Julia KOBIC
Author
To the Members of the United Nations General Assembly,
In a world of rising geopolitical tensions, the philosophy of sufficiency offers us a pathway to sustainable peace. Sufficiency defined as "a set of policy measures and daily practices that avoid demand for energy, materials, land and water while delivering human well-being for all within planetary boundaries" operates within two sets of limits: a lower boundary of the provision of decent living standards and an upper boundary of the remaining carbon budget.
Yet, the capitalist model that underpins the modern world's economic architecture rewards accumulation, creating a global economy dependent on limitless growth. This logic is incompatible with planetary boundaries and is increasingly untenable on a finite planet where humanity is already using natural resources approximately 1.7 times above their regeneration rate.
Thomas Princen defines sufficiency as "the sense of enoughness and too-muchness that leads to the practice of the right amount". In other words, it is the act of consuming enough to meet one's needs, but not so much that it prevents others from doing the same. Sufficiency is a societal organizing principle that directly contrasts with capitalism, which rewards extractivism and accumulation rather than planetary stewardship and equity. Capitalism's "too-muchness" disrupts our planet, creating pressure on its natural limits.
Human activity has already caused overfishing, deforestation, pollution, and climate change. These environmental problems translate directly into human security crises: the IPCC warns that resource depletion and extreme weather intensify displacement, migration and geopolitical tensions. The Institute for Economics and Peace predicts that climate change could displace up to 1.2 billion people by 2050. Pacific Island leaders already describe climate change as the single greatest existential threat they face.
While climate change disproportionately affects the Global South, the Global North is not isolated from the devastating effects of climate-caused insecurity. In Somalia, overfishing and pollution caused by foreign enterprise led to the collapse of fish stocks. With livelihoods destroyed, locals turned to piracy to meet basic needs, resulting in attacks on commercial vessels and disruptions to international trade. Somalia's case serves as a stark reminder that law and order cannot exist on our planet unless all its inhabitants have their basic needs met.
World leaders must understand: the greatest threat to peace is excess consumption. History shows that societies built on overaccumulation eventually confront conflict, scarcity, and collapse. Conversely, cultures anchored in enoughness cultivate stability. In this context, sufficiency offers us architecture for peace. It grounds societies within their ecological means, ensuring that every person and nation has enough to live and thrive, but not so much that others or the planet must suffer.
Through this letter, I call upon all world leaders to embed sufficiency principles into national security strategies. It is essential for our survival as humans to recognize that human security, climate security, energy security, and food security all converge on one principle: balance. In an age of climate chaos and rising geopolitical tensions, sufficiency offers the only sustainable pathway to peace.