International workshop: Shaping nature-friendly consumption
In order to halt the global loss of biodiversity, prevailing consumption and production systems must change fundamentally. Effective policy measures are urgently needed to create the right framework conditions for the necessary transformative change.
The participants of the international workshop discussed promising policy instruments for sustainable consumption and assessed their effectiveness in the context of current political processes. This included the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which contains targets for reducing the impacts businesses have on biodiversity and for promoting nature-friendly consumption. The EU Deforestation Regulation was also discussed - this obliges companies to prove that certain products placed on the market in the EU have been produced legally and without deforestation. The workshop participants emphasised the importance of implementing the regulation quickly and effectively, and discussed how this can be achieved without leaving smallholders in the production regions behind.
The workshop focussed particularly on sustainable food systems. Based on the three case studies of soy, palm oil and shrimp, the severe environmental impact of European consumption were highlighted and possible solutions were further developed. Among other things, the participants noted that consumption-orientated measures, including those to promote a more sustainable and plant-based diet and greater sufficiency, must go hand in hand with measures to promote environmentally friendly production systems in the growing regions.
The workshop was part of the project "Shaping nature-friendly consumption", supported by the BfN with funds from the BMUV and implemented by the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (ifeu). A first policy brief with recommendations for action for sustainable food systems was recently published as part of the project. The workshop results will be incorporated into further project publications in the coming year.