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Foreword

At the first meeting of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) in June 1993, Norway's Minister of Environment, Mr. Thorbjørn Berntsen, proposed that the high-level meeting of the CSD in 1994 should focus on "the interrelationship between economy and environment and production and consumption patterns". As part of the preparation for this meeting, Mr. Berntsen also proposed "a meeting of experts" to be held in Norway in January 1994. After preliminary discussions both within and outside of Norway, this meeting was gradually structured as a "Symposium on Sustainable Consumption", to be held in Oslo on January 19-20, 1994.

The present report is prepared as a parallel document to this meeting. Its purpose is twofold: (1) to stimulate the organizations represented in the report to scrutinize their own activities with respect to the issues of sustainable production and consumption, and (2) to give an overview of these activities so that they might be presented to a wider audience. The idea for the report began with an agreement between two of the organizations (ForUM and the Project for and Alternative Future) to prepare a joint paper for the Symposium. In reviewing an early draft of this paper, it occurred to the undersigned that the type of information we were trying to communicate should be expanded to include other organizations involved in similar types of activity. The other organizations were thus approached with a request for brief presentations of their work in the relevant areas, so that we might gain a better overall idea of what kind of activity was being carried out by whom.

We believe that the result justifies the effort, in that it both communicates the broad spectrum of activity which is being carried out in Norway, at the same time that it forces us to reflect on the nature and cohesion of that activity in relation to the seriousness of the problem. It must be pointed out, however, that the deadline for submitting the profiles was extremely short, and that the demands of creating an integrated publication in English have been time-consuming. This is another way of saying that the profile presented has been drawn up under tight constraints, and that there may be activities and perspectives which have been overlooked or underemphasized. This is to be expected as an integral part of the "self-awareness" aspect of the exercise, however, and should not give cause for either criticism or self-reproach. Probing the issue of sustainable consumption in our own backyard poses learning challenges for us all.

Another question which might be raised is the composition of the organizations represented. Surely there are more than six organizations in Norway which are involved in research and campaigns related to sustainable consumption?

In all probability, there are, though - with one exception - I am not aware of any which would have much to report with respect to the combination of consumption and sustainability on a global scale. The Norwegian organization Bellona and Greenpeace would probably protest, but I doubt that they have reasonable grounds. Both organizations are frontrunners in their particular areas, but those areas have been little concerned with consumption as either a source of North-South imbalance or outright immorality. Other organizations and institutions have long histories of consumer research, but little if anything on sustainability; while others make their mark in development research, but fail to make the connection with our own patterns of consumption.

As mentioned, however, there is one clear exception - the youth movement of Friends of the Earth Norway (NNV), "Nature and Youth" (Natur og ungdom (NU)). One of the largest "politicised" youth organizations in the country, with over 8,000 members, NU has increasingly led the activist struggle against official transportation policy in Norway. Though not directly related to consumption, there can be no doubt that massive investment in road-building, tunnels and bridges is not only damaging to the natural environment, but a major premise for the auto-motivated culture. Through their information activities and campaigns of direct action, NU has served to not only keep the issue of nonsustainable transportation in the public eye, but also to raise it to a top priority area within their own "mother organization", Friends of the Earth Norway.

Beyond these observations, the ultimate responsibility for the profile of the report rests with the undersigned, while the responsibility for the individual contributions rests with the individual authors. It is a joint venture in the hope of serving a common purpose: a better understanding of where we are "at" as a more fruitful point of departure for where we should be going. In his address to the CSD, Thorbjørn Berntsen made the following point:

The unsustainable lifestyles of the rich - both between and within countries - must be harnessed. Our consumption patterns - and our efforts to multiply them world wide, will undermine the environmental resource base even if we were to introduce the best available technology worldwide.

The present report is presented as an aid to the Minister of the Environment in trying to achieve his task. Though some sections of the report are critical in tone, this has not been the major purpose of the exercise. We who stand behind this report are also "the rich". Our lifestyles must also be harnessed. We of the North are in this together - and most of us have not yet begun to take the challenge of nonsustainable consumption seriously. The perspectives offered are in the service of greater self-reflection as a basis for more effective concerted action. The issue has been a long time brewing, but Thorbjørn Berntsen and the Norwegian government have now brought the pot home to Norway. It's time to see what kind of a stew we're really in.

Oslo, 10.01.94
William M. Lafferty
Director, Project for an Alternative Future

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