Suffizienz in der Bioökonomie

Zwischen Option und Notwendigkeit

Abstract

The article discusses the role of sufficient resource consumption in a sustainable bioeconomy. Sufficiency is examined both in comparison to and in combination with two further resource use strategies, namely the economic efficiency and ecological consistency. It is argued that even with given ecological consistency and enormous improvements in economic efficiency sustainability cannot be guaranteed. The pressure of moderate consumption, by contrast, can reduce the use of direct and indirect resources, which would enable a more sustainable economy. If sufficient consumption is supplemented by a conscious degrowth through a lower intensity of resource consumption, extreme economic fluctuations can also be avoided. For the bioeconomy, this means that consumers and producers alike must learn to use natural resources only to a really needed extent.