Page 384 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Sustainability and Resilience 359

carbon intensity of energy consumption will decline if we
can scale up the use of biofuels or carbon sequestration
(see Chapter 18). Likewise, the waste generated per unit of
material throughput will decline if we can achieve greater
eco-efficiencies through product life-cycle management (see
Chapter 10).

The implication is that we need to seek disruptive innovations in
both production and consumption of goods and services in order to
drastically reduce our material and energy requirements. For devel-
oped countries, this could mean significant lifestyle changes, but not
necessarily diminished quality of life. It is conceivable that a shift
toward smaller-scale distributed production, reduced reliance on
motorized transportation, denser living communities, more modest
consumption patterns, and reduced waste generation might actually
result in a less stressful and more healthful lifestyle. For developing
countries, sustainable growth would imply a nontraditional pattern
of growth that favors highly efficient “clean” technologies, with an
emphasis on social equity and inclusion. Arguably, much can be
accomplished simply by scaling up existing technologies, such as
alternative energy sources and green buildings [5].
Achieving sustainable growth will require global collaboration
on an unprecedented scale aimed at public education, environmental
policy, and innovation. Companies will need to push the boundaries
of their DFE efforts beyond the individual enterprise, working with
customers, suppliers, competitors, and other interested parties. Gov-
ernments will need to become more innovative in developing policies
and strategies for large-scale infrastructure systems—urban systems,
water resource systems, regional transportation systems, and energy
distribution systems. To avoid the paralysis of parochial debate and
traditional lobbying, we will need to form joint industry-government
task forces and public-private partnerships. Actually, a President’s
Council for Sustainable Development was convened in the United
States during the 1990s with high-profile industry participation, but
it accomplished little in terms of genuine change. Perhaps a greater
sense of urgency will yield more meaningful results in the future.
To address these challenges, the United Nations has set in motion
the Marrakech Process, a series of global initiatives through which
countries are working towards a 10-Year Framework of Programmes
on Sustainable Consumption and Production. Seven government-led
Task Forces have been created to carry out activities at national or
regional levels to help accelerate a shift to more sustainable consump-
tion and production patterns throughout the world. These voluntary
teams of experts from government ministries, regional organizations,
academic research institutes, technical agencies and UN bodies are
attempting to tackle pressing problems in innovative ways. They