Laundry, Sufficiency and the Climate Pact

I have two little boys and in our family photos they look like
little angels. They are not. They are little savages. They fight, throw food,
play in the mud and as a result I do A LOT of laundry and spend a lot of time
thinking about laundry.

That’s why this article in LowTechMagazine.com resonated
with me. According to the article EU Directives led to dryers becoming 72% more
efficient between 1998 and 2012. The dryer I bought this year is even more
efficient than that. Which is great, right? The EU has calculated that energy
labels for tumble dryers will be able to “save up to 3.3 Twh of electricity by
2020, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of Malta”.

These are
astonishing figures and a massive victory in the fight for efficiency. They are
also, however, a failure in terms of combatting climate change.

How much
energy would have been saved, how many emissions avoided, had we simply given
everyone clothes drying racks?

Clothes
drying racks are not about efficiency, they are about sufficiency.

This is a
simplistic example of what we must do. Another example is the idea of replacing
internal combustion cars with electric vehicles. They are more energy efficient
– there’s no question. But we need the sufficiency outlook where we replace
cars with walking, cycling and public transport.

We must move
beyond efficiency and to sufficiency. It is the only way of delivering the
daunting cuts in emissions that we have to deliver.

And this is where, from a cities perspective, Europe’s Green Deal
has an important role to play.

The comprehensive plan due this summer to increase the 2030
emissions targets to 50% or 55% must include a strong element of sufficiency.
That element, in turn, must be incorporated into nearly every aspect of the
dizzying array of initiatives under the Green Deal.

To start, carbon
budgeting will shine a light on expenditures that are simply too expensive
in money and carbon to continue at local, national and EU level.

The assessment of the final National Energy and Climate Plans due
in June must be viewed through the lens of sufficiency too.

The planned ‘Renovation Wave’, Industrial Strategy and Circular
Economy Action Plan would all benefit from a sufficiency-first vetting.

But perhaps most importantly the Climate Pact must help instil the
importance and absolute necessity of sufficiency with Europeans.

Cities are already leading the way on this. Michele
Jacobs of Leuven 2030 had this to say about instilling a shared transition:

“The systemic change we need on
different societal domains (modal shift, waste, consumerism and social
equality) are more difficult to see. But we will only succeed when we have
equality on a social level – at every level. Otherwise we will only succeed in
polarisation. We need to take everyone with us. And it’s not just Leuven, but
every city should get there.”

The role of the Climate Pact within the Green Deal must be exactly
this – to bring every city and every citizen to a new outlook of sufficiency
first. I’ll do my part with my two kids. But there is much more to be done.

The post Laundry, Sufficiency and the Climate Pact appeared first on Energy Cities.

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