This NetZeroCities deep-dive report explores how sufficiency can serve as a tool for fair and sustainable transitions in European cities working toward climate neutrality. As research increasingly shows that efficiency and technological innovations alone are insufficient to meet climate neutrality targets, sufficiency complements the strategies by addressing the scale and fair distribution of resource demand and consumption. Sufficiency is understood as meeting people’s needs while staying within planetary boundaries.
For cities, it can mean finding ways to reduce demand for energy, materials, land and water while ensuring a good life for all. Based on a literature review and a synthesis of research and city practices, the report examines how sufficiency principles can be applied in local policymaking. It identifies housing, mobility and food as key sectors for demand reduction and presents examples of practical measures such as promoting smaller and shared living spaces, shifting road space from cars to pedestrians and cyclists, and introducing more plant-based meals in schools. Cross-cutting approaches, such as integrating sufficiency into municipal strategies, supporting citizen-led initiatives, and adopting frameworks like the doughnut economics model, are also effective ways to embed sufficiency in local governance.