The Circularity Gap Report 2021, a global assessment of circular economy progress, has been released by Circle Economy. This year, the report highlights the link between the circular economy and climate change and the transformational power of the circular economy for this topic.
The report states that our current linear economy is taking the planet towards a 3- to 6-degree temperature increase, which would head us to the higher frequency and intensity of climate extremes such as floods, droughts, and wildfires, scarcity. On the other hand, studies show that tackling the climate crisis needs much more than current climate commitments.
The report underlines that the circular economy can contribute to achieving climate goals and keeps global temperature rise well below 2 degrees. According to the report, a circular economy can pave the way for a systemic transformation required for today’s global economy, far beyond current policies and national climate commitments.
The report findings show that to avoid the worst climate scenario, global circularity needs to increase from 8.6% to 17%, nearly double. Although the circularity gap could not be updated due to data unavailability for this year, the metric dropped from 9.1% to 8.6% in 2020 clearly shows that the world is getting less circular with the continuous domination of lineer applications and processes. The report also states that today 100 billion tons (Gt) of material is annually consumed and the world is 1 degree warmer than in pre-industrial times.
By mapping the materials flow in the economy, The report shows that the vast majority (70%) of the greenhouse gas emissions are associated with material processing and use. This proves that energy policies alone will not be enough to reduce emissions and the critical role of the circular economy is undeniable. The report states that the circular economy has the power to deliver the same or better outputs by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 39% and raw material usage as a resource by 28%.
Another finding of the report touches the role of the countries by underlining their power in transition to circular economy. In order to create actionable roadmaps by considering different needs, barriers and potentials, the report identified three types of country profiles; Build, grow and shift.
The “Grow” countries, where Turkey can be assessed under this profile, are stated as responsible for 47% of global emissions and 51% of global resource extraction from a consumption perspective. For this profile, the report focuses on 4 key transition areas to leverage the circularity. These are; prioritizing sustainable agriculture, mainstreaming resource-efficient and low-carbon construction materials, meeting the increasing demand for energy with renewable sources, and establishing infrastructure for effective material cycling, including construction and demolition waste.
