Call for sustainable production to promote social justice

There are abundance of policies about production, consumption, but lacks implementation, says SDPI Executive Director

ISLAMABAD:

Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Executive Director Abid Qaiyum Suleri has said we need to promote the slogan that wealth belongs to an individual, but resources belong to the society and the concept of sustainable production and sustainable consumption is to promote social justice.

He was speaking at a session titled: “Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Context of Circular Economy and Climate Agenda”, on the second day of the 26th Sustainable Development Conference on Wednesday organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Wednesday.

Dr Suleri said there is an abundance of policies about production and consumption, but their implementation is less than desired. Emphasising learning from successful sustainable production and sustainable consumption models, he said that more emphasis is given to production but consumption is equally important.

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Sanjay Vashist from CANCA, India, stressed the need for holding discussions among stakeholders, including the government, civil society, policymakers and the private sector in the context of sustainable production and sustainable consumption.

Dr Ali Kamal, the representative from SGDs Task Force, said we need to use our resources responsibly as according to available data we waste 36-million-ton food annually. He added that for sustainable growth and production, we need to minimise the use of natural resources and materials in a manner which is socially beneficial, particularly from an environmental point of view.

Engineer Abdul Jabbar, a Member of the SDPI Board of Governors, said circular economy and circularity is the old concept but efficiency is the key in the context of production. Amir Khan Goraya, Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP, questioned what exactly the use of resources is being spent on distribution if there is no recycling and it will end up in the same place.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2023.