Coupling Nexus and Circular Economy to Decouple Carbon Emissions from Economic Growth

Abstract

Experts have been searching for ways to mitigate the impacts of climate change on resources since the early 20th century. In response, the World Economic Forum introduced the concept of a “nexus”, which involves the simultaneous, systematic collaboration of multiple individuals or sectors, such as water, energy, and food, in order to create an integrated approach to reducing resource scarcity through a multi-disciplinary framework. In contrast, a circular economy (CE) involves restructuring material flows from a linear economic system and closing the loop on resource exploitation. Both the nexus and CE have been developed to address the overexploitation of resources, but they also contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and decouple carbon emissions from economic growth. This study explores the potential of combining the nexus and CE to pursue the SDGs on a global scale. Our findings reveal significant research gaps and policy implementation challenges in developing countries, as well as the potential consequences of adopting integrative scenarios. Finally, we propose a system dynamics model as a way to address the difficulties of coupling policies and to better understand the interdependencies between different parts of the economy.

Do circular economy, public-private Partnership and carbon policy manage the environmental stress? Developed countries' situation under the Prism of COP27

“…From such an exciting outcome, it is clear that the specified economies have achieved a certain technological level and are on the right path to secure their biodiversity. Similarly, this outcome can compare with the findings of [ [85] , [86] , [87] ]. Similarly, Khan et al [ 86 ], described the case study of Netherlands and argued that higher authorities had taken the initiative to utilize waste in green energy generation and other sustainable production & consumption activities at the domestic level.…”

Examining the trade-offs in clean energy provision: Focusing on the relationship between technology transfer, renewable energy, industrial growth, and carbon footprint reduction

“…Despite the circular economy's goal of reducing waste and encouraging the use of more environmentally friendly products, this may lead to more emissions. These results highlight the need for more study into the connection between industrial ecology and carbon emissions in this setting and emphasize the need to consider the circular economy's economic and environmental consequences [ 107 , 108 ].…”

Uncovering the global ranking of greenhouse gases intensity, efficiency and structural transformation

“…Unsustainable urbanization is creating difficulties which is expected to double by 2050. The world is facing resource scarcity along with a rising population the catastrophe is emerging with environmental degradation which is a challenging task for the policy makers to ensure sustainability 29 . Reference 30 probe the ten energy efficient countries to gauge the impact of energy efficiency on economic growth to mitigate environmental degradation and found that energy intensity has a positive impact on economic growth and degraded environment whereas energy efficiency bears the potential to reduce GHGs by about 40%.…”