ACR+

To successfully implement the Paris Agreement in practice, a circular economy is a key lever, as

• parties are currently not on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,
• parties are challenged to raise their level of ambition, both individually and collectively,
• circular economy offers great mitigation potential, as well as synergies with adaptation goals,
• circular economy opens up new opportunities for a transformational change in our production and consumption patterns – a pre-condition for persistent change also in our greenhouse gas emission profile,
• circular economy action contributes significantly towards greenhouse gas mitigation action, and is thus eligible for climate finance,
• circular economy offers economic and social benefits, and can open up new investment opportunities, and
• beyond climate change, circular economy triggers many co-benefits on other United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, supports a green recovery, and can help to build back better our economies.

Integrating circular economy action into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement is viable, yet shows several challenges that need to be overcome, including:

• estimation of greenhouse gas mitigation effects of circular economy action is challenging and requires complex and data-intensive modelling methods,
• only a fraction of the global circular economy mitigation effect becomes visible in the NDCs, due to established accounting rules under the United Nations Climate Convention and its Paris Agreement,
• effective circular economy action needs vertical integration of national and sub-national actors, which is a complex multi-stakeholder process, and
• circular economy action is not a low-hanging fruit, generally needs upfront investment and preparation time whereas mitigation effects become visible in national greenhouse gas inventories only by midterm perspective.