Sustainable Consumption And Sustainable Economic Growth

Sustainable consumption is primarily concerned with the quality of growth, rather than the quantity of growth. Analysts have made two important observations regarding the current growth models. The first is that as emerging economies continue to grow, most of the wealth is accumulated in the hands of a few wealthy individuals, leading to large inequality in society. The second is that economic growth increases well-being in society, but only to the extent to which it provides for the basic needs of people. Beyond that, growth makes hardly any marginal contribution to well-being, while having damaging impacts on the environment. Aside from this, the World Economic Forum recently started to recognize sustainable consumption as an economic opportunity and future direction for business.

Under-consumption is an aspect of unsustainable consumption. Many rural areas still need stable food supplies, shelter, energy, as well as infrastructure for health and education, which are essential to poverty eradication and are domains for sustainable consumption. The rural poor tend to live in fragile environmental areas, and their livelihoods heavily dependent on natural resource use and ecosystem services. Sustainable consumption ensures that these resources are exploited in an equitable manner and with long-term considerations

From economic perspective, sustainable consumption can robust economic growth, the economy involves increased employment opportunities, increased use of foreign investment and the rate of unemployment and poverty reduced. Both are equal in developed economies can be accepted by all people, and to benefit from the economic development. Third is efficiency in the planning and development of the planned economy. This effici...

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...orking with communities to develop drought-resilient agricultural techniques accessible to poor farmers. This has helped to reduce climate risks, increase yields and diversify food production. The techniques are based on local knowledge, use locally available materials and Cambodian innovations, and minimize labor costs. They include: integrated farming, where by-products of chicken and fish rearing provide organic fertilizers for vegetable production, enhancement of aquatic food species (fish, crabs, snails) that naturally live in flooded rice fields, drip irrigation, using cheap and locally produced materials, water harvested by traditional methods and innovations in mulching to retain soil moisture and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and other innovations in rice production, to minimize external inputs, reduce vulnerability to drought and enhance yields.