Forecasts of sustainable consumption in small economies

Abstract

Sustainable consumption is becoming an increasingly important aspect of our consumer society. The scarcity of natural resources is a growing concern in many countries. Considering the recent developments related to the promotion of sustainable production and consumption, as well as the introduction of the Climate Action Plan and the Green Deal at the EU level, it is vital to understand the trends of sustainable consumption in individual countries, which may influence overall consumption trends in Europe. The purpose of the article is to analyse the trends of sustainable consumption in small economies with limited natural resources and facing the problem of resource allocation priorities. Sustainable consumption reflects the demand side of sustainable consumption/production. Demand is the most important factor to focus on when planning economic activities, so its trends, in this case, sustainable consumption trends, must be constantly analysed. Exponential smoothing was used to forecast sustainable consumption trends. The research results show that favourable and unfavourable trends in decoupling environmental impact from economic growth and waste generation and management in small economies are forecasted. While resource and energy productivity increases show that small economies have begun to use their resources more efficiently, the demand and consumption of materials (and the associated environmental impact) continue to increase.