The (Un)Sustainable Consumption- A Case of US Vijeta Rattani Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) New Delhi

What the Paris Agreement Says….. “Also recognizing that sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of consumption and production, with developed country Parties taking the lead, play an important role in addressing climate change.”

Definition As defined by the Oslo Symposium in 1994, sustainable consumption is about “the use of goods and services which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources ...........so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations.” Sustainable consumption is considered as an important requirement of sustainable development along with poverty alleviation and management of resources, Adopted in Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, as outcome of World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.

Why the US Source: Global Carbon Factsheet, CSE, 2014

Americans- the Mall-thusians A species bred on conspicuous consumption. Has the highest per capita household final consumption expenditure (a measure of consumption, calculated as the market value of all goods and services a household purchases in a year). In 2013, all the stuff a US household purchased was almost double that a European household did, 24 times a Chinese household, 44 times an Indian, 64 times a Bangladeshi household and 173 times a household in Malawi. Even in 1990, household spend in the US was US$ 21000- it took the Germans 20 more years to match that level!

Household final consumption per capita -2013 US has the highest-44 times that of India

Index of real personal consumption expenditure- Index has doubled since 1990 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 1990-2014

What is average American spending on? Items Increase (1990-2014) Food and Beverages 8 percent Housing 30 percent Transport 17 percent Household furnishing 90 percent Household appliances Recreation 220 percent Communication 250 percent Personal care 70 percent   Consumption growth is propelled by services and non-essential luxury consumption. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 1969-2014

Average per capita consumption expenditure in US and India In Market Exchange Rates, US’s is 37 times higher than India’s Even in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), it is 11 times higher than India’s. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, US and Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, India, 2011-2012

In MER terms, an average American spends 15 times more on food and beverages, 24 times more on transportation, 50 times more on housing and household goods and services and more than 6000 times on recreation as compared to an average Indian!! The US does not have a deliberate policy to reduce its consumption on goods and services.

Annual food waste by region Richest nations waste 110 kg every year, the poorest less than 10 kg.

National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) Report 2012, 40 percent of total food in the US goes waste. This amounts to approximately 25 percent of all freshwater, 4 percent of the oil the US consumes and more than US$165 billion to producing food- food which is never eaten The average American throws away between US$ 28 to US $43 in the form of 9 kg of food every month, 10 times more than SE Asian. The waste trend is up by 50 percent from 1970s.

Other nations are clamping down on food wastage- The US does not care. In January 2012, the European Parliament adopted a resolution to reduce food waste by 50 percent by 2020. 2014 was designated as the European year against food waste UK did a campaign against waste. Households waste reduced by 18 percent Japan has curbed wastage by 14 percent in 3 years In 2012, 50 percent of Danes reduced their food wastage No policy by US to curb food wastage.

Some questions to ponder… Is there a limit to consumption? How much consumption is sufficient? Can the US increase its consumption and still decrease its greenhouse gas emissions? Is the American life style still non-negotiable? When it would be negotiable? - The American lifestyle is also aspirational and addictive.