Policy recommendations for sustainable consumption in Europe

In the run-up to this year’s Rio+20 summit and the revision of the EU Action Plan for Sustainable Consumption the Oeko-Institut is presenting the findings of an EU research project that has been investigating sustainable consumption policy. The project’s aim was to identify the policy instruments and measures that can best promote and implement sustainable consumption in Europe.

To this end the project “Policies to Promote Sustainable Consumption Patterns” (EUPOPP) examined current consumption trends, conducted a comparative analysis of ten case studies covering all regions of the EU, and developed scenarios for future impacts of integrated instrument bundles in the field of sustainable consumption. A particular focus was on policies in two key clusters of human needs: housing and food. In association with six other scientific organisations the Oeko-Institut discussed the requirements that a policy for promoting sustainable consumption must meet.

“Our findings show that existing efforts aiming at changing consumption patterns yield results, but can be significantly improved.” This is the conclusion of the policy brief “Policies to Promote Sustainable Consumption Patterns in Europe”.

What is needed for the future is “more systemic approaches to sustainable consumption and production, improving the policy design and implementation of individual policy instruments, as well as devising coherent policy bundles that can enhance policy effectiveness through synergies”.

Further information

Policy brief “Policies to Promote Sustainable Consumption Patterns in Europe” 

A general summary of the main project activities and results can be found in the EUPOPP brochure (available at www.eupopp.net).