Community session: Circular economy and global value chains

This session is curated and supported by Circular Economy Solutions Dialogues (GIZ). In the past two decades of globalization, urbanization and infrastructure development, the development of global value and supply chains (GVCs) has created a fine-meshed net of linear interdependencies spanning across the planet. This has become particularly visible in times of crises. The pandemic has disrupted global supply chain flows in all sectors from medical supplies to raw materials, wearable consumer goods to electronical materials, etc. Embedding circularity in value chains yields massive positive effects on low carbon trajectories. On the contrary, mounting risks of trade tensions between manufacturing and consuming nations, producers and brand owners, hinders the development of circular economy when it would be needed the most. Multi-angle solutions are the only way forward. The session will gather thought leaders from business, institutions, think tanks and civil society to discuss effective solutions and practical recommendations to be implemented in the context of coordinated G20/G7 initiatives towards a sustainable global recovery.