The Global ABC consistently claims that we need to build more, much more, to tackle increasing urbanisation – equivalent to another New York City every 34 days until 2026. On the other hand, it has acknowledged that increasing growth in new floor area negates any gains via energy efficiency and renewables. We are building too much, in the wrong places, for the wrong reasons, while 80% of buildings in cities today will exist in 2050. We must urgently rethink what we already have.
Within Australia and similar high-emission nations, there is a prevailing belief that we can build more, bigger, and higher in the name of economic growth, an ‘addiction to property’, with little restraint. These are touted as ‘net zero’ and decarbonised, while neglecting the massive amounts of upfront embodied carbon that are released directly into the atmosphere, at a time when we are urged by the ICJ (2025) and others to make more ambitious cuts.
Whilst circularity is increasingly recognised, and a major theme of this conference, this often overlooks the need to rethink and reduce – to question and avoid demand for new builds in the first place. This is where ‘sufficiency first’ policies and practices are required, avoiding demand for energy, materials, land, and other resources while ensuring well-being for all within planetary boundaries.
Sufficiency also seeks to rebalance the grossly excessive consumption carbon by a few, ‘more than enough’, with the genuine needs of those who ‘lack enough’ to meet their social livelihoods, towards a global equilibrium – a ‘safe and just space for humanity’. In this regard, sufficiency supports achievement of the SDGs, including reduced inequalities (10), Responsible consumption and production (12), and climate action (13) among other planetary boundaries.
A novel approach to reducing and rebalancing construction between the Global North and South, and between the well-to-do and deprived in our cities, will be presented. Based upon a ‘Zero Carbon for All’ tool developed by the World Sufficiency Lab, Paris, this enables remaining carbon budgets to be determined for various countries, with high emission nations requiring a steep reduction to balance growth in emerging economies. This is supported by cutting-edge in Australia, supported by the GBCA and others, which enables the industry to ‘grasp the upfront carbon opportunity’ as highlighted by ASBEC in 2025. The implications for the industry in terms of profitability and jobs will be discussed, in addition to the exciting opportunities of ‘boundless innovation within planetary boundaries’.