From Human Sufficiency to Earth sufficiency: The role of nature quotient cultivation

Abstract

The current sufficiency paradigm—while corrective to efficiency and growth-oriented approaches—remains anthropocentric, centering on aggregate human consumption and treating nature as a passive boundary. We argue that safeguarding planetary boundaries requires a shift to an earth sufficiency paradigm that secures space, resources, and conditions for non-human species to maintain the ecological functions on which human survival, development, and continuity depend. This perspective advances a normative–operational framework that integrates (i) an ecocentric redefinition of sufficiency (multi-species co-sufficiency), (ii) the semiconducting principle to govern value exchange so ecological value can flow into the economy but monetary value cannot legitimize irreversible ecological loss, and (iii) the cultivation of nature quotient (NQ) as the cognitive–cultural capacity societies need to perceive interdependence, support transformative policies, and foster an eco-surplus culture. We outline why a human-only conception of sufficiency may inadvertently accelerate biodiversity loss, erode Earth-system resilience, embody significant epistemic blind spots, face a redistribution bottleneck, and ultimately risk precipitating broader existential crises. The framework provides a pathway for aligning institutions, incentives, and social norms so that human prosperity emerges from enabling other life forms to recover and thrive.