Overview
EU is aiming to move to carbon neutral, green and circular economy, which implies major changes are needed not just within our energy systems, but economic activities at large.
EU Green Deal
Circular Economy Action Plan
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Every year our societies globally consume a huge quantity of resources (100 GT in 2020) and are in the process producing vast quantities of GHG emissions (nearly 60 Gt in 2019) along with other environmental pressures. The OECD projects that material extraction will grow by 40% up to 2040 and close to 90% by 2060 compared to 2017. Industries are the building blocks of our economy and a major contributor to GHG emissions and waste.
CIRCULARITY GAP REPORT 2021 summarises our resource consumption data like this:
Circularity Gap
OECD Resource Outlook
The European Environment - State and Outlook 2020
Globally business as usual is setting us on track for 3-6°C temperature increase by end of the century and resource use that would currently take 1.8 planets like Earth to sustain us (3 for EU lifestyles). These challenges are directly linked to how we extract, produce, distribute, market, finance and consume resources.
Applying circular strategies to resource use is fundamental for addressing excessive material consumption, pollution, and climate change while harnessing the economic opportunities of this systemic transition.
Global / National Ecological Footprint(s)
