Sufficiency as an Opportunity for Social Development
05.03.2025
Unlike in France, few politicians in Germany dare to address the many ways in which we need to change our lifestyles in the face of climate change. In a new discussion paper titled “Wege zum Genug” (Pathways to Enough), we suggest that it is high time to rethink the idea of “sufficiency” which is often thought to be synonymous with “frugality” and “”sacrifice”. Rather, we need to reimagine sufficiency as an approach that uses structural change to ensure that resources are shared fairly and used wisely.
The tone of the debate on climate and environmental policy has shifted markedly in recent years. In Germany and France, climate policy is now frequently characterised as inequitable and an example of government overreach. Policies that promote sufficiency - i.e. that seek to reduce resource consumption by changing lifestyles - are particularly controversial. At the Franco-German Forum for the Future, we have examined sufficiency approaches in numerous public and expert dialogues and in interviews with local government representatives. We repeatedly found that sufficiency plays a subordinate role in climate policy because politicians fear that the public will perceive sufficiency policies as encroachments on their basic freedoms.
However, it would be a mistake to continue to treat sufficiency as a taboo subject in the climate transition. There is a consensus in the scientific community: More efficient technologies alone will not be enough to protect the climate – we must also change our patterns of consumption. That doesn’t necessarily mean “having less” or “doing without”. In our discussion paper, which draws on the findings of our Franco-German research and dialogues, we argue in six theses that well-designed sufficiency policies can have many advantages for municipalities and individuals and can help to build a more equitable society.
Sobriété gains ground in France
Recent experiences in France show that sufficiency can form a strategic cornerstone in policy development. There, the national government made sobriété a central pillar of its energy strategy in 2020 and adopted a national sufficiency plan. Since the energy crisis, the concept of sobriété has been omnipresent in political debates, strategies and legislation around the energy transition. According to the organisation négaWatt, which played a key role in shaping the concept and bringing it into public debate, the government's impetus has helped to create a clear framework and drive momentum for greater sufficiency. Numerous local authorities have followed the government's lead and adopted their own sufficiency plans.
Policy must create an enabling environment
Despite its pioneering role in Europe, the French approach has its limits. French sufficiency strategy is largely focused on achieving near-term changes at the individual level. Turning down the heating, taking shorter showers, and switching off lights are all measures that are important but that only deliver a fraction of what sufficiency can achieve. For sufficiency policy to realise its full potential, it must go beyond individual appeals and initiate structural changes. Researcher Michaela Christ (German Institute of Urban Affairs) emphasised this in one of our Franco-German dialogues: "High levels of resource consumption are not coincidental. They are the result of policy decisions and measures that influence our lifestyles." Infrastructure, spatial planning, legislation and financial incentives must all be reconfigured in such a way that resource-saving decisions become more attractive for everyone, regardless of their environmental awareness. Researcher Jonas Lage (Europa-Universität Flensburg) puts it in a nutshell: “People in Copenhagen don't cycle because they're all green, but because the city is designed in such a way that cycling - and not driving - is the normal, the easy, the beautiful and the convenient thing to do."
Local examples show: Sufficiency policy must deliver fair outcomes
Behavioural changes must offer tangible, immediate added value – and they must be perceived as fair. Successful sufficiency-focused policies avoid compelling people to save resources, for example through high energy prices, which hit low-income households especially hard. Rather than imposing burdens on society’s most vulnerable, sufficiency approaches should ensure equitable access to resources for all.
One example of successful sufficiency policy can be found in Karlsruhe, where local authorities have launched a programme (Wohnraumakquise durch Kooperation) to unlock vacant properties in order to tackle homelessness. The programme offers property owners subsidies for renovations and provides rent loss guarantees. "Many owners simply want regular and punctual rent payments - they are not necessarily interested in making a maximum profit," explains Steffen Schäffer, who manages the programme for the City of Karlsruhe. The programme saves resources by making new builds unnecessary and unlocks affordable living space at the same time.
Another example can be found in the French city of Montpellier, where local authorities have introduced a progressive water pricing system. Under the scheme, residents are allocated 15 cubic metres of water per year free of charge. Additional water is priced progressively, based on the household’s total water consumption. This pricing model ensures that heavier water consumers pay more compared to more frugal households.
Measures to protect the climate are more likely to be embraced if they are perceived as being fair. This can be achieved by targeting those consumers with the largest carbonfootprints or by flanking policy measures with social safeguards to cushion burdens. Rather than lowering their climate policy ambitions in the face of opposition or scepticism, policymakers should seek to create an enabling environment for resource-efficient lifestyles while also strengthening resilience and delivering social justice.
Read the full RIFS Discussion Paper about Franco-German perspectives on sufficiency:
Find out more about the Franco-German Forum for the Future and our recommendations for action at: df-zukunftswerk.eu