The circular economy offers countries a practical route to tackling biodiversity loss at its source and meeting biodiversity goals
Take, make, waste – this linear model epitomises today’s economy. While it may have underpinned economic development to date, it’s also pushed nature beyond its limits. Over 90% of the world’s land-related biodiversity loss and water stress, and a third of greenhouse gas emissions, stem from how we extract and process food, timber, bioenergy, fisheries, and other biomass.
To halt and reverse biodiversity loss, 196 states adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), calling for urgent action and a shift in how economies interact with nature.
This policy brief outlines how the circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. can help accelerate that shift and how countries can integrate it into their biodiversity plans.
Harnessing the circular economy for biodiversity
The GBF is implemented through National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), which most countries have submitted. These plans have flexibility in how the GBF’s 23 targets are delivered.
Despite its potential, the circular economy is missing from most NBSAPs and national targets. Only 25% of countries mention it, and even then most focus narrowly on plastics and waste. High-impact opportunities in sectors like agriculture, food, and the built environment remain largely untapped.
By keeping existing products and materials in use, eliminating waste and pollution, and regenerating ecosystems, the circular economy can support all 23 GBF targets, from embedding biodiversity into sectoral decision-making to shifting consumption patterns and reforming incentives and finance.
Circular strategies also unlock major economic value. In the EU alone, circular business models such as repair, resale, rental, and remaking could be worth over half a trillion euros annually by 2035, while easing pressure on land and water ecosystems.
The brief includes a target-by-target analysis showing how circular strategies support all targets, triggering cascading benefits across the rest of the framework.
Policy recommendations
As governments implement their NBSAPs, the brief urges them to:
Time to act
With the next national reports due in early 2026 and COP17 happening later that year, countries still have time to act. Integrating circular strategies now can help scale nature-positive outcomes and ensure the GBF succeeds where previous efforts have failed.
