Symposium on the “Study of Sustainable Consumption in Beijing Families and Policy Recommendations”

Sponsored by the United Nations Office of Environmental Planning, the symposium on the “Sustainable Consumption in Beijing Families and Policy Recommendations“ was officially held on the afternoon of June 9th. This symposium was attended by Ma Zhong, the Director of the Renmin University School of Environmental Studies; Chen Shaofeng, the Director of both the China School of Science as well as the Research Institute for Scientific Management; Chen Xiaoyue, the Director of the Policy Department at the Bureau of Environment and Economic Policy Research Institute; Xiang Dong, a Professor from Tsinghua University; Cui Dapeng, researcher at the Center for Sustainable Development at the China School of Social Science; Jin Min, Assistant Professor at Renmin University’s School of Environment; Shi Lingling, Instructor at Beijing Normal University, and the representatives from All-China Environmental Federation (ACEF). This includes Vice Secretaries, XieYuhong and Lu Kejin, the Director of International Cooperation, GaoXiaoyi, and Project Manager, Liu Jie. Vice Secretary, Mr. Lu Kejin served as the Chair of the meeting.

Launched in November 2011, the “ “ project was designed to promote a transformation of China’s consumer sustainability model, raise public awareness of sustainable consumption, guide consumers in choosing environmentally-friendly products and services, promote changes in China’s sustainable consumption policies, reduce CO2 emissions, and tackle climate change. The project studied the current consumption patterns of Chinese families in Beijing, developed indicators and standards to measure China’s Green community and Chinese families’ sustainable consumption, examined Chinese policies regarding sustainable consumption, proposed policy recommendations for sustainable consumption in China, and published a study on sustainable consumption in China.

The study on the current consumption patterns of Beijing families was conducted in March 2015 in two large residential areas including the Ba Jiaoli residential area in
Beijing ShijingshanDistrict and the Wangjing residential area in the Chaoyang District. Other surveys were also conducted online and through Wechat at the same time. A total of 1115 surveys were successfully collected and the results revealed that only 51% of the interviewees have heard of the concept of sustainable consumption, the other half were completely unaware of this concept. This shows that the level of sustainable consumption needs to be greatly increased.

During the symposium, the various experts voiced their professional recommendations. For example, they suggested breaking down all the various types of consumptions and analyzing each of them individually. This includes consumptions that are necessities (water, food, etc.), luxury goods, and optional goods. Then, examine the different challenges facing each type of consumption and propose policy recommendations thattarget these specific challenges. Additionally, because production and consumption are closely linked, the study should
take both of these processes into account in order to recommend policies that best enable consumers to embrace sustainable consumption. The project team will combine and organize all suggestions from the experts and revise the project report. By refining their policy recommendations, they hope to lay the foundation for the drafting and revision of future environmental policies.

(This English version is for your reference only.In case any discrepancy exists between the Chinese and English context, the Chinese version shall prevail.)