How Consumer and Citizen Awareness of the SDGs Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

The 169 targets accompanying the 17 goals are “global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities,” (UN, 2015). The SDGs give special attention to the most compelling global issues, urging for collaborative efforts between and across nations to address social inclusion, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. In light of the prevailing global conditions, it is becoming curious to establish how the SDG agenda responds to the compound challenges of today. This essay examines how consumer and citizen awareness of the SDGs will ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Specifically, it seeks to debate the question: will consumer and citizen awareness of the SDGs ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns? The Implications of Consumer and Citizen Awareness of the SDGs on SDG no.

This incorporates training consumers and producers on reasonable utilization and ways of life, furnishing them with satisfactory information through labels and standards and participating in feasible public procurement. Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns When citizens are informed of the global goals, every individual will shift to energy-saving lights, and averagely, the globe would save up to US$120 billion yearly. According to the recent statistics, energy consumed in OECD nations is projected to rise to 35% by 2020 because the energy consumption is experiencing an upward trend globally (Thawani, 2018). In 2002 the engine vehicle stock in OECD nations was 550 million of which 75% were personal cars. Similar studies indicate that vehicle ownership will increase by 32% by 2020. The manufacturers of these foods could be aware of the health-related risks they expose consumers to but still choose to produce.

On the other hand, consumers could also be aware of the health status of the food they consume but choose to ignore it all together (Bello et al. Even so, there is a need for awareness campaigns to inform the producers of inorganic foods on the dangers they expose consumers to. Similarly, consumers need information about the status of the food they consume to make informed decisions. When the consumers and the citizens are made aware of the sustainable development goals, they will be living to conserve the available water by using it sparingly and for the right purposes, thus sustainability in consumption and production pattern worldwide. In regions where water is abundant, there is excessive consumption for both commercial purposes or for home consumption which leads to shortages.

Regardless of the intensified awareness campaigns to conserve natural resources including water catchment zones, little has been achieved. Governments have a significant role to play in not only disseminating the 2030 SDG agenda to the investors, manufacturers and common citizen as well as consumers but also in formulating policies to enforce the SDG targets. Government initiatives are likely to encourage organizations, particularly multinational corporations, to embrace sustainable practices and to incorporate sustainability data into their description cycle as well as improve public procurement processes that are sustainable based on national arrangements and priorities. With the awareness of the SDGs, there is a likelihood of sound administration of synthetic substances along with other losses during their life cycle. Since most of the developing countries lack the financial muscle to implement the 2030 SDG agenda, it is the role of the developed nations to take the lead in supporting initiatives in the third world countries.

Since most governments are facing myriad of challenges in pushing for sustainable development, Non-Governmental Organizations are playing a critical role not only in pushing for the sustainable development at the international level but also in funding campaigns championing inter-governmental negotiations. At the structural level, NGOs are pushing for new management structures which integrate the key concerns of sustainable development in decision-making. NGOs are believed to have quality management strategies which can be adopted by government organizations and the collaborative efforts can contribute towards achieving the SDGs with lesser costs (Thawani, 2018). The mutual working relationship between the government and NGOs facilitate the communication and adoption of government policy which enhance the management of the non-profit organizations. Consumer and citizen awareness of the SDGs will not be enough if the individual countries fail to formulate appropriate laws which address social, economic and environmental dimensions of the SDGs.

Currently, the majority of countries, especially the developing ones are still unable to close the gap between the reach and poor. The concerted efforts to eliminate poverty levels, stem out illiteracy and enhance the quality of living is among the challenges confronting majority nations in the world. There is a need for countries to establish appropriate policies related to capital expenditure, capacity building, and equipment to align their priorities with the 2030 SDG agenda and achieve sustainable consumption and production patterns. The responsibility to make consumers and citizens aware of the SDGs rests on individual governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public and private sectors as well as other people of goodwill to achieve the SDG goals. N. , Ngadiman, Y. , & Bon, T. Evidence of Municipal Awareness as a Construct for Enhancing Citizen Satisfaction in Municipal Council of Malaysia.