Sufficiency as a "Strategy of the Enough": Curbing ecological crises and injustices. A summary of the German Advisory Council on the Environment's discussion paper

• Published in: Gaia (Heidelberg, Germany) Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 275 - 281
• Main Authors: Michaelis, Julia, Vogel, Bendix, Strunz, Sebastian, Lucht, Wolfgang, Dahms, Henriette, Dornack, Christina, Geissler, Anne, Hertin, Julia, Hoffart, Franziska, Kemfert, Claudia, Klein, Manuel, Köck, Wolfgang, Lage, Jonas, Marquard, Elisabeth, Schmalz, Sophie, Settele, Josef, Sommer, Bernd, Weiss, Sebastian, Wiegand, Sophie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: oekom verlag 29.10.2024
• Subjects: Circular Economy; Low-Carbon Technology; Planetary Boundaries; Resource Limitation; Sufficiency; Sustainability
• ISSN: 0940-5550
• DOI: 10.14512/gaia.33.3.3

A recent discussion paper Sufficiency as a "Strategy of the Enough": A Necessary Debate by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) aims to intensify the debate on sufficiency, a central but neglected element of future-oriented policy. It defines sufficiency as the need to limit the consumption and production of ecologically critical goods and services, mainly by the economically rich, as a basis for reducing distributional injustices and environmental impacts. Rather than proposing specific measures, the paper deliberately aims to explain the need for sufficiency from various scientific disciplines, and invite discussion. Here, the authors of the discussion paper provide a short overview of the analyses and arguments in English.