Lead organisation: ACR+, BE

The concept of sufficiency is necessary to broaden horizons of circular economy and look beyond key concepts such as reuse and recycle, to facilitate lifestyles that involves not just consuming better but also consuming less. 

A direct link between sufficiency and circular economy concepts is also a key lever to tackle problems induced by climate change. The demand for material extraction triggered by by companies, households, governments, and in the EU is still too high. The total amount of materials directly used by the European economies contributes to an increase in carbon emissions in the short term. 

Key questions:

• Are circular economy policies having a sufficient impact on the resources consumption (e.g. plastics, textiles)?
• What are policy/institutional challenges towards the transition to sufficiency-based circular economy?
• What is the role of business in the sufficiency-based circular economy?
• How to define and promote lifestyles that involve not just consuming better but also, and critically, consuming less?

Programme

Opening remarks: 

• Françoise Bonnet, Secretary General, ACR+
• Alain Coheur, EESC member

Why does sufficiency grow higher on the EU agenda? How to go beyond circular economy?

• Jean-Pierre Schweitzer, Deputy Policy Manager, EEB 
• Mélanie Bourgeois, Policy Officer, Energy Cities 
• Yves Decelles, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, VEOLIA
• Viginia Gómez Oñate, Project Manager, (Navarra Zirkular)

Panel discussion 

Closing remarks:

• Françoise Bonnet