The global consumption of material resources has risen exponentially in recent decades, contributing to various planetary crises, such as, climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. The pace at which raw material is extracted and the processing for this consumption puts enormous pressure on the resource bases of our economies and has tremendous environmental consequences.

The tenets of eliminating waste, circulating and reusing resources, and regenerating nature enshrined in the circular economy principles offer a solution to this over-consumption, and the conversations about circular economy has entered mainstream conversation; however, global circularity is still in decline, declining from 9.1% in 2018 to 7.2% just five years later in 2023. To ensure circularity practices break through to mainstream policies, government and industry must break free of flawed development patterns that continue to fuel industries and practices known to be socially and environmentally exploitative.

Key global systems, such as food systems, energy, and transportation, put the most pressure on key Earth systems. However, these systems are vital for fulfilling people’s needs. Potential solutions involve leveraging key economic and policy incentives, along with harnessing innovations in digitalization and technology in order to embed circular practices in key global systems. This session will discuss the steps that economies and industries need to take to ensure that circularity is in mainstream practices to alleviate this pressure.