TY  - JOUR
A1  - Alfredsson, Eva
A1  - Bentsson, Magnus
A1  - Szejnwald Brown, Halina
A1  - Eisenhour, Cindy
A1  - Lorek, Sylvia
A1  - Stevis, Dimitris
A1  - Vergragt, Philip
T1  - Why achieving the Paris Agreement requires reduced overall consumption and production
JF  - Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy
N2  - Technological solutions to the challenge of dangerous climate change are urgent and necessary but to be effective they need to be accompanied by reductions in the total level of consumption and production of goods and services. This is for three reasons. First, private consumption and its associated production are among the key drivers of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, especially among highly emitting industrialized economies. There is no evidence that decoupling of the economy from GHG emissions is possible at the scale and speed needed. Second, investments in more sustainable infrastructure, including renewable energy, needed in coming decades will require extensive amounts of energy, largely from fossil sources, which will use up a significant share of the two-degree carbon budget. Third, improving the standard of living of the world’s poor will consume a major portion of the available carbon allowance. The scholarly community has a responsibility to put the issue of consumption and the associated production on the research and policy agenda.
KW  - sustainable consumption and production
KW  - Paris agreement
KW  - climate change
KW  - Agenda 2030
KW  - sustainable investments
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-106448
UR  - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15487733.2018.1458815
SN  - 1548-7733
VL  - 14
IS  - 1
SP  - 1
EP  - 5
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mathai, Manu V.
A1  - Isenhour, Cindy
A1  - Stevis, Dimitris
A1  - Vergragt, Philip
A1  - Bengtsson, Magnus
A1  - Lorek, Sylvia
A1  - Mortensen, Lars Fogh
A1  - Coscieme, Luca
A1  - Scott, David
A1  - Waheed, Ambreen
A1  - Alfredsson, Eva
T1  - The Political Economy of (Un)Sustainable Production and Consumption: A Multidisciplinary Synthesis for Research and Action
JF  - Resources, Conservation and Recycling
N2  - Despite widespread recognition of the need to transition toward more sustainable production and consumption and numerous initiatives to that end, global resource extraction and corresponding socio-ecological degradation continue to grow. Understanding the causes of this persistent failure is a necessary step towards more effective action. This article contributes to that understanding by synthesizing theory and evidence that links unsustainable production-consumption systems to power and inequality. While sustainable consumption and production research and action mostly focuses on technological or behavioral change, the socio-ecological inequalities driving production-consumption systems built into the organization of our global political economy, remain largely overlooked. In response, we propose a structural political economy orientation that seeks explicitly to reduce these inequalities and advance environmental justice and, thus, create the conditions for sustainable production-consumption systems. We then propose three important arenas of research and action towards sustainable production-consumption systems: justice, governance, and co-production of knowledge and action. These arenas, collectively and individually, can serve as entry points to study and act on the dynamics of (un)sustainable production-consumption systems. This can be done at the micro level, with respect to specific commodity chains or systems of provisioning, or at meso and macro levels with respect to national and global production networks. Our proposed orientation helps distinguish research and practice proposals into those emphasizing management and compensation resulting often in persistence of unsustainability, from those proffering structural changes in unsustainable production-consumption systems. We invite critique and collaboration to develop this research and action agenda further.
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105265
ER  -