To ensure production and consumption sustainable patterns as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The legal principle of sustainable development has a long and debated history. Its application is no less conflicting. However, after the publication of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations, its legal existence and the mandate for its implementation are unquestionable. Principle 12 of the SDGs is critical to achieving this. The discussion on new patterns of production and consumption is essential to ensure sustainability and life on Earth. For this, it is necessary that not only States but also companies, especially transnational ones, should be held accountable. Only through a new logic of production and consumption can we start a more sustainable life. In this regard, the principle of sustainable development, due to its normative force and wide international recognition, is fundamental to guide the necessary changes in production and consumption patterns to reverse the accelerated process of extinction that we are experiencing, as a result of the habits acquired as a result of the expansion of industrial society.