The Circular Economy

The Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN), one of the NAWE partners sponsoring this event, to invite contributions and ideas about expanding support in Africa. The discussions will focus on technologies which contribute to tackling the global climate challenge, attract sustainable investment and create inclusive jobs.

The Circularity Gap Report 2020 released by the organization Circle Economy, a group supported by UNEP and the Global Environment Facility, notes that the world can maximize chances of avoiding dangerous climate change by moving to a circular economy, thereby allowing societies to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Action.

This annual report, released last year at Davos during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, states that the amount of material consumed by our global economy each year has passed 100 billion tonnes. Of this, only 8.6% is cycled back into the global economy. The rest is mostly wasted or lost. This mammoth resource use is unsustainable and straining the planet’s resources. The linear system that supports it is also inherently fragile and the disruptions caused by the pandemic—from broken supply chains and staggering unemployment—have unearthed a multitude of weaknesses.

In 2020, CTCN will expand its Technical Assistance on Circular Economy to Africa to include Zambia; Zimbabwe; Malawi; Kenya; Mauritius and Seychelles. The support to Africa will focus on appropriate, inclusive waste services and technologies that attract investments and create inclusive jobs, because waste in Africa has the potential to inject USD 8 billion per annum to African Economies.