The state of circular economy in European cities
A growing number of cities see that shifting from a linear to a circular economy is essential to address challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, economic instability and global value chain disruptions. The current take-make-waste system accounts for almost 50% of global CO2 emissions and 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress. As demand for strategic resources and food is expected to further increase in the next few decades, the transition towards a circular economy becomes only more urgent.
Cities have a key role to play in this transition. They represent a huge portion of global resource demands, manage a number of key sectors with circular potential, are responsible for potentially impactful land use management, and have significant procurement and investment budgets. This is why it is so important for ICLEI Europe and its network of local governments to leverage cities’ vast potential to help Europe move from linear to circular.
To this end, ICLEI Europe, with support from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, recently published the Circular Cities Declaration (CCD) Report 2022, which identifies eight key trends for how circularity is being implemented in Europe’s urban areas, as well as four main barriers hindering the proliferation of a truly circular economy.
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