‘Sufficiency’ approach can help cut demand for resources, tackle inequality

Humanity’s rapacious consumption is more than Earth and its climate can handle, which is driving an ecological crisis. Australians are the worst offenders per person due to our excessive resource use.

At the same time, people in some parts of the world lack the material goods to meet their basic needs, while many people in wealthier societies have more than enough to live comfortably.

That’s where the concept of “sufficiency” can help. It’s a policy approach gaining momentum around the world. It aims to avoid demand for energy, materials, land and water, and ensure wellbeing for all humans, while staying within planetary boundaries.

What does this mean in practice? Workplaces closer to homes, public transport systems that everyone can access and afford, and reducing cars on the road. Sharing building spaces. Providing enough housing, goods, clothing and food to meet our needs, but not exceed them.

What is sufficiency

Sufficiency is a whole-of-government approach that aims to create the structural change needed for societies to consume less overall. It also seeks to ensure wellbeing for all people, not just the affluent.

It requires reassessing our needs and the ways they can be met. It requires policies with firm targets and supporting infrastructure, to foster change in individuals and businesses.

Sufficiency is not the same as efficiency, which is about producing...

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