In the framework of the shared EnR Presidency in 2024, ADEME organised the Thinking Group Meeting on sufficiency, the priority theme for ADEME. The event took place on 10th October in Paris, at Cité internationale universitaire de Paris.
The aim of the event was to present the concept of sufficiency (“sobriété” in French) to EnR Network members and the activities of agencies and other European stakeholders. More than 50 people attended the event (in-person and online). Baptiste Perissin Fabert, ADEME’s Deputy Director General, introduced the event. Then, various experts shared their work oon sufficiency and, namely:
- Yamina Saheb, a French researcher from the IPCC, presented the definition and the state of play of the sufficiency concept so that a common language could be shared among the participants.
- Representatives of the European networks: Claire Roumet from Energy Cities explained the idea behind the Sufficiency Manifesto, and Nicolas Taillard from négaWatt presented their work on Sufficiency Scenarios as part of the CLEVER project, financed by ADEME.
- Thomas Dorget from Athenora desiphered the sufficiency concept at the European level.
- Séverine Truchsess from the French Ministry of Ecological Transition presented the National Sufficiency Plan.
Three energy agencies shared their approaches, activities and campaigns relating to sufficiency:
- ADEME, France, with its activities on the energy, resources and materials sufficiency, including the sufficiency barometer, 2050 scenarios each including sufficiency, position papers and a 100-people internal community;
- Motiva, Finland, with the communication campaign ‘Down a degree’; and
- AEA, Austria, with the Klimaaktiv programme and 2040 scenarios, including one entirely dedicated to sufficiency.
The next step is to continue the dialogue within the EnR Network and with external stakeholders (European Commission, other European networks) in order to advance the sufficiency concept at the European level.