Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) for Poverty Eradication

Published on February 24, 2017

This publication highlights the positive impact of SCP on poverty eradication and sustainable development. The 10-Year Framework of Programmes on SCP (10YFP) will support implementation of development and sectoral policies that promote SCP, resource efficiency and reduce environmental damage. Such policies, together with complementary actions and investments by business and civil society engaged in the 10YFP, have a huge potential to increase the net contribution of economic activities to human welfare and meeting basic needs.

All countries have the opportunity to go down the SCP path, which the work of recent years has elaborated increasingly clearly. Developing countries that choose this path can expect increasing returns from the sustainable use of their own energy and other natural resources. Those that do not can expect the development options to narrow in the future due to the high prices resulting from energy and resource constraints. The Rio+20 conference and its aftermath represent a crucial moment of choice for individual developing countries as well as for the global community as a whole. This paper was initially developed in preparation for the Rio+20 Conference, and aims to provide further insights on SCP and poverty related issues. The paper will also contribute to the integration of poverty considerations into the newly adopted 10YFP, building on experience and best practices from the Marrakech Process and other initiatives. The paper by no means prescribes what the 10YFP should be in the future, but rather draws on past and existing initiatives and analysis, to enhance the contribution of future SCP policies and initiatives to poverty eradication.