Conference Agenda

While circularity has been emphasized as critical in realizing net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the necessary policies to achieve it are underrepresented worldwide. The cross-sectoral nature of circular design and challenges in quantifying impacts hamper political implementation. However, to render net zero feasible, socially focused circularity modeling, thus informed policy design and effective implementation are indispensable. We suggest a scheme to overcome this gap and evaluate policy implications across sustainability dimensions. We find that a transdisciplinary approach integrated across sectors and fields of action is needed to address the detailed material flow knowledge demands involved. Application of the scheme offers practical insights on the process and core transition results. Enhancing circularity is found to increase value added, as a matter of (material) system efficiency, granting larger value shares in production to primary factors labor, capital and land. The favorable economic and distributional implication is even more relevant given that domestic renewable resources are limited.