Sustainability of the Sustainable Consumption Conference 2011

Sustainability Commitment

The “Sustainable Consumption: Towards Action and Impact” conference was committed to sustainability values. We advocated a triple bottom line definition of sustainability, taking into consideration ecological, economic and social criteria as relevant factors for sustainability.

Our understanding of sustainability is based on the conviction that ecological, economic and social aspects need to be taken into consideration in an integrated way in decision-making and in the implementation of the decisions.

Sustainability aims at the fulfillment of needs and at a good life for present and future generations. The implementation of sustainable development does not affect quality of life, nor should it, although many think it does.

There is no single definition of how to best achieve sustainability in each case. Decisions related to sustainability need to be weighed by considering different priorities and knowledge from different realms.

We are aware that decisions aiming at sustainable development have to be made under conditions of uncertain and incomplete knowledge. We have decided upon measures based on our current knowledge and in view of the current scientific debate on sustainability and within the limits of our resources. We offset the CO₂-emissions of the conference.

We are aware that the practical implementation of sustainability standards is a learning process that will continually develop through additional input and the exchange of opinions and ideas. We therefore wished to reflect and communicate with the participants of our conference about the sustainability criteria achieved in this conference.

(December 2011)