Looking Back and Forward at Consumption Trends in France and their Environmental Impacts

Between April 2013 and April 2014, Futuribles International coordinated a massive study aimed at identifying emergent consumption behaviour in order to gauge the prospects for development, the effects on production processes and the economic, social, environmental and other impacts. In the first stage of that study, it was necessary to assess the state of consumption in France, in order to detect the main trends at work. The findings of this first phase, aimed at establishing a historical diagnosis with regard to consumption in France, are presented here by Cécile Désaunay and Nicolas Herpin, with a major underlying question at issue: are we approaching a peak of material consumption? After a detailed description of the method used (study of the main areas of consumption, use of life-cycle analysis, carbon accounting etc.), Désaunay and Herpin outline what was learned about the evolution of consumption in France over the last 60 years, particularly with respect to the three most important areas (food, housing/energy and transport). In so doing, they come to the conclusion that France has not (yet?) reached a peak of material consumption. Having established this finding, they then enquire into the factors that are likely to curb the trend towards rising consumption in France: the potential saturation of needs, the battle against waste and built-in obsolescence, and (voluntary or enforced) restrictions on consumption. The ultimate objective is to move towards a reduction in material consumption, in order to begin the transition towards more sustainable development.