Improving energy efficiency is undoubtedly a good thing. But efficiency should not be confused — as it sometimes is — with sufficiency, which calls for limiting energy consumption and is thus closely connected to the degrowth movement.
Tackling climate change means doing more with less, not simply doing less.
The idea that sufficiency, and by association degrowth, could serve as a blueprint for reaching our climate goals gained traction after the COVID-19 lockdowns — when people retreated indoors and global carbon dioxide emissions fell sharply — and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which triggered energy security concerns, especially in Europe.
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