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SUSTAINABILITY AND THE SHARING ECONOMY
Marco TorregrossaFounder and Managing Director
Euro Freelancers
Global Consumption Trends
Current World Resource Consumption
Market forces rather than human needs dictates the distribution of resources, goods and services
Commercialisation has infiltrated every aspect of our lives, encouraging highly individualistic and unsustainable consumerist lifestyles
Natural resources are usurped at far greater rates than they can be replenished
At least 18 international conflicts have been triggered by competition for resources since 1990 and this is set to increase in light of a rising world population, soaring global consumption and rapidly disappearing energy supplies
Sustainability Benefits
Environmental Less resource use and CO2 emissions, if number of new products
manufactured is reduced Higher demand for good quality products, if products are to be
lend or leased, repaired, upgraded multiple times Favours eco-design for multi-user experiences, durability and
repeat customisation for shareable products
Social Enhances social interaction, community building and trust
between citizens Access to high quality products also for low income consumers Lowers barriers to entrepreneurship Helps learning new skills
Source: Dr Nadine Pratt, CSCP
Sustainability Concerns
Rebound effects (offset the sustainability benefits)
Does sharing under-utilised items leads to longer lasting and higher quality products or leads to increased and faster consumption?
Does home sharing lead to a more sustainable tourism or leads to more tourism, hence higher environmental impacts?
Does car sharing lead to more sustainable transport or the money saved from car sharing is reused into long distance travel?
Does office sharing lead to more sustainable energy use?
Does movie streaming lead to higher carbon impact coming from the intensive energy use caused by inefficient equipment?
Sustainability Concerns
May increase faster consumption, if sharing is used as trial before buying new products
May ncrease disposal of old items in exchange of newer ones, if shared item is cheaper and with lower quality
May increase transport, distribution, logistics and related CO2 emissions (e.g. long distance shipping and delivery of items from home to home)
May increase social disparities, social dumping and job losses
Way Forward for Sustainability and Sharing Economy
Invest in behavioural change, awareness raising campaigns and capacity building to reduce the rebound effect
Create measurement systems for the long-term positive sustainability impacts against key performance indicators
Create minimum environmental performance standardswith high benchmarking potential
Commission environmental impact assessment and lifecycle analysis studies on sharing assets above all in large cities
Way Forward for Sustainability and Sharing Economy (Continued)
Support green public procurement favouring sharing economy enterprises
Introduce mandatory requirements for sustainable products (e.g. minimum recyclability, reusability, upgradeability and durability)
Promote the creation of awards schemes for the most sustainable sharing economy concepts
Support the development of one sharing economy regional cluster in the EU to accelerate the innovation process
IndependentEU Affairs and
Funding Consultants
MARCO TORREGROSSA
Founder and Managing [email protected]
about.me/marcotorregrossa
@eurofreelancers
THOUGHTS?
