From concept to action: A global roadmap for an inclusive circular economy

The global circular economy transition is highly fragmented. Over 50 individual national roadmaps or strategies have been launched alongside 520 CE related policies. Despite the rapid growth of these domestic policies and strategies, or as a result of it, there has been little consideration of their restructuring effects on global value chains (and on the communities and businesses that depend on them) nor on how they intersect with policies in other countries.

There is a heightened risk of increasing fragmentation through growing trends in deglobalization and geopolitical conflict. The combination of these factors will not only restrict domestic CE efforts, but also the CE’s vital contribution to wider environmental and social goals (Climate, Biodiversity, Pollution, human development).

Targeted coordination and collaboration by the global community, with the aim of achieving a globally inclusive circular economy, can help overcome these challenges and generate significant opportunities and synergies for all involved. Certain areas warrant greater collaboration and consensus forming amongst the global community. These include the likes of circular finance, supply chain transparency and traceability, standards and definitions, and trade policy. Greater knowledge exchange on circular roadmaps and policies would also prove beneficial. Despite the obvious gains from greater coordination and collaboration, there is yet no single multilateral process or body which can help foster a more harmonized and coordinated global transition.

The rationale and objectives behind the global initiative is the following:

1. Developing a shared vision for an inclusive circular economy. Currently, there is no collective common vision for an inclusive global circular economy transition. Yet a shared vision on a circular economy which aims to deliver prosperity and equity for all can become an important anchor point around which global circular rules and process can emerge. Such a vision can also feed into other related multilateral processes and initiatives.
   
   
2. Identifying and acting on essential areas for mutual collaboration and coordination.
   Many governments have or are preparing national circular economy roadmaps. Yet, on the international and multilateral level there is no process or mechanism of sufficient scale to facilitate integrated coordination and policy alignment. A global roadmapping process could support policy exchanges and sharing of lessons learned on national level and unlock the pathway to a global inclusive circular economy. It can also help identify areas for international collaboration which deliver mutual gains, for example on the topics or standards and definitions, finance and supply chain transparency and traceability.
   
   
3. Raising global ambition.
   To increase the level of ambition for the circular economy and adequately address the triple planetary crisis, a global roadmap process can enable ambitious actors to come forward and lead the way, identify areas for collective actions, and propose solutions that need to be advanced at the international level.
   

Click here to join the global process

As the world looks beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards the post-2030 era, integrating the principles of the circular economy into the future global development agenda becomes imperative.

The launch of a draft of a policy paper titled “Circular Economy Futures 2050” seeks to provide actionable recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders at the United Nations Summit of the Future in September 2024, co-authored by stakeholders from the Global Circular Economy Roadmap initiative, led by Chatham House together with the African Circular Economy Network, the African Development Bank, Circular Change, Circular Innovation Lab, Circle Economy, EU CE Stakeholder Platform, Institute of Global Environmental Strategies, Sitra, UNIDO, World Business Council on Sustainable Development, World Economic Forum and The Wyss Academy for Nature.

Insights and recommendations of the paper aim to support the UN’s ‘Our Common Agenda’ – the Secretary-General’s vision for the future of global cooperation and the world in 2050, and the UN Pact for the Future that is developed by the Heads of State for the UN Summit of the Future.

Chatham House, with the roadmap partners, is hosting a World Circular Economy forum side event titled 'Circular Economy Futures 2050' on the 30th April 2024 — 1:00PM TO 3:00PM UK tme. The webinar will outline the rationale for adopting a circular economy as a guiding framework for SDG implementation. Participants can provide inputs and comments on the paper.