Making the Business Case Towards Low Carbon and Resource Efficient Lifestyles

Business has a huge role to play in encouraging sustainable ways of living. Reaching consumers through markets, business can do a lot to communicate and enable sustainable choices.

 

To tackle the enormous challenge of climate change, simply improving efficiency in the production of goods and services will not be sufficient. It is vital that business must look beyond promoting more sales of low-carbon products and services. There is an urgent need to transform markets by replacing high-carbon consumption patterns with low-carbon ones. This challenge of need to shift to dramatically low-carbon lifestyles constitutes a big opportunity for business.

 

But what strategies can help business tap these opportunities? This booklet series aims to answer this question. It focuses on six strategy areas spanning from short-term actions aiming at quick responses to long-term actions targeting at a paradigm shift. This guidance is distributed to several booklets, each addressing a core question towards the challenge of sustainable consumption:

 

Booklet 1 – What are the business opportunities and challenges behind the sustainable consumption agenda?

An overview of challenges and opportunities of replacing high-carbon consumption patterns with dramatically low-carbon consumption. Includes a conceptual introduction to sustainable consumption and an executive summary of all booklets.

 

Booklet 2 – How to drive business value through sustainable consumption business strategies?

How actions within six strategic areas can create both business value and encourage sustainable consumption. Use of value drivers to detail the mechanism behind each strategic area.

 

Booklet 3 – What does sustainable consumption mean for major business sectors?

Sector-specific opportunities concerning sustainable consumption agenda. With a focus on financial sector, retail sector, food sector, energy sector, transport sector, building and construction sector, home goods (electronics and white goods) and the chemicals sector.

 

Booklet 4 – What are sustainable consumption business strategies?

Palette of actions for each of the six strategic areas detailed with real cases concerning their environmental and social value creation potential.

 

Booklet 5 – What public policy framework is required to encourage sustainable consumption business strategies?

Public policy instruments potentially encouraging and supporting businesses that like to put the sustainable consumption business strategies in place.

 

Booklet 6 – What sustainable consumption opportunities are there in developing countries?

The other or different face of sustainable consumption in the developing world as well as business opportunities at the base-of-the-pyramid markets.

 

Booklet 7 – Which partnerships are required for sustainable consumption?

A range of partnerships that can support businesses working on actions within six strategic areas.

Download the Partnerships for Sustainable Consumption Booklet (Booklet 7)

 

Each booklet acts independently in order to allow independent enhancement, extensions and updates. So share your thoughts, your efforts and reflections with us. This booklet series is part of the activities of the Marrakech Task Force on Sustainable Lifestyles coordinated by the Swedish Ministry of Environment.

 

The website is accessible via http://www.encourage-sustainable-lifestyles.net/