Chapter 12: Thailand’s Sufficiency Economy and Sustainable Consumption and Production

The philosophy of sufficiency economy is very much in line with what was coined “sustainable consumption and production” (SCP) by the Oslo Symposium in 1994. Sufficiency is defined by meeting the needs of wellbeing, ranging within a scope defined by a maximum level of “within the carrying capacity of the planet” and a minimum level of “consuming enough to live well.” SCP is a means to sustainable and fair development. It strives at achieving “better and more with less.” This can include “consuming more” to meet one’s minimum needs (e.g., nutrition, electricity). SCP aims at decoupling economic growth from its potentially negative effects on the environment and society. The concept acknowledges that everyone in his/her diverse roles in society — e.g., citizen, government, industry — is both a consumer of resources and a producer of goods and/ or services, and that sustainable consumption patterns can stimulate green production behaviour, and vice versa. Striving at decreasing the overall negative impact of economic growth, SCP accounts for mitigating potential rebound effects by looking at the optimisation of footprints of the entire product life cycle, i.e., from cradle to cradle (reduce, reuse, recycle) or cradle to grave (see Chapter 2).