Could COP30 prove to be the accelerator circular economy advocates need?

While some news headlines from Belém this week have focused on clashes between protesters at COP30 carrying signs of “our forests are not for sale” and rows inside about mixed progress on climate reduction plans (NDCs), there has been a real positive for promoters of the circular economy (CE). As we saw at a SEC Newgate event in London recently, CE advocates can be as passionate as those activists in Belém trying to protect Brazil’s precious landscape.    

For the first time in the history of the global climate negotiations, COP30 this week hosted a dedicated Circular Economy Day. The day spotlighted the role that circular practices have in designing out waste, using materials more efficiently, and keeping resources in circulation for longer. Behind the circularity ambition is to cut emissions, create economic opportunities and move away from a linear economy. 

The Earthshot Prize – pioneered by the Duke of Cambridge – is a high-profile backer of circular economy initiatives, particularly through its ‘Build a Waste-Free World’ category which awards and nominates innovative solutions that eliminate waste. Being nominated alone garners attention. The Bristol-based company, Matter, was one of 15 finalists shortlisted for the awards for its development of microplastic filtration technology that stops harmful microplastics entering waterways. The company said being recognised by the Earthshot Prize was “fantastic”.  

Product innovation is critical to accelerating circular impact but one question is also around how much should there be in the way of incentives or regulation, such as extended producer responsibility (EPR), which places the financial and physical responsibility for waste management on the producers of the product, not the end consumer.   

In Belém this week, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and One Planet Network unveiled the Global Circularity Protocol (GCP), a voluntary science-based framework designed to help companies manage, measure and improve approaches to circularity across the value chain. The message is that circularity is no longer optional but a strategic necessity for the health of our planet and business resilience. 

Expect more sustainability initiatives to be framed around these themes of resilience and business benefit. The GCP’s advocates argue that it could enable 100-120 billion tonnes of cumulative material savings by 2050, with six million new circular economy jobs relating to recycling, repair, renting and manufacturing. Big numbers - and detractors will be sure to test them.  

The question will be how much initiatives like these will accelerate momentum, and whether putting the circular economy more centre stage will signal something more profound regarding how we tackle our urgent climate challenge. As ESG faces criticism and political headwinds, the circular economy offers a harder-edged alternative: less virtue-signalling, more engineering, and a chance to turn sustainability into a business model rather than a corporate box-ticking exercise.