Classic typewriter displaying ‘Circular Economy’ in outdoor setting, conveying sustainability. By by Markus Winkler via pexels
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What Is Circular Economy (CE) － Building a Sustainable Future
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By Mayuko Taniguchi Portraits of Mayuko Taniguchi, Consulting Business Development Department.
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What Is Circular Economy
Circular Economy is an economic activity that reduces resource input and consumption, makes effective use of existing resources and products, and creates new value through services, in addition to 3Rs of “Reduce”, “Reuse”, and “Recycle”. Circular Economy aims to create a sustainable society.
Why we need to shift to Circular Economy
Society today is aiming to achieve sustainable economic activity by maximizing the value of resources and products, minimizing resource consumption, preventing waste generation, and regenerating nature and natural resources.
In a society of mass production, mass consumption and mass waste, resource depletion, environmental pollution, and climate change due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are already global issues.
In a linear economy that manufacturing and recycling industries are separated, the cost of recycling exceeds the value of recycled materials, resulting in situations that products or materials have been discarded even if they have resource potential.
It is important to transition to a Circular Economy that uses resources sustainably.
Linear Economy and 3Rs
Circular Economy is proposed as a new socioeconomic system to replace the Linear Economy of mass production, mass consumption, and mass waste.
Linear economy is a unidirectional socioeconomic system of “Resource extraction or Mining→ Product Manufacturing → Consumption → Disposal”. As the population grows and living standards improve, production, consumption, and waste have steadily increased, resulting in issues such as waste generation exceeding processing capacity. To address these issues, 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) have been promoted.
While 3Rs have proven effective in addressing waste-related issues, other issues recently have also emerged, such as resource depletion and environmental pollution associated with mass production and mass consumption, as well as climate change due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In addition to environmental issues or resource depletion, various forms of resource procurement risks are increasing, such as the trend toward economic blocks (restrictions on the import and export of resources across regions and countries) that is progressing in regions and countries around the world. In response to these issues, it is important to address not only the traditional 3Rs that focus on “mass waste,” but also “mass production and mass consumption.”
Change Business Model by Circular Economy
The way manufacturers operate, which has traditionally focused on the production and sale of products, is beginning to change.
In addition to 3Rs, the concept of refurbishing and remanufacturing has recently gained attention, in which manufacturers collect and refurbish used or defective products and reship them in near-new conditions. It is believed that if manufacturers can maximize service opportunities as added value by maintaining customer contact throughout the product lifecycle to ensure the functionality and durability of products (or parts), and understanding customer needs, this could lead to highly profitable businesses.
Furthermore, given this background, there are examples of businesses achieving Circular Economy by shifting from a one-time product sale model to a service provision model such as subscription or sharing (home appliance rental or car sharing).
Circular Economy is Industrial Perspective rather than Environmental Policy
The European Union (EU) announced “The Circular Economy Action Plan” as its policy guideline in 2015 and subsequently positioned Circular Economy as a key policy in “The European Green Deal” formulated by the European Commission (EC) in 2017. This was followed by “The Circular Economy Action Plan” in 2020, and more recently “The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation” which incorporates regulations covering the entire lifecycle of products, including design, durability, repairability, and recycled content.
Furthermore, for specific products, “The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation” which stipulates the recycling, minimization, and reuse of packaging, and “End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulation” which regulates the entire lifecycle of automobiles, have been published.
While these policies aim to reduce environmental impact, they also position themselves as industrial policies that enhance the EU’s industrial competitiveness by making compliance with regulations regarding raw material sourcing and product design mandatory requirements for market entry, changing manufacturing practices and market rules. China also published its “The 14th Five-Year Circular Economy Development Plan” in 2021, and similar trends can be seen in countries and regions outside the EU.
In Japan, the Ministry of the Environment published “The 4th Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society” in 2018, which mentioned economic aspects in addition to the traditional environmental aspects. In recent years, the Ministry of the Environment also published “The 5th Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society” in 2024, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also formulated “Growth-Oriented Resource Autonomous Economic Strategy” in 2023, both of which are notable for incorporating many elements of industrial strategy.
The Key to achieving Circular Economy is Information Collaboration
Achieving Circular Economy requires policy regulation and guidance. Realizing business requires not only technological development by specific companies but also collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders.
Collaboration across the entire value chain is required, involving both “Manufacturing Industry”, which develops and manufactures materials and products, and “Recycling Industry”, which handles processes such as sorting and recycling of collected materials and waste.
Minimizing information gaps between the Manufacturing and Recycling Industries is crucial for efficient collaboration across the entire value chain, and the distribution of various information related to manufacturing and recycling is essential.
Specifically, competitive concerns should be taken into consideration, if manufacturers share information on the composition, properties, history of use, and chemical constituents of the materials in their products with recycling industries, it will help recyclers improve the efficiency of recycling and preserve material and product value.
Recycling Industries can increase trust in recycled materials and promote their use by collaborating information on the traceability of the recycling process and the composition and characteristics of recycled materials with Manufacturing Industries.
It is need that common rule as common language that allows stakeholders participating in the information distribution platform to operate.
* Organization names and job titles may differ from the current version.
Today, as we mark the International Day of Education 2026, we celebrate a principle that lies at the heart of UNESCO’s mission: education is a fundamental human right, a public good, and a shared responsibility. This year’s theme, ‘The power of youth in co-creating education,’ reminds us that young people are not only recipients of education systems—they are partners, innovators, and essential actors in shaping their future.
Across the Gulf States and Yemen, youth represent an extraordinary source of creativity, resilience, and determination. With more than half of the global population now under the age of 30, their leadership is pivotal in driving progress toward peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. Yet too many young people continue to face challenges—poverty, inequality, and limited access to quality learning opportunities—that prevent them from fully exercising their potential. UNESCO reiterates that empowering youth must go beyond consultation; it requires ensuring their meaningful engagement throughout the entire policymaking and implementation cycle.
This year, UNESCO will release a new global measurement that tracks youth participation in educational legislation and policymaking. Developed by the Global Education Report team in partnership with the UN Youth Office, this initiative reflects our collective commitment to holding systems accountable for the pledges made during the Transforming Education Summit and in the Pact for the Future. It provides governments with concrete evidence to strengthen mechanisms that amplify youth voices at national, regional, and global levels.
The Gulf States and Yemen are experiencing rapid technological, social, and economic transformation. These shifts present new opportunities to rethink how education systems prepare young people for futures marked by innovation, sustainability, and digital fluency. UNESCO calls for investing in learning environments that nurture critical thinking, civic engagement, and problem-solving—skills essential for navigating a world being reshaped by technological revolutions. Today’s global challenges require re-imagined education systems co-designed with young people, not for them.
We also recognize and commend the leadership of young people across this region who are already co-creating solutions—supporting peers in crisis-affected contexts, contributing to community learning initiatives, driving digital innovation, and championing sustainability. Their stories reaffirm a simple truth: when youth are meaningfully engaged, education becomes more inclusive, relevant, and future ready.
On this International Day of Education, I encourage educators, civil society organizations, and all partners to join UNESCO in placing youth at the center of educational transformation. Let us commit to systems that listen to young people, invest in their participation, and champion their leadership. Empowering youth is not only a pathway to stronger education systems—it is an investment in peace, prosperity, and humanity’s shared future.
NOTE: Salah Khaled is Director, UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen. He has made the statement on the occasion of the International Day of Education 2026.
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University Management School.
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People have become used to living with AI fairly quickly. ChatGPT is barely three years old, but has changed the way many of us communicate or deal with large amounts of information.
It has also led to serious concerns about jobs. For if machines become better than people at reading complex legal texts, or translating languages, or presenting arguments, won’t those old fashioned human employees become irrelevant? Surely mass unemployment is on the horizon?
Yet, when we look at the big numbers of the economy, this is not what’s happening.
Unemployment in the EU is at a historical low of around 6%, half the level of ten years ago. In the UK, it is even lower, at 5.1%, roughly the level of the booming early 2000s, and it is even lower again (4.4%) in the US.
The reason why there are still so many jobs is that while technology does make some human enterprise obsolete, it also creates new kinds of work to be done.
It’s happened before. In 1800 for example, around a third of British workers were farmers. Now the proportion working in agriculture is around 1%.
Or more recently, after the first ATM in the world was unveiled by Barclays in London in 1967, there were fears that staff at high street bank branches would disappear.
The opposite turned out to be the case. In the US, over the 30-year period of ATM growth, the number of bank tellers actually increased by 10%. ATMs made it cheaper to open bank branches (because they needed fewer tellers) and more communities gained access to financial services.
Only now, with a bank on every phone, is the number of high street bank staff in steep decline.
An imposition?
But yes, AI will take away some jobs. A third of Americans worry they will lose theirs to AI, and many of them will be right.
But since the industrial revolution, the world has seen a flow of innovations, sustaining an unprecedented exponential economic growth.
AI, like the computer, the internet, the railways, or electric appliances, is a slow revolution. It will gradually change habits, but in doing so, provide opportunities for new businesses to emerge.
And just as there has been no immediate AI boom when it comes to economic growth, there is no immediate shift in employment. What we see instead are largely firms using AI as an excuse for standard job cutting exercises. This then leads to a different question about how AI will change how meaningful our jobs are and how much money we earn.
With technology, it can go either way.
Bank tellers became more valuable with the arrival of ATMs because instead of just counting money, they could offer advice. And in 2016, Geoff Hinton, a major figure in the development of of AI, recommended that the world “should stop training radiologists” because robots were getting better than humans at analysing images.
Ten years later, demand for radiologists in the US is at a record high. Using AI to analyse images has made the job more valuable, not less, because radiologists can treat more patients (most of whom probably want to deal with a human)
So as a worker, what you want to find is a job where the machines make you more productive – not one where you become a servant to the machines.
Working together. Summit Art Creations/Shutterstock
Any inequality?
Another question raised by AI is whether it will reduce or increase the inequality between workers.
At first, many thought that allowing everyone to access an AI assistant with skills in processing information or clear communication would decrease earning inequality. But other recent research found the opposite, with highly skilled entrepreneurs gaining the most from having access to AI support.
One reason for this is that taking advice is itself a skill. In my own research with colleagues, we found that giving chess players top-quality advice does little to close the gap between the best and the worst – because lower-ability players were less likely to follow high-quality advice.
And perhaps that’s the biggest risk AI brings. That some people benefit from it much more than others.
In that situation, there might be one group which uses AI to manage their everyday lives, but find themselves stuck in low-productivity jobs with no prospect of a decent salary. And another smaller group of privileged, well-educated workers who thrive by controlling the machines and the wealth they create.
Every technological revolution in history has made the world richer, healthier and more comfortable. But transitions are always hard. What matters next is how societies can help everyone to be the boss of the machines – not their servants.
The Middle East and North Africa region is moving into a major phase of change in the way it produces electricity. For decades, oil and gas have been the backbone of power generation across the region. However, falling costs of solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage systems are now pushing countries to adopt renewable energy at an unprecedented pace. As a result, renewable power capacity in the region is expected to double by 2027, marking a sharp acceleration compared to previous years.
Solar energy is leading this transition. The MENA region has some of the highest solar radiation levels in the world, making solar power both practical and cost-effective. According to long-term projections, solar photovoltaic capacity alone could reach around 860 GW by 2040. This massive scale of deployment reflects how quickly governments and utilities are moving away from traditional fossil-based generation. Over the longer term, the energy mix is expected to change completely. By 2060, non-fossil sources such as solar, wind, and other clean technologies are forecast to account for about 92% of total electricity generation, a dramatic reversal from today’s fossil-dominated system.
Despite this rapid growth in renewables, the region faces a critical challenge. Electricity demand is increasing even faster than clean energy capacity. Strong economic growth, population expansion, urban development, and rising temperatures are all contributing to higher power consumption. Overall, electricity demand in the region is expected to triple by 2060. In the near and medium term, space cooling will be a major driver of this growth. The increasing use of air conditioners, especially during long and intense summers, is projected to account for nearly 30% of demand growth up to 2035.
Also ReadACEN Expands Northern Luzon Footprint With 60 MW San Manuel Solar Project
Because demand is growing so quickly, renewable energy will not immediately replace gas-fired power generation. In fact, natural gas will continue to play a major role in balancing the grid for many years. It is only around 2040 that non-fossil power generation is expected to start clearly outpacing demand growth, allowing renewables to genuinely displace gas-based electricity on a large scale.
To support this transition, solar projects are increasingly being paired with battery energy storage systems. These hybrid projects are designed to provide reliable power even after sunset, addressing one of the key limitations of solar energy. Large-scale examples are already under development in the region. In the United Arab Emirates, Masdar is working on a 1 GW project that combines solar power with battery storage. In Saudi Arabia, the 2.6 GW Al Shuaibah solar plant represents another milestone in utility-scale renewable development.
Wind energy is also gaining importance, although it currently plays a smaller role compared to solar. Countries such as Oman, Egypt, and Morocco are emerging as regional leaders in wind power deployment. With improving technology and falling costs, wind capacity across the region is expected to triple every decade through 2060, adding another critical source of clean electricity.
Also ReadIndia Adds Around 30 GW Solar Capacity As It Crosses 500 GW Power Milestone In Q3 2025
One advantage the Gulf region currently enjoys is a relatively modern and well-developed power grid. Unlike parts of Europe or North America, it does not yet face severe congestion or bottlenecks. However, maintaining this advantage will require continuous investment. By 2060, the region is expected to need around 9,500 GWh of energy storage to manage the variability of solar and wind power and to ensure grid stability.
Regional cooperation will also be essential. Initiatives such as the Pan-Arab Electricity Market and the expansion of the GCC Interconnection Authority are aimed at improving cross-border electricity trade and sharing resources. These efforts will help balance supply and demand across countries and reduce the risks associated with high shares of variable renewable energy.
In summary, although the MENA region started its energy transition later than some other parts of the world, it is now moving at a remarkable speed and scale. The shift toward renewables is driven not only by climate goals but also by strong economic logic. By replacing domestic fossil fuel use with renewable power, GCC countries alone could save an estimated $92 billion each year while freeing up more oil and gas for export. While fossil fuels will remain part of the energy mix for decades, large investments in renewable energy and grid flexibility are positioning the Gulf and the wider region as key players in the global clean energy economy.
Stunning aerial shot showcasing Dubai’s architectural layout amidst the desert. By RITESH SINGH via Pexels
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The SDGs showed us where to go – now the world needs a roadmap for what comes next
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Shirin Malekpour, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts
Cameron Allen, Senior Research Fellow, Sustainability Transitions Lab
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As the 2030 deadline for the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is fast approaching, attention is turning towards what comes next.
The official UN-led process of negotiations for the post-2030 global sustainable development agenda is expected to start in 2027. However, proposals are already emerging from different sectors about what the next agenda should contain.
In a new article published in Science, we argue that any proposal for the post-2030 agenda needs to be grounded in a clear and explicit theory of change that explains why and how it will accelerate implementation and lead to better outcomes.
We then go on to suggest an approach to assess the impact and feasibility of various proposals.
Achievements and failures of the SDGs
The unanimous adoption of the SDGs by all UN member states in 2015 is a landmark achievement in creating a shared vision for sustainable development.
The goals encompassed various issues that our societies have been grappling with, from eradicating poverty to quality health and education, clean and affordable energy for all, addressing inequalities, climate action and protecting our natural environment.
These challenges are as relevant today as they were in 2015 when the goals were adopted.
The goals were novel in several ways. They applied equally to all countries. They highlighted the interlinked nature of economic, social and environmental systems. They aspired to “leave no-one behind”, and emphasised the role of partnerships between governments, business and civil society to achieve the goals.
The SDGs have since met with some success as many countries and cities have localised the goals, are monitoring and reporting progress, and are steadilyworking toward their achievement.
Many businesses have aligned with the SDGs, and civil society organisations have endorsed them.
Global frameworks such as the SDGs can also provide legitimacy, shared expectations and a common language.
In addition, SDGs support coordination, foster learning and comparison across contexts, and encourage resource allocation and action needed from all countries to address challenges of a global nature.
Despite these achievements, progress has been slow and far from ideal, with less than 20% of targets on track to be met by 2030. The SDGs gave the world a shared vision; however, goal-setting alone was never going to deliver the scale of change required.
The SDGs provided direction, but not the mechanisms needed to overcome a multitude of political, financial and institutional barriers that block change.
The SDGs showed us where to go – now we need a roadmap that shows how to get there. A stronger theory of change can help turn ambition into action and ensure the next global agenda delivers the transformations people and the planet deserve.
Shaping a stronger post-2030 agenda
In our post-2030 initiative at Monash University, we’ve partnered with the Stockholm Environment Institute to ensure any future framework is grounded in the latest scientific knowledge and evidence.
To this end, we’re convening a global consortium of SDG experts and stakeholders from around the world in a series of workshops and activities to develop systematic insights in support of the post-2030 negotiations.
We also work with our partners in various governments and UN agencies to create impact pathways.
Our new article in Science is the outcome of a 2024 workshop at the Monash University, Indonesia campus, where we met as a group of 23 researchers spanning 17 research institutions globally. In this piece, we argue that while the SDGs remain a landmark achievement in creating a shared global vision for sustainable development, they were underpinned by some flawed assumptions about how goal‑setting would drive real‑world action.
Through a detailed content analysis of the 2030 agenda, we reconstructed the “implicit theory of change” that shaped the SDGs and critically reflected on what has or hasn’t worked as intended.
We found that the framework assumed global goals would naturally translate into national strategies, mobilise actors and ultimately transform societies, but without being explicit about roadblocks that would impede change.
We identified several systemic weaknesses that have hindered progress, including limited national leadership, weak incentives for business and non‑government actors, superficial voluntary reviews, missing or outdated target areas such as artificial intelligence and international spillovers, and insufficient clarity on the transformations required to achieve the goals.
With proposals for the next global framework already emerging, we argue that a systematic method is needed to assess which ideas are both impactful and politically feasible within an increasingly polarised global landscape.
This requires being clear about how each proposal would drive sustainable development, identifying what will be effective and how it will overcome the barriers that have hampered progress to date.
We’re taking the post-2030 initiative forward with a range of activities, including a recent gathering of the consortium in Stockholm in December 2025, where we planned for the coming years and impact pathways.
The SDGs were always ambitious, and full delivery was never going to be easy. They remain vital, but future success depends on a much clearer focus on implementation – understanding what’s blocking change and being explicit about how transformation happens.
While a stronger theory of change will not solve every implementation challenge, it will provide a more solid foundation for governments, businesses and communities to drive real progress on the ground.
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