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Sufficiency and Businesses

Transferring the maxim of less to the economy, which is largely oriented toward growth and efficiency, seems impossible or at least contradictory at first glance. However, the economy can-not be left out of the discussion about sufficiency. Businesses play a major role in the socio-ecological transformation of the economy and society, for example by determining the envi-ronmental impact and resource productivity of their products and services, regionalizing supply chains, focusing on circular economy and climate neutrality, and taking a critical look at their own growth. Last but not least, they have a responsibility as contributors to ecological problems such as biodiversity loss, climate change and resource scarcity, and as drivers of the materialistic consumer society. Also, because individual consumption decisions are not made independently and de-tached from legal regulations and the market, it would be short-sighted to transfer the entire responsibility for a sufficiency-oriented lifestyle to consumers. 

In this article, the authors show which strategies companies can use to promote sufficiency and thus support a good life with lower resource consumption. They introduce the concept of sufficiency-oriented business models and illustrate their con-siderations using the example of the outdoor company VAUDE. Finally, they outline possibilities for promoting sufficiency-oriented companies through economic and industrial policy.

Download (in German, PDF, 2,9 MB)