Circle Economy published its latest Circularity Gap Report (CGR) in time for Davos. The report website has a series of graphics that explaining that we must get to, and stay inside, the ‘safe and just space for humanity, where both people and the earth can thrive.’ This concept comes from Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics framework (we are big fans of Kate’s work). The CGR graphics go on to show countries with different sized dots, explaining that ‘the bigger its size, the higher the ecological footprint for the average citizen, or how much of Earth’s resources it takes to support their lifestyle.’
These country dots have colours to signify their scores on the United Nations Human Development Index. Countries are split into three groups: Build, Grow and Shift, each with different suggested strategies:
“Build” countries have a low material footprint per capita, but are struggling to meet all basic needs, especially for HDI indicators such as education and healthcare. Their economic focus is on extraction and sale of raw materials [eg minerals or cash crops], and they lack investment in education and skills.
Most “Grow” countries have started on the path to economic growth and industrialisation, and are seeing rising standards of living and population increase. Resource usage is increasing due to rapid economic growth, linked to material consumption, infrastructure and expanding industries that are also exporting to Shift countries.
“Shift” countries may have moved towards being ‘service economies, but their material consumption is 10 times greater than that of the Build countries. They produce high volumes of waste, and manage some of this themselves. Their levels of consumption exceed several planetary boundaries, and because they import goods, much of their environmental and social costs are ‘offshored’.
The first ‘Gap’ report, in 2018, analysed global resource stocks and flows, to announce that ‘Our world economy is only 9.1% circular, leaving a massive ‘Circularity Gap’. Now, we are wasting more and recycling less, meaning our world economy is now 8.6% circular. Download the full report here.