GreenBiz Group brought its Circularity23 conference to my hometown, Seattle, this past week. It was a fantastic opportunity for me personally to avoid air travel and utilize public (electrified and manual) transportation to visit with peers focused on transforming our global economy to a low carbon, circular future.
The concept of "circularity" aligns closely with Earth Finance, Inc.'s mission as it represents our pathway to decoupling economic growth from carbon emissions and waste generation. Meaningful climate action that accelerates our journey to the letter and spirit of the Paris Agreement simply cannot be reached without an economic embrace of circularity. With more than 1,400 in attendance, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee shared his view that the circular economy "is really the economy of everything" and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell echoed this sentiment, highlighting how circularity serves as a unifying force across cultures while simultaneously safeguarding the planet and driving economic growth.
Yet we cannot underestimate the challenge ahead. One keynote presentation referred to an OECD estimate suggesting that eliminating plastic leakage into the environment would require a staggering $3.4 trillion investment. And, cleaning up existing plastic pollution exponentially increases this figure. You can read more about this issue here.
Louisiana community leaders from "Cancer Alley" argued passionately that we need to stop talking past underserved communities who bear the greatest burden of the impacts of plastic pollution. They passionately argued that we need to stop using terms like "negative externalities" and "linear systems" and instead urged us to speak plainly and break down complex concepts to facilitate understanding and engagement.
And – there is global action in the works as 175 nations have agreed to develop a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024. But we need corporate action today. The beauty of Circular Business Models is that they hold the promise for economic solutions to the toughest, transboundary, intersectional problems we face.
In this sense, I echo the sentiments of Governor Inslee and Mayor Harrell—we are indeed discussing the economy as a whole, and circularity provides a unique opportunity to connect people from diverse cultures, communities, geographies, and backgrounds.
Thank you to GreenBiz Group for hosting an insightful and impactful Circularity event in the Pacific Northwest!
