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It was the boldest of blueprints for world peace and prosperity. Its aims included ending poverty and hunger, better health and education, reduced inequality, and the preservation of life on land and below water. But 10 years since its adoption, it is in deep trouble.
In 2015, all UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are central to the blueprint – and with them, 169 targets for transforming the world. However, the UN admits that only 17% of those targets are on course to be met within the next five years.
Can anything save them? What barriers do they face? And how can the international community overcome them?
Recent research by the international affairs think-tank Chatham House suggests an answer: embed the circular economy into the SDGs.
Linking the two offers mutual benefits, it argues. The circular economy needs backing from the UN and other multilateral organisations to become a global force. Simultaneously, the circular economy is potentially a more effective response to that unholy trinity of global pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss – “precisely the sort of catalyst” the UN’s ailing agenda needs, the think-tank argues.
Indeed, research by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Material Economics in 2021 argues that it could help achieve 45% of the global greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to mitigate climate change by transforming the way products and materials are made and used. But without its introduction at scale, resource consumption could increase by 60% from 2020 levels by 2060.
The barriers are significant. Chatham House acknowledges that one of the big issues is that the circular economy is too small. According to academic estimates published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, just 7.2% of the global economy is circular.
A second issue identified by the think-tank is the lack of “dedicated international representation”. There is no UN framework for the circular economy similar to that for coordinating global climate policy. It also needs a multilateral body, similar to the International Energy Agency, to champion its cause.
This leads to a third issue. Global action on the circular economy is a bewildering mishmash. Chatham House estimates that more than 75 national circular economy action plans, roadmaps and strategies have been launched, with another 14 in development. This has led to a “kaleidoscope” of around 3,000 rapidly evolving commitments spanning 135 policy areas and 17 sectors. Such fragmented operations and regulations hamstring trade; the think-tank points to incompatible regulations between one country and another on exporting industrial waste or recycled electronics as particular problems.
The fourth barrier is “counterproductive resource nationalism and zero-sum economic competition”. That mishmash of national action plans and roadmaps often have narrow domestic aims, such as boosting competitiveness against trade partners and reshoring jobs and manufacturing. The circular economy could trigger a contest for raw materials and hurt resource-poor developing countries.
Chatham House proposes five immediate priorities (see right).
The shenanigans at COP29, the shambolic failure to agree a global plastic treaty and the Banquo’s ghost of Donald Trump’s re-election suggest the chances of getting international cooperation are slim. However, IEMA policy and engagement lead for the circular economy Agnes Chruszcz is more optimistic.
“I share the cynicism about the international community coming together,” she says. “There is a lot of consensus and countries with the same idea, but it’s the few who derail those conversations and treaties.
“There is always value in bringing people together. COP has its problems but how else are we going to do it? We need to keep talking and continue to come together for these conversations, because what’s the alternative?
“There is value in putting it on the agenda of high-profile organisations like the UN as we require systemic change and major economic thinking on how we evaluate progress.
“The circular economy should be used as a tool. If that’s a better hook for policymakers on cutting consumption, so be it. But we have to be pragmatic about it rather than evangelical.
“The aim is to stop the planet going into overdrive, with terrible prospects for the future of humanity.”
How the Circular Economy can Revive the Sustainable Development Goals is available at www.bit.ly/Chatham-House-report
An analysis by academics at Maastricht University and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research last year reveals that the circular economy can contribute to all 17 SDGs but is most effective to the following three:
The research also identified seven pathways to guide practitioners and policymakers on strategies for leveraging the circular economy to advance the SDGs.
1 Reduced, traceable extraction
Reducing the total requirement of raw, non-renewable materials, substantially increasing the sustainability of unavoidable raw extraction, and supporting the traceability of resources for their recovery.
2 Regenerative, bio-based production
Regenerative food production and crop diversification.
3 Human-inclusive industries
All industries and circular economies must be inclusive, fair and respond to community needs, as well as promote local innovation, training and education.
4 Shareable longevity
Extending a product’s use and reuse with an emphasis on providing access to vulnerable groups.
5 Consumers at the centre, not consumerism
The relationship of businesses with consumers, consumer awareness, empowerment and education, and the role of companies in promoting wellbeing, mental health, responsible consumption and behaviours.
6 Clean and effective end of life
Phasing out toxic and unrecoverable materials, and developing “cascading industries”, including the separation of waste into clean material streams.
7 Reduced and clean energy and transport
The impact of mobility, logistics, transport and energy use, particularly on sustainable cities and communities.
Think-tank Chatham House identifies five priorities for international cooperation on the circular economy:
Stop illegal dumping of waste in low- and middle-income countries, provide decent work and meaningful jobs, and consult countries and stakeholders on the design of circular economy policies. Other recommendations include establishing UN guidelines on social equity in the circular economy.
Establish a cross-sectoral circular economy alliance between UN development agencies. Alternatively, set up a body similar to the International Energy Agency but with a mandate covering material resources and the circular economy.
Create a framework for international financial institutions to develop investment taxonomies, benchmarks and technical criteria to underpin the funding of circular economy projects, technologies and business models at scale.
Reconfiguring global supply chains to the circular economy will require policies and regulations to streamline trade across a panoply of goods and services, including remanufacturing and recycling, secondhand goods, secondary raw materials, non-hazardous scrap and industrial residues and design, rental and repair services.
New metrics will be needed for companies and organisations monitoring and reporting the circular economy’s impact on multilateral initiatives, such as the Paris Agreement and the upcoming binding instrument to end plastic pollution by 2040.
HUW MORRIS is a freelance journalist
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