Circular economy strategies will be crucial for cities looking to scale their impact and reach net zero. While going circular in a linear world can be challenging, the Circle Carbon Scan can help cities link material use to emissions for any sector, pinpointing exactly where change-makers should focus their attention.
The circular economy has been posited as a means for tackling climate breakdown. By changing the way we extract, process and use materials, circular strategies have the power to slash emissions by 39%, limit warming to 1.5˚C and prevent the worst climate disasters like floods and famines. But where can such a transition begin? In the words of IPCC co-chair Debra Roberts: We point very clearly to the cities of the world as a key place for mobilization.
Cities are epicentres of consumption, innovation, investment and culture. They also hold most of the world's people, with over two-thirds expected to live in urban areas by 2050. More agile than national governments, city-level actors are well-poised to drive the transition to a circular economy – and it is critical that they do so, as research shows that cities will bear the brunt of negative climate impacts. Cities around the globe must be equipped with the knowledge necessary to reach the end goal of an ecologically safe and socially just space for humanity.
The circular economy is a means to this end.
Climate action should begin in the city. (Photo by Nerea Martí Sesarino on Unsplash)
The Circle Carbon Scan shows cities how consumption links to emissions
Amsterdam-based impact organization Circle Economy is diving into combatting one of cities' biggest climate challenges – consumption – through its Circle Carbon Scan, which links material consumption to emissions for any supply chain in any city. Launched in 2021, the scan pinpoints where emissions occur throughout a supply chain, allowing city-level decision-makers understand how they can use the circular economy to implement interventions that impact both resource efficiency and emissions reduction.
Crucially, it takes a consumption-based approach, accounting for emissions generated elsewhere and not those from within city boundaries. Why is this important? Wealthy “consumer cities” like London, Paris and New York have already succeeded in cutting their locally generated emissions, largely by outsourcing production to poorer countries that have long been feeling the impact. Including the impacts of the consumption of goods and services produced abroad means that these cities have among the highest per capita emissions globally. Knowing this is critical to taking action in the right way. This is how the Carbon Scan came to be.
To date, no other method exists that is so flexible and far reaching in its approach, nor one that links material use to emissions in cities. Following its pilot for London's food supply chain, plans to scale are flowing fast; up next is the city's textiles supply chain. While the tool faces some challenges – data availability can be tricky – it nonetheless has the ability to tackle cities' consumption-based emissions: 'We aimed to create a method that uses and processes data in such a way that it can be replicable—but also still meaningful for different sectors and contexts,' Jordi Pascual Torner, one of the Scan’s creators, notes.
For its pilot, the Carbon Scan was applied to one of the most impactful supply chains in one of the world's most notable cities: the food system in London. Its analytical framework mapped material flows and tied them to consumption-based emissions in the city's food system, following how London's 6.3 million tonnes of food was produced, consumed and eventually disposed of – if not eaten.
The scan found that highly emissions-intensive foods, such as meat and dairy, featured high on the menu, contributing nearly half of emissions while representing less than one-quarter of the food consumed. In addition, 1.4 million tonnes of the city's food supply goes to waste yearly. Through substituting animal foods with plant-based options, cutting food loss and waste, and putting waste to better use – all practicable options that will also bring a range of health and social benefits – food-related consumption-based emissions could be cut by as much as 31%.
How London can cut its food-related consumption-based emissions. Source: Circle Economy
Pulling the right levers: The Circle Carbon Scan can provide a 'valuable starting point' for urban change makers looking to the circular economy
It is not easy going circular in our linear world, where extraction is par for the course and waste is treated as an afterthought. It can be challenging to know where to start, especially given supply chains' complexity in a globalized world. The Circle Carbon Scan provides a starting point, and highlights potential results.
This has already borne fruit: ReLondon and the mayor of London announced a number of commitments in response to the report, from an action plan to cut emissions through collaborations with caterers and suppliers, to the launch of a multi-year programme to design impactful, data-drive policy interventions – the Food Flagship Initiative.
Imagine this kind of action taking place for other impactful supply chains and sectors – from construction and infrastructure to electronics – in some of the world's largest metropolises. Research has shown that if cities went all out, using strategies already in our arsenal to deliver deep cuts in emissions, we would be well on our way to meeting the Paris Agreement's most crucial goals. Even more so, we know the added benefits of circular economy strategies, which can bring us far beyond the actions highlighted in countries' national climate commitments.
Shifting to more plant-based diets could have a huge impact on consumption-based emissions. (Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)
Cities have a lot of power—but they can't achieve net-zero alone
Cities are leading the way: 10,000 of them have made strong commitments to reduce emissions drastically before 2050 – and the Circle Carbon Scan can help them get there. But it is not up to them to act alone.
Without support from national governments and businesses, cities will only be able to achieve one-third of their net-zero targets. Why? Nations have the power to deliver true systems change through their political and legal mandates, and businesses have the capacity to innovate and support the implementation of the circular interventions.
Cities taking initial action will crucially need support, cooperation and collaboration from different stakeholders to drive circular initiatives. Tackling the climate crisis must be a joint effort – no one business, sector, city or nation can work alone.
'Consumption is a huge climate challenge for cities themselves—but the Carbon Scan can also help city change makers, citizens and businesses understand the importance of their actions in the global context. Systems change can start in the city,' Jordi explains. 'We are ambitious to continue replicating the exercise in other cities.'
For more information about the Circle Carbon Scan, contact Jordi Pascual Torner at jordi [at] circle-economy.com (jordi[at]circle-economy[dot]com).
