The twelfth goal calls on producers, consumers, communities and governments to reflect on their habits and practices regarding consumption and waste generation, and on the environmental and social impact of the entire value chain of our products. More broadly, this SDG calls for an understanding of the interconnections between personal and collective decisions, and for an awareness of the impacts of our respective behaviours across countries and on a global scale.
SDG12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Where does France stand ?
Domestic challenges
The year 2020, marked by the health crisis, stood out with a fall in both gross domestic product (GDP) and related domestic consumption of materials, i.e. domestic extraction of materials plus imports minus exports. However, in the same year, this consumption reached no less than 693 million tonnes, i.e. 10.3 tonnes per inhabitant (t/inhab.), whereas we produce 5 tonnes of waste per inhabitant every year.
In order to reduce resource extraction and pollution, it is high time we changed the way we produce, consume, sort and recycle.
The transition to a circular economy, a key component of the ecological and solidarity transition, is a social project aimed at moving away from a throwaway society. It encourages us to change the way we live our lives, to invent new, more sustainable modes of production and consumption, in particular by favouring use over ownership (functionality economy). This shift in economic model will not happen spontaneously. It will require proactive action from the State, both to define an economic and financial framework that encourages those involved to make decisions in favour of the circular economy, and to structure production sectors capable of "wrapping everything up".
France is encouraging major groups to transform their business models to make them more sustainable and responsible for the ecosystem in which they operate and is advocating corporate social responsibility by supporting the work of the United Nations Global Compact in this area.
Raising awareness and educating people about responsible consumption and production are also on the agenda for the European Sustainable Development Week and the European Week for Waste Reduction.
The State is raising awareness and informing consumers of their key role in making purchasing decisions and reducing the environmental impact of their consumption.
Public institutions and administrations are committed to setting an example, particularly through public procurement.
The Green Industry Law no. 2023-973 of 23 October 2023 accelerates the inclusion of environmental criteria in public procurement:
- It excludes companies from public contracts that do not comply with the obligation to draw up a greenhouse gas emissions balance sheet (BEGES) and companies that do not respect their commitment to publish information on sustainability. Bids from third-party countries that compete unfairly with France will also be excluded.
- Schemes to promote socially and environmentally responsible public purchasing (SPASER) have been extended to the State.
- Public contracts will have to take account of environmental criteria from July 2024 (instead of August 2026) for key decarbonisation products (i.e. electric cars, heat pumps).
Finally, the circular economy opens up new horizons as a source of social innovation and job opportunities for the most vulnerable. It’s a way of getting territories moving on meaningful projects.
3.5% This is the increase in the number of producers committed to organic farming in 2022 compared to 2021.
In 2022, the number of farms committed to organic farming (certified or in the process) passed the 60,000 mark, representing 14.2% of French farms. At 3.5%, the number of producers involved in organic farming continued to rise in 2022, but at a slower rate than in 2021. The figures announced on 1 June 2023 by Agence Bio for 2022 also confirmed a 4.6% reduction in purchases of organic food products. The share of organic produce in French consumers’ food baskets fell to 6%, compared with 6.4% in 2021.
France’s actions
In France, the State has developed several frameworks for action that contribute directly to the implementation of SDG12 within its borders, including:
The “Recyclability, recycling and reincorporation of materials” strategy is one of the acceleration strategies that France announced when it presented the France Recovery Plan in September 2020.
The EU ’waste’ framework directive will be strengthened in 2024, following a proposal by the European Commission to set legally binding targets for Member States to reduce food waste.
The aim of the agro-ecology project (2016) is to encourage production methods that are both economically and environmentally efficient. Project measures include reducing the use of plant protection products, promoting organic farming, apiculture and agroforestry, and reducing the use of veterinary antibiotics.
France’s National Food Programme (PNA, 2016, 2019-2023): the essence of this programme is to rely on a partnership with regional authorities, voluntary associations, institutional bodies and private players to encourage more sustainable food. To meet these challenges, the Ministry of Agriculture co-finances initiatives identified in annual calls for proposals. Since 2014, a national call for proposals has been launched every year at the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture to develop unifying and exemplary projects that are in line with the PNA objectives. More than 150 projects, with a budget of around €20 million, have therefore been supported throughout the country of up to €6.7 million.
The National Waste Prevention Programme 2021-2027 sets out the strategic guidelines for public policy on waste prevention and the sustainable production and consumption actions to be implemented to achieve it. The plan is structured into 5 areas and 47 measures:
- Area 1 - Integrate waste prevention into the design of products and services
- Area 2 - Extend the useful life of products by encouraging maintenance and repair
- Area 3 - Develop re-use and recycling
- Area 4 - Combat wastage and reduce waste
- Area 5 - Involve public players in waste prevention initiatives
The second National Pact to Combat Food Waste 2017-2020 responds to one of the four main priorities of the new PNA, and one of the 13 strategic axes of the current National Waste Prevention Programme. It aims to bring together all stakeholders along the food chain to halve food waste by 2025.
The National Sustainable Procurement Plan (PNAD) 2022-2025 formalises national policy in favour of sustainable procurement in both the public and private sectors. This new PNAD places the SDGs at the heart of the actions that it intends to promote. In particular, the plan states that by 2025, 100% of public procurement contracts notified during the year should include at least one environmental consideration and 30% of public procurement contracts notified during the year should include at least one social consideration.
The aim of the national “anti-food waste” label is to highlight those involved in the food chain who are contributing to national targets for reducing food waste. It aims to improve and promote practices and guarantee a reduced level of food waste from consumers, professional partners and the general public.
The environmental labelling of products and services is a system for informing consumers about the main environmental impacts of products and services (SDG 12.8 and 12.b). It guides consumer choices towards more environmentally-friendly products and encourages producers to make eco-design efforts to reduce the environmental impact of their products. Since the beginning of 2017, it has been gradually implemented by interested companies on a voluntary basis in five pilot sectors: textiles, furniture, hotels, electronic products and food products.
The Energy Transition for Green Growth Law of 17 August 2015 officially recognised the transition to a circular economy as a national objective. The law contains major advances in terms of sustainable production (i.e. ban on plastic bags, criminalising planned obsolescence) and sustainable consumption (i.e. combating food waste). It also contains structuring objectives for waste prevention and management (i.e. halving landfill activity by 2025 compared with 2010, recycling 65% of non-hazardous non-inert waste by 2025).
The result of several months of consultation and development with 4 think-tank workshops (territories, plastics, sustainable consumption and production - SDG12, taxation) bringing together more than 200 participants (businesses, associations, local authorities, experts), the circular economy roadmap was officially launched by the French Prime Minister on 23 April 2017. It includes 50 measures and sets the course for a change in the ecological, social and economic model.
The two online public consultation phases totalled 5,000 citizen contributions, with around 20 workshop meetings and more than 100 written contributions from stakeholders.
Internationally
On a multilateral level, France is promoting the adoption of sustainable modes of consumption and production at European level through the implementation of the Circular Economy Package and the Plastics Strategy.
In UN forums, France plays an active role in international conventions on the management of chemicals and waste, where it promotes the introduction of ambitious measures, as well as in the programmes of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP), Ten-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (“10YFP”), the subject of target 12.1 of the Agenda 2030, for which it even co-leads the programme dedicated to sustainable tourism.
A dialogue on resource efficiency, an action plan on marine litter, and a Climate and Energy for Growth action plan were also adopted by G20 leaders at the Hamburg summit on 7-8 July 2017.
To help developing countries implement SDG12, the French Development Agency (AFD) is encouraging better management of natural resources and promoting sustainable and ecological rural development as part of the economic and financial transition. For example, the city of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia is receiving support for creating storage and sorting centres.
The French Facility for Global Environment which is hosted by AFD, also co-finances projects to recover organic waste (Indonesia) and collect and treat electrical and electronic waste (Cameroon).
Since the "1% solidarity scheme" was extended to the household waste sector in 2014, regional authorities have been contributing directly to development cooperation in the areas of waste collection and treatment.