This post is written by Yasmina Lembachar, Joel Marsden, and Anna-Sophie von Schwerdtner of Circle Economy.
Report Name
Who wrote this report?
Circle Economy is a global impact organisation with an international team of passionate experts based in Amsterdam. They empower businesses, cities, and nations with practical and scalable solutions to put the circular economy into action. Their vision is an economic system that ensures the planet and all people can thrive. To avoid climate breakdown, their goal is to double global circularity by 2032.
Best quote
We are at a crossroads: under the right conditions, a circular economy could provide opportunities for decent work for all workers, everywhere. But for workers everywhere to reap these benefits, we need to build a different vision of the future—one that does not extend, but rather challenges the status quo: a circular economy that works for all.
Key takeaways:
Decision makers must identify and involve the communities and workers within and across borders that will be affected by the transition to a circular economy.
The way trade is governed must change to enhance transparency and standards, and ensure that countries take responsibility for their own consumption and waste.
Platforms and networks to facilitate dialogue and genuine partnerships for the two-way transfer of know-how are needed, while those with the greatest means and responsibility must provide additional financial support.
What’s in this report?
Today's understanding of the circular economy fails to address issues of global social equity and threatens to exacerbate the divide between high- and lower-income countries, making it clear that a global circular economy will not be socially just by default. This report (and accompanying policy briefs) lays out the case for thinking beyond borders to achieve a sustainable, circular economy that matches environmental goals with social ambitions. It highlights key levers for governments and multilateral bodies, illustrating the benefits of a global, socially just approach to environmental, trade, and development policies, as well as the risks of continuing along current policy pathways.
Why should you read this report?
The circular transition will not be inevitably just, inclusive, and egalitarian: we must make it so. This position paper puts forward critical issues that must be faced-head on in the design of a circular future. By highlighting the importance of coordination, cooperation, and redistribution—and the critical role of government decision makers—this paper provides much-needed direction in an otherwise under-researched field: the socioeconomic impacts of a circular economy. After exploring a ‘worst case scenario’—in which no action is taken, and the interests of lower-income countries remain in the background—the paper flips the picture and showcases how an inclusive global circular economy could look. It also lays out seven distinct actions—across three key levers—for the future, summarising what needs to happen, how to make it happen, and what will happen if we don’t.
Who is this report for?
This report addresses local, national and multilateral decision makers in both high- and lower-income countries, as well as multilateral organisations supporting intergovernmental exchange and adherence to labour rights and standards. The report and policy brief intend to highlight how these decision makers can take action to ensure circular economy policy doesn’t make the same mistakes of the linear economy, urging them to consider the social implications of environmental policy and better reflect these implications in policy making and governance mechanisms.
🔗 Read the full report here. 🔗
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