Stepping out of the Shadow of Efficiency

How is Sufficiency Included in Finnish Expert Views on Policy Instruments for Sustainable Housing?

Abstract

For societies to become sustainable, radical changes are needed. This entails major reductions in carbon footprints and overall consumption, which necessitates policy guidance. Sufficiency as a concept refers to the ways of living that are based on meeting a reasonable level of consumption without excess. Housing and related energy use is a major contributor in the carbon footprint of consumption. However, previous research has found that, in housing, energy sufficiency policies have been overshadowed by policies related to energy efficiency and renewable energies. Focusing on sufficiency, this study examines the results of a deliberative process organised in 2022, engaging Finnish researchers and experts working in the area of consumption and/or sustainability. The researchers were asked to evaluate and propose policy measures to halve the Finnish consumption-based carbon footprint. Our research shows that policies related to energy use in housing, strongly steering towards sufficiency, were in a clear minority in the suggested policy mix. The most effective energy sufficiency policies are cross-cutting economic policies. However, their feasibility and acceptability were deemed the most uncertain, while the policies that were considered more acceptable and feasible, yet weaker in their sufficiency guidance, mainly involve already established and accepted practices.