Today’s global economy is a ‘take-make-use-waste’, or linear, system. In just the first seven months of the year, our economy uses as much of our global natural resources as can be replenished in a full year. In 1733, at the outset of the Industrial Revolution, the earth supported a global population of less than 800 million people. Last year, our population passed the 8 billion mark. Do the math.
We must change our economic growth from a linear path to a circular one, or we will be unable to even approach any of our carbon reduction goals. Circularity is key to controlling global warming.
We know what a circle is. As sustainable investors, we all think we know what a circular company is. But how do we define it? How do we measure it? How round is a circle?
