Critical Enough? Reframing Raw-Material Criticality Through Sufficiency Towards Functional Criticality

The green and digital transitions are increasing demand for materials whose production and processing are geographically concentrated and exposed to geopolitical, environmental and economic disruption. Current responses to raw-material criticality focus predominantly on supply-side measures such as diversification, domestic extraction, stockpiling, substitution and recycling. Although necessary, these strategies largely accept projected demand as given. This perspective argues that sufficiency offers a complementary demand-side approach to criticality. By questioning which products and applications are required, prioritizing scarce resources for essential functions, reducing avoidable material demand, and extending product lifetimes, sufficiency can reduce both, exposure to supply disruptions and their consequences. The article therefore proposes a shift from material criticality towards functional criticality and introduces four organizational capabilities for sufficiency-based criticality management: needs clarification, demand bounding, resource reconfiguration and collective prioritization. Integrating sufficiency into criticality assessment broadens strategic responses from securing supply towards reducing avoidable material dependency.