The Sufficiency Summit is an initiative launched by Dr Yamina Saheb and Prof. David Ness in response to the IPCC call for immediate climate action to keep the 1.5°C target alive.

The Summit gathers scientists, policymakers, practitioners, industry, and civil society to work together on mainstreaming the sufficiency concept introduced in 2022 IPCC report on climate mitigation.

Three decades of climate mitigation policies failed in reducing global emissions. The climate crisis is escalating as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions keep increasing. Climate impacts are now a daily reality of millions of citizens allover the world.

The 2022 IPCC report on climate mitigation defines “sufficiency as a set of policy measures and daily practices that avoid the demand for energy, materials, land, water, and other natural resources while providing wellbeing for all within the planetary boundaries”.

By 2050, sufficiency has the potential to reduce emissions, compared to current policy scenarios, by more than 50% in almost all sectors. Yet, sufficiency policies are overlooked in climate policies and scenarios aiming at a 1.5°C temperature target by the end of the century.

Thailand and France are the only two countries in the world to consider sufficiency. Thailand introduced to policy-making the Sufficiency Philosophy Economy in the nineties. France considers since 2015 energy sufficiency in its decarbonisation strategy.

Harnessing the world’s sufficiency potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while providing wellbeing for all within planetary boundaries should be high in the climate and development agendas of all countries and stakeholders.