India Produced 3.2 Million Tonnes Of E-Waste Last Year, Actionable Plan Required To Attain SDG 12 Targets: Study

The over-exploitation of resources by people have left the planet in danger. As a universal call to action to protect the planet and the people in it, United Nations developed seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. It aimed to ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. India is committed to the 2030 Agenda, and much of the country's National Development Agenda focus on SDGs.India's overall score improved by 6 points across all SDGs, from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2020-21. However, the country is lagging in certain SDGs.

A study sponsored by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) and carried out by the advocacy group Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) India looks into the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal number 12, Responsible Consumption and Production (RCP). The study found that it is "very unlikely" that India will meet any of the SDG 12 targets by 2030 "unless the government takes some serious measures to reverse the current trend," reports National Herald. The study was titled 'Sustainable Consumption and Production: A Consumer Perspective' and was carried out from consumers' perspective, as the title suggests.

Sustainable Development Goal 12- Responsible Consumption & Production

Gandhiji once said, "There is enough on Earth for everybody's need, but not enough for everybody's greed." The Earth has provided its humans with enough resources. However, our utilisation of it hasn't been in a sustainable manner. Humans exploit the natural resources making them available to only the privileged humans existing and putting less privileged ones in poverty and darkness. Sustainable Development Goal 12 focuses on responsible consumption and production. It creates awareness of the importance of learning to use and produce in sustainable ways to reverse the harm we inflicted on the planet.

Covid-19 Impacting SDG 12 In India

Responsible consumption and production have been slowly gaining acceptance all over India. However, the covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected the acceleration towards SDG by 2030. The study shows that recession, job loss, and physical distancing largely affect people's production and consumption. The pandemic has resulted in the tremendous increase of plastic products for medical requirements. As part of the hygiene measures to prevent Covid-19, people resorted to plastic plates, cups, bottled water etc., further increasing the production and consumption of plastic.

Along with it, an alarming rise was seen in the production of fake healthcare products. The situation was worsened when the recycling process was paused due to the pandemic. People resorted to private vehicles due to the pandemic, which has also increased resource consumption. The generation of e-waste increased last year since many people have been relying more than usual on technology during the lockdown. India generated 3.2 million tonnes of e-waste last year, ranking third globally.

The Way Forward

People should work together to reverse the adversities caused during the pandemic. Even though the pandemic seems to have increased production and consumption, the study shows that it has also created sustainable opportunities like avoiding unnecessary travel, being less dependent on office space, and working from home culture. It is advised that India should create green infrastructure while fighting the pandemic to move towards SDG by 2030. Ecolabels is considered a perfect tool to facilitate acceleration towards SDG 12. Ecolabelling is a worldwide voluntary system for certifying and labelling environmental performance. It identifies products or services that have been proven to be ecologically friendly.

Government works towards attaining these sustainable goals. However, government alone cannot attain it. Walking towards achieving the goals should be looked at from the consumer's perspective to understand how to attain sustainability. Everyone should together work towards achieving sustainability by 2030. Even during the challenging times, it is important to not waver from sustainability goals to make the world a better place to live in by 2030.

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