Growing the circle to get to net zero

High carbon prices and supportive government policies will reenergise circular economy investment

At Carbon Risk I’ve typically focused on supply side approaches when outlining the potential for technologies to cut emissions.

For example, employing carbon capture to reduce the emissions associated with the production of cement, employing innovative feedstocks to cut the emissions from grazing livestock, and using renewable energy to extract and process lithium, gold, and other metals in a less carbon intensive way.

However, simply cutting supply side emissions - those involved in the production of goods and services - will not be enough to meet net zero. Economies will need to reconfigure the way in which they consume, not just energy, but the materials and resources they consume as well.