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In 2019, over 92 billion tonnes of materials were extracted and processed, contributing to about half of global CO2 emissions. This “take-make-dispose” approach and the resulting waste – including plastics, textiles, food, electronics and more – is taking its toll on the environment and human health.
A circular economy model replaces this end-of-life concept with restoration, shifts towards the use of renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals, which impair reuse and return to the biosphere, and aims for the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, systems and business models. The circular economy approach improves resource efficiency and reduces environmental impact on natural capital by designing products in a more recyclable way, adopting efficient technology and turning waste into a resource. The circular economy offers a trillion-dollar opportunity in terms of possible material savings, innovation and job creation, improved land productivity and soil health, and green growth. Achieving this, however, requires strong collaboration between leaders from business, government and civil society.
Created a Post in Circular Economy, Climate Change, Industry and Entrepreneurship
An interesting take on the global plastic conundrum, focused on packaging - how can we make it more sustainable?
Thanks Carmen Alonso Herr!
Created a Post in Circular Economy, Climate Change, Energy
Shared Solar Launches to Make Solar Energy More Accessible
Created an Event in Circular Economy, Energy, Industry and Entrepreneurship
Created an Event in Circular Economy, Green Recovery from COVID-19, Industry and Entrepreneurship
Created a Post in Circular Economy
Fiscal pressures and the immediate needs of covering energy demand and ensuring food security make it challenging to put in place the policies that are needed to lay the ground for economic transformation. Despite being widely recognized as an effective vehicle in the fight against climate change, circular economy is not reflected in approximately 60% of the submitted NDCs.
Follow the COP27 side-event discussing strategies to accelerate the global shift towards a circular economy in the context of mounting debt levels and a food and energy breakdown that threatens to derail progress towards sustainable development, particularly for developing countries.
A bit old but still good: Circular economy: a question of design - UNIDO on the circular economy answer to looming resource scarcity and an overwhelming production of waste
Created a Post in Circular Economy, Energy, Industry and Entrepreneurship
All eyes are on COP27 and financing the clean energy transition in emerging economies is high on the agenda.
To build the renewable energy infrastructure the world needs at speed and scale, circular economy will play a vital role like factoring circularity into the design stage. In the transition to clean energy, critical minerals bring new challenges to energy security. According to the IEA, getting to net zero by 2040 will require a six-fold increase in mineral input by 2040, some key metals, such a lithium, could see growth rates of over 40 times, with nickel and cobalt demand growing more than 20 fold.
See the attached image: IEA, Minerals used in clean energy technologies compared to other power generation sources, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/minerals-used-in-clean-e…, IEA. License: CC BY 4.0
How can we reshape the renewable energy industry, including EVs and batteries, to reduce the dependence on virgin critical materials in order to stem biodiversity loss and ecological degradation from unsustainable mining?
Created an Opportunity in Circular Economy
Created a Post in Circular Economy, Agriculture, Industry and Entrepreneurship
What's the deal with methane?
Colourless, odourless and invisible to the naked eye, methane is a potent greenhouse gas, responsible for more than 25 per cent of the global warming we are experiencing today.
Methane is released in the atmosphere by the energy sector (oil, gas, and coal), agriculture particularly from livestock such as cattle and waste, as bacteria break down organic matter in landfills.
Reducing methane emissions is possible and it would hugely contribute to reduce global warming in the short term. One way of doing it is shifting our diets toward more plant-based food and composting organic waste.
A really insightful blog by Laxmi Haigh of Circle Economy - bringing up the circularity within the context of just, inclusive, and sustainable development, the blog highlights unsuitable circular economy policies that sometimes come at the expense of lower income countries; over reliance to technology and business model that sometimes don’t fit in the local context causing even more issues; and an example of inclusive energy transition while ensuring we leave no one behind, including women.
Thank you Ana Birliga Sutherland for bringing this to my attention!