Context: India’s progress in regard to the SDG is fair enough but not satisfactory. In this article we discuss How India is positioned to achieve UN’s sustainable consumption and production goal(SDG-12).

• Among all the states and union territories in India, Jammu & Kashmir and Nagaland are top performing till date with respect to SDG 12, according to the Niti Aayog’s SDG dashboard 2020-21. 

Issues

• The SDG 12.3 focuses on reducing per capita global food waste by 2030. About 50 kg food is wasted per person per year in India, UNEP highlighted in its 2021 report. 
• It seems rather impossible to achieve the goal to halve food waste, with only nine years left, without significantly increasing investment.

Key Points

• Sustainability is closely interlinked with economics since it mainly deals with saving of resources, which in turn leads to cost recovery and efficiency of resources. 
• United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 deals with resource usage. 
• India, the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is committed to reduce its emissions by a fourth and has prepared numerous sustainable consumption and production plans that are put in the mainstream priority.
• Storage loss has been brought down from 0.22 per cent in 2012-13 to 0.03 per cent in 2019-20 and transit loss from 0.47 per cent to 0.33 per cent during the same time period. Though this is a good sign, it is still a long way from the 12.3 goal.

Importance of Food wastage reduction 

• Food wastage reduction can have a significant effect on greenhouse gas emissions, hunger, pollution and money-saving during recessions. 
• Curbing food loss and wastage can serve to fulfil multiple SDGs at once as well as help bridge the food gap by 2050. 

India's comparison with other nations
In terms of Food Wastage

• India, among South Asian countries, has lower level of food wastage compared to its neighbouring countries. 
• The population of China and India together constitutes 36% of the global population but generates only 27 per cent of the global municipal waste.
• Whereas, the United States constitutes only four per cent of the global population that produces 12 per cent of the waste. 

In terms of Material Footprint

• Just like China and Brazil, India’s material footprint per capita has been the same as domestic material consumption per capita over the years. 
• Resource-exporting nations like Russia saw a decline in resource productivity. India, on the other hand, achieved a relative decoupling with respect to material footprint and domestic material consumption.

In process of recycling wastes

• US falls short compared to other developed countries in the process of recycling wastes, despite its high income and consumption. 
• Plastic policy index of India is well below the national requirement, according to 2018 statistics, but this gap is much lower compared to China. 
• China, India and Pakistan use the method of ‘phytoremediation’, a concept that stems from bioremediation through the usage of plants. This involves tree plantation to restore environment as well as degraded soil restoration. 
• This method is, however, less efficient. The domestic recycling rate of India was about 30 per cent in 2019 and is expected to improve in the near future.

In terms of hazardous waste

• A considerable part of the total hazardous waste that India produces is recyclable but only 4% is recycled. Efforts are required to upgrade recycling mechanisms. 
• India can achieve self-sufficiency in the next 10 years if National Recycling Policy is implemented properly and scrap care techniques are shifted in the recycling industries.
• SDG 12.6 and 12.7 require large companies to adopt, promote and integrate sustainable practices and publish the related reports.

Sustainable Initiatives

• Some companies are realising the need for greener ways of operation and SDG 12 is one of the many goals that they are mainly focusing on. 
• Flipkart, an e-commerce company, has replaced paper cups for ceramic and glass ones. Similar initiatives have been taken by OLX India, Mahanagar Gas Ltd, Persistent Systems and so on. 
• Most large and transnational companies are now eager on sustainability as they use recycled products generated from their waste. These include Google India, Amazon India, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and many more. 
• For Future Generation: The Indian government has included environment education as a compulsory component in the formal curriculum, so that they are aware of sustainable development and lifestyles. This would help them make smarter and evaluated choices that are in harmony with nature.
• Increase in renewable energy subsidy is worth appreciating, there is a need for shifting more resources to this area and reducing fossil fuel usage. 

Sustainable tourism

• Kerala has been the leading state with respect to innovative initiatives for sustainable tourism. The project of ‘Responsible Tourism’ in Kumarakom takes the help of the local community by linking them to the hospitality industry and sustaining eco-friendly tourism. 
• Similarly, Himachal Pradesh has introduced a ‘Homestay Scheme’ to draw tourists to rural areas with natural, comfortable and budget-friendly accommodation and food. These states are the ‘early birds’ and have been well-appreciated and awarded for their efforts and innovations in the field of sustainable tourism. 
• These initiatives give a raw experience to the tourists and also boost local incomes.