Growing up in Adelaide in the post-World War II era, I gained strong personal values of frugality and social justice, greatly influenced by my Jesuit education. My parents went without to enable me to attend Saint Ignatius’ College, Adelaide, followed by residency at the nearby Aquinas College while studying architecture and planning. Because of this background, not surprisingly, the pursuit of responsible, sufficient and equitable use of resources has dominated my entire life and career in government, both as a UN consultant and within academia and research.
I only recently realised how closely the focus of my work – towards a more equitable use of global resources – aligns with Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, a significant call for global action. And this revelation has given me extra confidence, inner strength and great resolve. To me, Laudato Si’ is an inspirational platform for global transformation and action, while providing a strong focus on the difference between excess and sufficiency.
Although humanity’s rapacious and inequitable consumption of resources is driving an ecological and social crisis, this seems mostly overlooked in Australia – after all, Australia ranks among the world’s worst offenders when it comes driving ecological breakdown through global resource extraction.
There is a prevailing belief in government and beyond that increased renewables and electrification will save the day, while the population continues to consume in a ‘green’ and eco-efficient way. As a result, we are still off-track to reach the 2016 international treaty known as The Paris Agreement that cites the need to limit global warming to 1.5C by 2050.
Meanwhile, 2024 is shaping up to be the warmest year on record, at precisely the same time as climate sceptic Donald Trump is preparing to move into the White House in January. While his second term will inevitably slow the pace of US climate action, it is heartening to read that momentum for US climate action will continue. Corporate sustainability has come a long way, and independent groups such as Architecture 2030 have been among the strongest advocates for climate mitigation and sufficiency.
In this context, it’s interesting to view the parameters and distinctions as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the UN Environment Programme. Specifically, this body was set up to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities.
The IPCC has emphasised that to achieve the dramatic and urgent cuts required, sufficiency policies and practices must be introduced.
Sufficiency, as defined by the IPCC, requires policies and measures that reduce or avoid demand for energy, materials and other resources while enabling well-being for all, while staying within planetary limits. In essence, we should seek to live well within our means, while consuming fewer natural resources and focusing upon ‘needs’ rather than ‘wants’.
'It doesn’t need to be said that notions of sufficiency are crucial when dealing with the climate crisis, but it’s inherently grounded in recognising the human dignity of the world’s vulnerable people.'
Social justice and equity are strong pillars of the sufficiency approach. For us all to live within a ‘safe and just corridor’ or space, a global rebalancing is required between the few who consume far more than ‘enough’ and the many who are suffering from extreme deprivation. Much of the complex negotiations at COP29 centre on climate justice and human rights, while the role of sufficiency in climate mitigation is beginning to be recognised, especially within the built environment.
Notably, in addition to ‘climate action’, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also encompass a range of other social, economic and environment objectives, with ‘no poverty’, ‘zero hunger’, and ‘reduced inequalities’ looming large.
Sufficiency is a key goal of Laudato Si', which pursues ‘sustainable lifestyles grounded in the idea of sufficiency and promoting sobriety in the use of resources and energy’. Actions could include adopting sustainable diets, greater use of public transport, avoiding single-use items and moving away from ‘megastructures’. The EU Sufficiency Manifesto prioritises policies and infrastructures that support such actions and lifestyle changes, such as cycle paths to foster green and healthy activities, with greater proximity of housing, workplaces, and community services.
The Encyclical’s response to ‘the cry of the poor’ is the promotion of eco-justice and defending all forms of life on earth. Actions include projects to promote solidarity, with special attention to vulnerable groups, while social justice and fairness are key focal points of sufficiency thinking. Furthermore, it emphasises that ‘the time has come to accept decreased growth in some parts of the world to provide resources for other parts to experience healthy growth’, while highlighting ‘the scandalous level of consumption in privileged societies’.
This resonates strongly with my belief in the need to ‘shrink and share’ global patterns of growth and resource consumption. On 19 November this year, I led a COP29 Webinar on ‘Sufficiency in the Building Sector’, following the launch of a global report to constrain extravagant and inequitable building growth. This report recommended that a ‘Sufficiency First’ principle be integrated in buildings-related policies and decision-making.
It's clear that we do need greater questioning in decision-making. My research on Sufficiency and Solidarity, and the head of French Climate Ministry calls for a ‘Sufficiency Reflex’ in decision-making.
Nations are already making steps towards a sufficiency-centred economy. Thailand has embraced moderation and reasonableness in its ‘sufficiency economy philosophy’ for many years, while France promotes ‘sobriety and fairness’ and was the first country to enshrine energy sufficiency in its 2015 Energy Transition Bill. There are efforts to extend this beyond energy, in order to encompass materials, land and water, championed by Dr Yamina Saheb, an IPCC lead author and leading authority on sufficiency in the EU and the world.
With the support of the Australia-French Association for Research and Innovation (AFRAN), we co-organised the World’s First Sufficiency Summit (online) in 2023, linking audiences in Adelaide and the prestigious Sciences Po Paris with speakers from around the globe. While covering sufficiency in buildings and human settlements, food and clothing, the event involved the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Dr Jane Lomax-Smith AO, and the SA Deputy Premier, Dr Susan Close. This led to Dr Saheb and I co-founding the not-for-profit World Sufficiency Lab (WSL) Paris in February 2024 with the aim of promoting sufficiency policies and practices around the globe, based upon a sound research base, a library of examples and a global network of Regional Sufficiency Hubs. I feel privileged to lead the WSL programme on ‘Urban Areas and Human Settlements’.
Collaborating closely with the WSL, public bodies, and like-minded organisations, my university colleagues and I are seeking to introduce sufficiency thinking and policies in Australia and our Indo-Pacific Region. Building upon a further AFRAN grant supplemented by possible corporate sponsorship, we plan to launch an Adelaide-based ‘Australian Sufficiency Hub’ during 2025, initially focused upon greater adaptive re-use of existing vacant buildings to tackle the housing crisis, while learning from EU experience.
It doesn’t need to be said that notions of sufficiency are crucial when dealing with the climate crisis, but it’s inherently grounded in recognising the human dignity of the world’s vulnerable people.
As noted by Henry Longbottom SJ (known for his former role as an environmental attorney) ‘a truly ecological approach is also inherently social – an approach that simultaneously hears the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’, adding that ‘reverence for nature is only authentic if we have compassion for fellow humans’. He also highlighted that the pope’s 2015 environmental encyclical is addressed to not only members of the Church but is a vehicle to ‘enter into dialogue’ with all people who are ‘united by the same concern’.
After COP29 revealed that the world can expect warming to exceed the 1.5C aims set out in The Paris Agreement, it’s become clear the global community needs to concentrate its efforts in this regard. Australia is vying to host COP31 to be held within Australia in 2026, with Adelaide among the candidate cities. This provides a major opportunity for sufficiency to form an important part of the agenda, building upon our leadership in renewable energies and social programs.
Joe Zabar is the Chair of Mercy Works Ltd and a Visiting Fellow with the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, ANU