Policies for Sustainable Consumption and Sufficiency: Justice, Effectiveness and Instrumentation

Project holder: 

Manishar Anantharaman (CSO, Sciences Po)

Research team: 

Mallory Zhan (CSO, Sciences Po)

Yamina Saheb (CSO, Sciences Po / World Sufficiency Lab) 

Project description: 

Achieving substantial reduction in the environmental impacts of household consumption is pivotal to our low-carbon future. An increasing number of studies suggests that public policies must go beyond stimulating green consumption behaviors, to respond to unsustainable levels of consumption in terms of both overconsumption and underconsumption, toward guaranteeing a fair consumption space for all. Sufficiency approaches to environmental and climate policies – focusing on avoiding and reducing the demand for energy, materials and other natural resources – have gained traction in both public and scholarly debates, yet little is known about how sufficiency is translated into policy applications in countries outside of Europe. This workshop brings together a diverse panel of researchers and practitioners to examine existing and past policies for sufficiency and sustainable consumption in both European and emerging countries in an open, cross-cultural, inter and trans-disciplinary dialogue. Reflecting on key questions such as problem framing, instrumentation, effectiveness and justice, this workshop aims to inform future research and policy initiatives on sustainable consumption across contexts.