Sustainable Investment, Production, Consumption and the Social and Solidarity Economy

Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) calls for a fair, inclusive and equitable global economy and envisions an alternative view of the economy which puts the environment and people in the centre. The current course of economic development has not led to shared prosperity for all, but to rising inequalities, the climate crisis, and unsustainable consumption and production patterns, affecting disproportionately the most vulnerable. A fundamental redesign of production and consumption patterns, as well as the financing of economic activity, is necessary to achieve 2030 goals. Financing systems play an important role in promoting sustainable consumption and production. The sustainable investment covers a broad range of financing activities. More precisely, social and solidarity financing (SSF) is concerned with the needs of people seeking finance and ultimately in redistributive and equitable socio-economic activity. Similarly, there are many approaches to sustainable production and consumption (SPC) and early approaches focused on limiting negative environmental impacts, “green” intentions, and actual consumer behaviour. SSE goes beyond this to consider circular social-economic systems and endeavours to put in place or “revamp” an economy that can support the societal and cultural changes necessary for SPC which create shared prosperity for people and environmental sustainability.