MUST-READ: the Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s new report on Building Prosperity. The study focuses on Europe’s built environment and explores how a nature-positive circular economy in the sector can unlock a huge economic opportunity for the continent, increasing resilience, competitiveness and the vibrancy of its cities. More details here 👇 https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/building-prosperity

During the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) 2024, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) presented their Circular Economy Working Group’s emerging shared vision (link to PDF) on the role of MDBs in supporting circular economy. The shared vision was unveiled at a session titled “Shaping a global vision for circular finance” which saw Directors from the MDBs emphasise the […]

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed a record amount of climate finance in 2023 to help its developing member countries (DMCs) in Asia and the Pacific cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of a warming planet. ADB committed $9.8 billion in climate finance from its own resources last year—$5.5 billion for mitigation […]

The Circularity Gap Report 2024 is available now! 👇 While the circular economy grows in popularity as an alternative economic model, human consumption of natural resources is growing in tandem, causing global rates of circularity to fall year after year. In 2023, the flagship report showed that circular solutions can keep us within the healthy […]

At the end of the COP28 UN Climate Conference in Dubai, European Union negotiators succeeded, with partners from around the world, to keep alive the possibility of delivering on the commitment in the Paris Agreement to limit global average temperature increase to 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels. With a particular focus on the energy sector in the talks, […]

The new law, agreed with member states, sets a target for the EU to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. The new law, agreed with member states, sets a target for the EU to restore at least 20% of […]

Yesterday, at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, the EU and the Philippines signed the €60 million Financing Agreement for the Green Economy Programme. This programme, a key part of the EU’s contribution to the Team Europe Initiative on Green Economy, aims to assist the Philippines in renewing its economy. This includes embracing the circular […]

Today, the Treaty of the High Seas was adopted by consensus and standing ovation during the United Nations meeting in New York. This Treaty is key to protect the ocean, promote equity and fairness, tackle environmental degradation, fight climate change, and prevent biodiversity loss in the high seas.  The UN’s 193 Member States adopted a landmark legally […]

The Dutch asphalt sector can reduce emissions by 30% to 60% by using biobased asphalt in which fossil bitumen has been replaced by lignin and other components from plant residues, according to new figures from Wageningen Food & Biobased Research. The potential savings are huge, since 10 million tonnes of asphalt containing 300,000 tonnes of […]

Republished from: https://www.undp.org/philippines/blog/japan-undp-and-denr-push-philippines-transition-circular-economy Representatives from both the public and private sectors convened last 17 October in a national forum to amplify the call for the Philippines to transition to circular economy, amid the country’s efforts to recover from the compounded impacts of the pandemic and the recurring climate-related disasters. The forum was organized by the […]

Heads of State, Ministers of environment and other representatives from UN Member States endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) today in Nairobi to End Plastic Pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024. The resolution addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal. “Against the backdrop of […]

Very relevant and must-read: The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has launched its first biodiversity study ‘The Nature Imperative: How the circular economy can tackle biodiversity loss’.The paper aims to detail the specific role of each circular economy principle, and their applicability across sectors. By showcasing four sectors – food, built environment, fashion, and plastics – the […]

“Today, the European Commission adopted a package of proposals to make the EU’s climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. Achieving these emission reductions in the next decade is crucial to Europe becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent […]

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group, composed of the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund (EIF), announce increased cooperation to implement the new EU Sustainable Blue Economy policy. Both institutions will work jointly with the EU Member States to meet existing financing needs to reduce pollution in European seas and support investment for blue innovation and […]

Today, the European Commission adopted the EU Action Plan: “Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil” – a key deliverable of the European Green Deal. It sets out an integrated vision for 2050: a world where pollution is reduced to levels that are no longer harmful to human health and natural ecosystems, as well as the steps […]

The majority of industry emissions comes from 4 material groups: Steel, cement, aluminum, chemicals. Global demand for the 4 focus materials is expected to increase – exacerbating the emission challenge. Getting to a 1.5°C pathway requires significant emissions reduction in all 4 material groups. There is still a large potential to improve circular material flows […]

European firms will have the capacity to supply all the lithium-ion batteries needed for the continent’s automakers by 2025 as they ramp up electric vehicle output to meet strict pollution limits, EU officials said Friday. The bloc is banking on its European Battery Alliance, launched in 2017, to reduce its reliance on batteries and other […]

It’s time to leave behind current wasteful and polluting models to usher in growth-based business models and innovative regenerative strategies. Scaling circular economy efforts globally will mean triggering strategic shifts across sectors. Approximately $57 billion of global electronic waste is generated every year. Additionally, food loss and waste accounts for $950 billion in lost value – a […]

ASEAN energy ministers agreed to set a target of 23% share of renewable energy in total primary energy supply in the region and 35% in ASEAN installed power capacity by 2025. This would require approximately 35GW-40GW of renewable energy capacity to be added by 2025. Solar PV and hydropower are expected to support the majority […]

Of mice and men … Microplastic particles that are exposed to fresh water or saltwater for several weeks are more likely to be absorbed by mouse cells growing in the laboratory, suggesting that environmental microplastics may be able to enter cells more easily than we thought. Studies investigating the potential effects of ingested microplastics in animals often […]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union could produce enough batteries by 2025 to power its fast-growing fleet of electric vehicles without relying on imported cells, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday. As part of its plan to become climate neutral by 2050, the EU wants to boost local production of the building […]

The European Commission wants to increase the EU’s offshore wind energy production capacity from the current 12 GW (GigaWatts) to at least 300 GW by 2050, it said on its press conference today. Shorter term, the plans aim to make offshore wind capacity hit at least 60 GW by 2030.Investment needs (mainly private) are estimated […]

Cross-border frictions prevent economies of scale in tackling plastic pollution. Trade facilitation can help increase the “three Rs” – reduce, re-use and recycle. Governments and firms must collaborate to scale the circular economy at a global level. Action on plastic pollution has been slowed considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic – but there’s a new emerging […]

Microplastic pollution from car tyres could be(come) an even bigger problem than single-use plastics. Today, The Guardian wrote about a recent research, published in the journal Nature Communications, about car tyres being the major source of ocean microplastics“More than 200,000 tonnes of tiny plastic particles are blown from roads into the oceans every year, according to […]

The ocean is estimated to contain at least 86 million tonnes of plastic waste, as well as chemical and other pollutants. Fishing debris turned into sunglasses and deep sea robots collecting pollution data are some of the innovations that could help clean up our seas. Sustainability is high on leaders’ agenda as nations and businesses […]

Massive programmes of green public investment would be the most cost-effective way both to revive virus-hit economies and strike a decisive blow against climate change, top U.S. and British economists said in a study published on Tuesday. With co-authors including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz from Columbia University and prominent British climate expert Lord Nicholas Stern, […]

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global emergency, bringing devastation to millions around the world, impacting lives and jobs, and grinding much of the global economy to a halt. It’s a crisis that has shown our vulnerability and confirmed our under-estimation of the probability and exponential nature of systemic risks. It calls on all of us […]

The European Commission has adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan – one of the main blocks of the European Green Deal, Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth. Building on the work done since 2015, the new Plan focuses on the design and production for a circular economy, with the aim to ensure that the resources used are […]

Economic growth has exacerbated the plastic waste problem – but it contains the solution too. Targeted investment can bridge the finance gap hampering Asia’s waste sector. Investment in just five countries could reduce plastic ocean flows by 45%. Asia’s exponential growth has made it into a powerful economic force, but it also has placed the […]

Will Europe become the world’s first climate neutral continent? It might, now that the EC’s proposed Green Deal been been backed by the European Parliament and by the European Council? Almost the entire European legislation is being turned around to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The package of measures that European […]