will remain for waste that cannot be recycled or processed and remnants of treatment processes such as incinerator ash. With limited land available for landfilling, lack of investments and technical capacity compounded by yearly increase in waste production, Seychelles needs to be innovative to contain the waste problem and develop sound strategies including construction and operation of long term disposal facilities.

What actions are being taken in Seychelles towards this SDG?
Important progress has been made in the management of waste through partnership with the European Union and the country boasts a new and modern sanitary landfill and leachate plant. There is a very high rate of waste collection and cleanliness in the country. Several initiatives has been developed in line with international policies and best practice including implementation of a user pay policy, ban on non re-useable plastic bags increased waste recycling and waste diversion from landfill. Despite these advances, the sector is seriously constrained by poor long-term planning, deficiency in contracting and lack of technical capacity. There are currently no graduates specialised in this sector to support the activities of the waste agency. Despite ratification of the Basel Convention, the country does not have a comprehensive programme including specialised staff, equipment and facility for the safe management of hazardous waste.
The need for improved technical capacity reverberates strongly across all sectors and in particular for energy, which would also benefit from more technology transfer. A new Energy Act has been approved and updated legislation pertaining to the Energy Commission. These instruments allow independent power producers to produce and sell renewable energy to the national grid. Important on-going programmes are installation of eight wind turbines (under commissioning) and a project on Photovoltaic cells.
"The situation the Earth is in today has been created by unmindful production and unmindful consumption. We consume to forget our worries and our anxieties. Tranquilising ourselves with over-consumption is not the way"  -Thich Nhat Hanh

What can you do to help?
There are two main ways to help:

1. Reducing your waste - By ensuring you don’t throw away food to reducing your consumption of plastic (one of the main pollutants of the ocean). Carrying a reusable bag, refusing to use plastic straws, and recycling plastic bottles are good ways to do your part every day.
2. Being thoughtful about what you buy and choosing a sustainable option whenever possible- Making informed purchases about what we’re buying also helps. For example, the textile industry today is the second largest polluter of clean water after agriculture, and many fashion companies exploit textile workers in the developing world. If you can buy from sustainable and local sources you can make a difference as well as exercising pressure on businesses to adopt sustainable practices.

What can a business do to help?
Help find new solutions that enable sustainable consumption and production patterns. This can be done by:

1. A better understanding of environmental and social impacts of products and services, both of product life cycles and how these are affected by use within lifestyles.
2. Identifying “hot spots” within the value chain where interventions have the greatest potential to improve the environmental and social impact of the system as a whole is a crucial first step.
3. Businesses can also use their innovative power to design solutions that can both enable and inspire individuals to lead more sustainable lifestyles, reducing impacts and improving well-being.

(Contributed by Kelly Mothe)