Almeida, L. (2025).
Energy: From Efficiency to Sufficiency. CIB Conferences,
1(1).
https://doi.org/10.7771/3067-4883.2105This paper explores energy sufficiency as complementary to efficiency and its integration within Net Zero. Considering the societal approach and interaction between humans and machines, such as the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), this paper also includes a short reflection on paralleling sufficiency with the fifth Industrial Revolution. There is a need to incorporate the concept of sufficiency in a broader sense, from supply to demand. Sufficiency as a reemerging concept still requires policies on energy systems and societies.
Golinucci, N., Rocco, M. V., Prina, M. G., Beltrami, F., Rinaldi, L., Schau, E. M., & Sparber, W. (2025).
The role of sufficiency measures in a decarbonizing Europe.
Ecological Economics,
235, 108645.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108645This study introduces a multi-regional, multi-sectoral model, based on an input-output framework, to quantify the decarbonization impacts of sufficiency measures on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and employment under European Union (EU) specific scenarios through 2050. The model evaluates six sufficiency measures: reductions in air travel, personal living space, and vehicle size; increased product and space sharing; greater cycling adoption; and a shift towards plant-based diets. Combined, these measures may reduce EU annual GHG emissions by up to 13 %, yielding global cumulative savings of 13.8 Gt CO₂eq by 2050, while having moderate first-order effects on GDP and employment.
Schunz, S. (2025).
Was there a notion of ‘enough’ in the European Green Deal? Sufficiency in the European Union’s sustainability discourse.
Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal.
https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-10-2024-1103This study uses discourse analysis to examine how sufficiency is represented across major strategic policy initiatives emerging from the EGD during the period 2019–2024. This study finds that, despite the discursive window of opportunity provided by the EGD, notions of sufficiency remain weak and underspecified at the EU level, essentially taking the form of informational tools to spur citizens’ sustainable behaviour. The puzzling finding that sufficiency-oriented tools remain underused despite the EGD’s vow to comprehensively address “this generation’s defining task” of climate and environmental challenges requires further academic and normative scrutiny.
Roux, N., Coenen, J., Fleischmann, B., Cotta, B., Dorninger, C., Erb, K.-H., Haberl, H., Kaufmann, L., Mayer, A., & Newig, J. (2025).
Integrating sufficiency in the trade and biodiversity agenda of the European Union.
One Earth,
8(7), 101347.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101347We argue that the EU’s biodiversity and trade liberalization agendas contradict each other from a sufficiency perspective. Here, we highlight how sufficiency-oriented trade measures—such as quotas and tariffs on critical commodities and sufficiency provisions in trade agreements—could reconcile these agendas. Integrating sufficiency in trade policy could substantially reduce global pressures on biosphere integrity and help the EU effectively meet its biodiversity objectives.
Molnár, M., & Dalhammar, C. (2025).
Sufficiency in European Product Policies: Status Quo and Future Potentials.
Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025),
6.
https://doi.org/10.54337/plate2025-10352Given the pressing need to address resource overconsumption and its environmental impacts, it is essential to explore how sufficiency can be incorporated into product policies. This paper analyses the current state of sufficiency-oriented measures in European product policies, taking consumer electronics and electrical devices as a case study, and proposes supplementary instruments that can advance sustainability targets.
Nuorivaara, E., & Ahvenharju, S. (2025).
Acceptability of sufficiency consumption policies by Finnish households.
Buildings & Cities,
6(1).
https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.573This research examines the acceptability of sufficiency consumption policies among Finnish households and how Finnish households experience sufficiency as a guiding principle specifically for sustainable energy consumption. The results show that the principle of sufficiency was generally well-received by the households and the policies were generally found acceptable under certain conditions. Exceptions were the two hardest policies: higher income tax and restricting the size of living space.
Wieland, T., & Thiel, F. (2025).
Increasing individual-level climate mitigation action: The role of behavioral dimensions and inequality perceptions.
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications,
12(1), 382.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04712-3This study conducts a factorial survey experiment, analyzing the willingness to adapt climate-friendly behavior in lifestyle dimensions with high emission reduction potential in a representative sample of the adult population of Germany. Moreover, we are employing novel approaches to motivate behavioral change through the lens of perceived inequality in climate change, priming our respondents about economic, generational, or global inequality. Our results identify lifestyle dimensions where behavioral resistance is most pronounced, particularly in meat consumption and car use, and show which dimensions have higher potential for adaptation (e.g. reducing air travel).
Shakiba, G. (2025).
Learning sufficiency through play—A participatory playground transformation with children in Gothenburg [Master’s thesis].
https://odr.chalmers.se/items/39f80009-f94d-4af3-9849-6173fb72c36cExperiential learning, which emphasizes direct interaction, experimentation, and reflection, provides an effective way for children to internalize sufficiency as a lived practice rather than abstract knowledge. Play, as a powerful learning tool for children, makes it a meaningful approach to engage them in understanding sufficiency. Thus, This thesis explores how the transformation of playgrounds can help children learn sufficiency through experiential learning.