A circular economy is regenerative by design and as waste free as possible. At the heart of the circular economy is the idea of moving away from linear value chains to an approach that allows to cycle products and materials and make better use of existing assets.
Cities are demonstrating leadership on climate change action and circular economy. As the share of urban population grows, offering city inhabitants more sustainable alternatives to the status quo is emerging as an essential component in the transition to low-carbon and circular cities.
Investments in renewable energy reached USD 286 in 2015, again breaking the previous year's record. The renewable energy capacity under construction now exceeds conventional capacity. The pioneers of this transition, learn us interesting lessons for the shift to circularity.
The agriculture and forestry sectors are responsible for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. Approaches in agriculture are about moving to systems which effectively support development and which ensure food security in a changing climate. Climate action in forestry aims to provide forestry services while maintaining or increasing carbon stock.
Emissions from the transport sector are growing faster than in any other sector. Its emissions are hardly covered by international treaties or carbon pricing schemes. Sharing models, fuel switch and lightweight vehicles are promising strategies to reduce the impact of our desired mobility, although they often bring challenging trade-offs and rebound effects.
The construction sector drives the largest extractive industries in the world, storing valuable materials for long time spans in our buildings and infrastructure. This makes it the prime target sector for circular economy strategies, while on the other hand lowering the energy consumption of buildings during their usage.
Incentivising low-carbon and circular development is about incentivising what you want more off, and taxing what you want to see less. Putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging their mitigation is one way to gradually move towards higher taxes on resource extraction and use, and lower taxes on labour.
Circular economy quick scans rely on existing data and tools to make an overview of material flows and stocks. An objective of such a quick scan could be to explore synergies between the circular economy strategy and climate policies in a jurisdiction, or to identify new interventions along a product value chain where the circular economy can help abate greenhouse gas emissions. Shifting Paradigms also develops its own tools which allow experts and policy-makers to explore and assess circular GHG abatement opportunities themselves.
This is when the focus is on a specific sector, political trade-off or strategic question. Also here the approach is to identify circular economy interventions along value chains, which can help bring down greenhouse gas emissions or enhance carbon sinks.
This is about brining to the surface what we often keep hidden. It is about what emerges when you slow down, allow yourself to look through a different paradigm.
Contrary to efficiency, sufficiency or a sense of ‘enoughness’ and does not trigger rebound effects or the Jevons Paradox. The solid planetary boundaries invite us to translate ecological constraints into self-management and social restraints. These initiatives are about difficult choises, an awareness which opens new possibilities for change. They are also about exploring whether doing less of one thing can makes way for something else which is more valuable but harder to quantify.
Climate finance is about directing financial means into low-carbon and circular parts of the economy, thereby improving their competitiveness and allowing them to grow at the expense of the linear, extractive and fossil fuel parts of the economy. Due diligences look into assessing the environmental integrity of GHG abatement initiatives, their viability and the credibility of the associated counterparts.
