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The OECD report of 2008 promotes sustainable consumption through several initiatives: 1. It conducted a multi-country survey on household behaviors related to water use, energy use, food consumption, waste generation, and transport to better understand consumer awareness and design effective policies. 2. It emphasizes using the "4 P's of marketing" - price, product, promotion, and place - to attract consumers to sustainable products and services by precisely positioning these factors. 3. It recommends governments reduce taxes on sustainable products to eliminate negative externalities and increase sales, while increasing taxes on unsustainable products like fuels to discourage their purchase and encourage alternatives like carpooling.

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10 views3 pages

Answer 1 SO

The OECD report of 2008 promotes sustainable consumption through several initiatives: 1. It conducted a multi-country survey on household behaviors related to water use, energy use, food consumption, waste generation, and transport to better understand consumer awareness and design effective policies. 2. It emphasizes using the "4 P's of marketing" - price, product, promotion, and place - to attract consumers to sustainable products and services by precisely positioning these factors. 3. It recommends governments reduce taxes on sustainable products to eliminate negative externalities and increase sales, while increasing taxes on unsustainable products like fuels to discourage their purchase and encourage alternatives like carpooling.

Uploaded by

simonsingh2004
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© © All Rights Reserved
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SUSTAINABLE ORGANISATION

ANSWER 1

Discuss how OECD report of 2008 UNEP conference promotes sustainable


consumption? (800-850)

⟾ OECD is an organisation for economic corporation and development, which


consists of 30 democratic countries, who come together to associate themselves
with the social, environmental and economic challenges of globalisation. The
OECD report of 2008 emphasis on the initiatives taken by the OECD
government to promote sustainable consumption and production.

Sustainable consumption is when consumers have knowledge of the


environmental after-effects of the products they consume, starting from its
production process until its disposal. It is also being concerned about the impact
goods and services might have upon the factors of production and resources. The
important aspects of sustainable development are sustainable consumption and
production which will enable us to attain long-term economic growth that is
compatible with social and environmental needs.

Consumers have a positive perspective but are disinterested to follow the same
path. In order to end this, OECD committee should take various factors into
account hence, they decided to conduct a multi-country survey on household
behaviour and 5 environmental policy sectors: water use, energy use, food
consumption, waste generation and personal transport choices. Consumer
awareness and rationality should also be taken into account while scheming
functional sustainable consumption policies. The price of goods and services and
the income earned by potential target audience are crucial factors in any market
hence, if the 4 marketing mix P’s are situated precisely then it’ll be easier to
attract consumers. A survey conducted in 2008, by OECD shows that consumers
pay attention to employee rights and child labour. In the modern age, consumers
are concerned about the effects the products they consume have on the factors of
production required to deliver the product. If a company tries to exploit their
employees by providing poor working conditions, no safety precautions, wages
less than minimum wage and if the potential target audience learns about such
unethical practices, they would want to boycott the brand and their products
which could lead to bankruptcy in the long – run. For example, a rumour had cost
Nike, an enormous loss as it said that Nike imports its raw materials from
companies who make workers their bondage and then manufacture raw materials,
this behaviour towards any human being is extremely unethical and void. As
Nike is a well-known and a reputed brand, when their customer base got to know
about the practices Nike adheres to it cost them an enormous loss and tainted
their brand reputation as no one wants to associate themselves to brands who
promote extremely unethical practices and it took Nike a long time to recover
from the after effects the rumour cost them.

In order to attract customer base to sustainability, governments should reduce


taxes and charges on sustainable products and services. This would help
eliminating negative externalities from the market and increase sales of
environment friendly goods and services. Governments should instead increase
taxes on products which are harmful for the environment. For example, taxes on
fuels should be increased which will prevent people from purchasing fuels hence,
less harmful car emissions in the environment. This would also encourage
activities such as carpooling, which will slowly and gradually make a change in
the world. Congestion charges could also be a good proposal to reduce
destruction of the environment.

Subsidies and incentives is an effective way to promote sustainable development,


these include grants to businesses who work keeping the environment in mind,
give out tax reductions to firms who keep the environment a safe place. For
example, a scheme was launched in 2002, named Nu Spaarpas in Rotterdam,
Netherlands. The Nu Spaarpas scheme was a ‘green rewards’ currency, it was
designed to promote environment-friendly consumer behaviour and operates like
a reward card. Points are earned when residents separate their recycling waste,
shop locally rather than importing goods from abroad, using public transport. It
was an incentive scheme which pursues to overcome market restraint to
monopolize sustainable products. Taxes are way more efficient compared to
regulations as they are easier for households and individuals to except.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is when businesses engage in ethical


activities by taking up environmental and social concerns within their business
operations. The OECD report states that some countries have made it a legal
policy for firms to corporate sustainable reporting, which means firms have to
broadcast their operations by which consumers are aware of the manufacturing
process the products go through.

Public procurement means government making purchases of goods and services


for their programmes. The GDP of OECD countries is 11% and goes unto
approx. 16% in European countries, this indicates that governments have
extensive ability to influence the markets to turn into sustainable economies.
There are ‘’deep green’’ countries in Europe for public procurement. The green
procurement is now applied to various products used in daily lives of people such
as using energy efficient appliances rather than normal appliances.

In conclusion, OECD report has laid several policies and guidelines for
governments of various countries to follow the path of sustainable development
with the help of sustainable consumption and sustainable production. These
policies could be a long-term plan for sustainable development and make an
enormous difference in the environment and on the economy.

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