Rationing of goods: a possible path away from today’s throwaway society?

Research Project, 2026 – 2028

Despite strong scientific evidence linking overconsumption to climate change, most policy approaches continue to prioritise technological solutions and voluntary measures, while more transformative tools such as rationing remain largely unexplored. Yet historical experiences and emerging research suggest that rationing could offer a fair and effective way to reduce emissions by distributing limited resources more equally than market-based mechanisms.

This project investigates the feasibility, acceptance, and impacts of consumption rationing as a climate mitigation strategy. Using a mixed-methods approach, the project combines in-depth household studies with stakeholder perspectives from businesses, policymakers, and consumer associations. Central to the project are real-world rationing experiments, which allow examination of both attitudes towards rationing and the lived experience of constrained consumption.

The study focuses on clothing, furniture and interior decoration, and home electronics, product categories with high emissions, waste generation, and distinct drivers of overconsumption. The project aims to assess whether rationing can be a socially acceptable, policy-relevant, and economically feasible pathway towards a just low-carbon transition.