The Asian Review on Sustainable Consumption was conducted by the Centre for Environment and Development (CED) as part of the SC.Asia project which was partnered by UNEP, CED & CI. The Asian Review on SC challenges the current international approach on SC and rejects the notion that eco-innovation or greening the consumer should be the main focus of sustainable consumption in Asia. It essentially proposes that the primary goal of sustainable consumption should be to assure quality of life for all. It suggests that sustainable consumption planning should target to enable wellbeing and ensure happiness for all people.
The Asian Review on SC argues that sustainable consumption needs to be discussed in the interest of half of the world’s population that are in poverty, while addressing the over consumption issues of the developed countries. The report emphasises that equity in consumption is a major challenge of the international community that seeks to regulate unsustainable consumption patterns. For this, if the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) agenda cannot address the basis requirement of most humans on earth such as food, clothing and shelter and understand that issues such as food security, fair trade and good governance are intrinsically linked to creating sustainable consumption, then the process will naturally fail the people’s aspiration for a sustainable world.
The Asian Review on SC is herewith published with a view of initiating a broader global dialogue on the deeper meanings of sustainable consumption to Asians and rest of the world. The dialogue was initiated by the Centre for Environment and Development when it conducted the Asian Review on SC by inviting over a hundred of organizations to join the national and regional review. These hundred plus organisations were represented by some of the most knowledgeable thinkers, researchers, activists and administrators on sustainability in the region. This report provides a preliminary framework towards promoting sustainable consumption in Asia where half of the global humanity resides, and hope to inspire the other half to join us in creating a sustainable world.
The hope of this report is to find its way towards potential beneficiaries from government, NGOs, academia, industry and other to be inspired by an Asian vision, thought, expertise and experience from China to India, Malaysia to Sri Lanka, Indonesia to Bangladesh, Cambodia to Nepal, Thailand to Pakistan and Vietnam to Laos.
The Asian Review is in three volumes. Volume one is this report and volume two contains the case studies. The objective of the case studies is to provide proof of Asian initiatives to promote sustainable consumption. The third volume is a collection of questionnaires, survey forms and interview guides that were designed exclusively in the year 2004 for the Asian Review on Sustainable Consumption as a part of the SC.Asia project. The report, cas
e studies and survey formats of the Asian Review on Sustainable Consumption are now availablein the publications section of this website
CED has embarked upon the second stage of the Asian Review focusing on SCP to deliberate and propose an “Asian Framework on Sustainable Consumption and Production”. This will involve a series of projects and publications.