Promoting sustainable consumption: good practices in OECD countries

As a contribution to the UN Marrakech Process on Sustainable Consumption and Production, the OECD identified effective government approaches for using various tools (regulations, taxes, labeling, education) to promote the sustainability of consumption in economic, environmental and social terms.

In this study, sustainable refers to both the environmental (pollution, waste, resource use) and social (health, welfare) characteristics of products. It focuses on consumption by households and governments. It discusses government tools and instruments (eg. standards, taxes, subsidies, communications campaigns, education) put in place to encourage sustainable consumption. It also discusses approaches for protecting consumers from misleading information on sustainability in areas such as labelling, advertising and corporate reporting.