About Sustainability between Responsible Production and Consumption

Abstract

The concept of sustainable production and consumption is not only a complex one, but it is also one of great topicality and importance. It aims at the use of goods and services that meets basic needs and contributes to improving people’s living standards, correlated with reducing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as waste and polluting emissions during the lifecycle of products, in a way that is appropriate to the present generation’s needs but does not harm the needs of future generations. The current challenges of humanity have justified and determined a change in the way that goods are produced and consumed. Thus, it is necessary not only to create added value but also to reduce the use of natural resources related with reducing costs and minimizing the impact on the environment. In other words, we will have to do more and better with fewer resources. In the current national and European context, the integration of sustainable development objectives at the center of economic activities involves changing production and consumption standards. Starting from this reality, we will address in this paper the role that the promotion of sustainable production and consumption models has. We will also emphasize the role of European policy in promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization as well as encouraging innovation.