Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Responsible Consumption & Production


Goal 12 is about ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, which is key to sustain the livelihoods of current and future generations.

Our planet is running out of resources, but populations are continuing to grow. If the global population reaches 9.8 billion by 2050, the equivalent of almost three planets will be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles.

We need to change our consumption habits, and shifting our energy supplies to more sustainable ones are one of the main changes we must make if we are going to reduce our consumption levels. However, global crises triggered a resurgence in fossil fuel subsidies, nearly doubling from 2020 to 2021.

We are seeing promising changes in industries, including the trend towards sustainability reporting being on the rise, almost tripling the amount of published sustainability over just a few years, showing increased levels of commitment and awareness that sustainability should be at the core of business practices.

Food waste is another sign of over consumption, and tackling food loss is urgent and requires dedicated policies, informed by data, as well as investments in technologies, infrastructure, education and monitoring. A staggering 931 million tons of food is wasted a year, despite a huge number of the global population going hungry.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

Union for the International Classification for Industrial Designs

Locarno Union 1971 Geneva Switzerland F gt

Union for the International Deposit of Industrial Designs

The Hague Union 1925 Geneva Switzerland F gt

Union internationale des associations et organismes scientifiques et techniques

UATI 1950 Paris France A y

Union internationale des techniciens de l'industrie de la chaussure

UITIC 1974 C t

Union internationale pour la protection des obtentions végétales

UPOV 1961 Geneva Switzerland F gy

Union of Arab Chambers

UAC 1951 Beirut Lebanon D

Union of Black Sea and Caspian Business

BCB 2006 Istanbul Türkiye D

Union of European Federation of Corporate Football

UEFCO J

Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises

BUSINESSMED 2002 Tunis Tunisia D

Union of Organizations of manufacturers of Pasta Products of the EU

1960 Rome Italy E

Union of the Electricity Industry - Eurelectric

1999 Brussels Belgium D t

Unistock Europe

1969 Brussels Belgium E

United Nations

UN 1945 New York NY USA A gy

United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business

UN/CEFACT 1997 Geneva Switzerland E gt

United Nations Children's Fund

UNICEF 1946 New York NY USA F fg

United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters

1968 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

UNCTAD 1964 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

CISG 1980 Vienna Austria T g

United Nations Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes

1988 Vienna Austria T g

United Nations Convention on the Liability of Operators of Transport Terminals in International Trade

1991 Vienna Austria T g

United Nations Development Programme

UNDP 1965 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Economic and Social Council

ECOSOC 1945 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

UNECE 1947 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNESCO 1945 Paris France B g

United Nations Environment Programme

UNEP 1972 Nairobi Kenya E g

United Nations Global Compact

UNGC 2000 New York NY USA F y

United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names

UNGEGN 1959 New York NY USA E g

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNHCR 1951 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Industrial Development Organization

UNIDO 1967 Vienna Austria B g

United Nations Institute for Training and Research

UNITAR 1963 Geneva Switzerland E gj

United Nations International Computing Centre

UNICC 1971 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service

NGLS 1975 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Office at Geneva

UNOG Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

UNDRR 1999 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Office for Project Services

UNOPS 1973 Copenhagen Denmark E g

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNODC 1997 Vienna Austria E g

United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe

UNRIC 2004 Brussels Belgium E g

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East

UNRWA 1949 Amman Jordan E g

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

UNRISD 1963 Geneva Switzerland E gjv

United Nations Sustainable Development Group

UNSDG 1997 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Volunteers

UNV 1971 Bonn Germany F g

United Networks of International Corporate Events Organizers

UNICEO Geneva Switzerland J

UnitedSuccess

2008 J v

Unity of Nations Action for Climate Change Council

UNAccc 2021 Vadodara India G

Universal Movement for Scientific Responsibility

UMSR 1974 Paris France F

Universal Peace and Violence Amelioration Centre

UPVAC 2015 Jos Nigeria G

Universal Union for Consumer Protection and Civil Abuse

UNUCOPCA 2003 Buea Cameroon G

Universala Medicina Esperanto-Asocio

UMEA 1908 Trier Germany C v

University for Peace

UPEACE 1980 San José Costa Rica F g

University Industry Innovation Network

UIIN 2012 Amsterdam Netherlands F y

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