IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i7p3991-d781430.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Relevance of the Circular Economy for Climate Change: An Exploration through the Theory of Change Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Manav Khanna

    (Institute of Management, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, 56127 Pisa, Italy)

  • Natalia Marzia Gusmerotti

    (Institute of Management, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, 56127 Pisa, Italy
    Department of Management and Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy)

  • Marco Frey

    (Institute of Management, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, 56127 Pisa, Italy)

Abstract

The relevance of the circular economy for climate change is still a developing area of research that needs to be explored. This paper aims to provide an overview of the relevance of the circular economy for climate change through the theory of change approach framework. For this purpose, we analysed 96 articles from the Scopus and WoS databases in the “Arts and Humanities, Business, Management and Accounting, Economics, Econometrics and Finance and Social Sciences,” with the keywords “Circular economy” and “Climate Change”. Our analysis shows that 87% of the reviewed articles showed a strong relevance of the circular economy for climate change. However, most of the articles focused on the mitigation aspect of climate change. The circular economy is widely practised in countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, and China. Our main theoretical contribution is in developing a logical framework through the theory of change, which is a novel approach in social science research apart from monitoring and evaluation studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Manav Khanna & Natalia Marzia Gusmerotti & Marco Frey, 2022. "The Relevance of the Circular Economy for Climate Change: An Exploration through the Theory of Change Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:3991-:d:781430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/3991/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/3991/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Horbach, Jens & Rammer, Christian & Rennings, Klaus, 2012. "Determinants of eco-innovations by type of environmental impact — The role of regulatory push/pull, technology push and market pull," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 112-122.
    2. Mario Pianta & Matteo Lucchese, 2020. "Rethinking the European Green Deal," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 633-641, December.
    3. Fenna Blomsma & Geraldine Brennan, 2017. "The Emergence of Circular Economy: A New Framing Around Prolonging Resource Productivity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 603-614, June.
    4. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    5. Andrew Jordan & Tim Rayner & Heike Schroeder & Neil Adger & Kevin Anderson & Alice Bows & Corinne Le Qu�r� & Manoj Joshi & Sarah Mander & Nem Vaughan & Lorraine Whitmarsh, 2013. "Going beyond two degrees? The risks and opportunities of alternative options," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(6), pages 751-769, November.
    6. Walter R. Stahel, 2016. "The circular economy," Nature, Nature, vol. 531(7595), pages 435-438, March.
    7. Triguero, Angela & Moreno-Mondéjar, Lourdes & Davia, María A., 2013. "Drivers of different types of eco-innovation in European SMEs," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 25-33.
    8. Grégory Claeys & Simone Tagliapietra & Georg Zachmann, 2019. "How to make the European Green Deal work," Policy Contributions 33125, Bruegel.
    9. Pavel Tcvetkov, 2021. "Climate Policy Imbalance in the Energy Sector: Time to Focus on the Value of CO 2 Utilization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-22, January.
    10. Nasir, Mohammed Haneef Abdul & Genovese, Andrea & Acquaye, Adolf A. & Koh, S.C.L. & Yamoah, Fred, 2017. "Comparing linear and circular supply chains: A case study from the construction industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(PB), pages 443-457.
    11. M. Sharmina & O. Y. Edelenbosch & C. Wilson & R. Freeman & D. E. H. J. Gernaat & P. Gilbert & A. Larkin & E. W. Littleton & M. Traut & D. P. van Vuuren & N. E. Vaughan & F. R. Wood & C. Le Quéré, 2021. "Decarbonising the critical sectors of aviation, shipping, road freight and industry to limit warming to 1.5–2°C," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 455-474, April.
    12. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
    13. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    14. Marina P. P. Pieroni & Tim C. McAloone & Daniela C. A. Pigosso, 2019. "Configuring New Business Models for Circular Economy through Product–Service Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-22, July.
    15. Patrick Schroeder & Kartika Anggraeni & Uwe Weber, 2019. "The Relevance of Circular Economy Practices to the Sustainable Development Goals," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 77-95, February.
    16. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    17. Loet Leydesdorff & Henry Etzkowitz, 1998. "The Triple Helix as a model for innovation studies," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 195-203, June.
    18. Rizos, Vasileios & Egenhofer, Christian & Elkerbout, Milan, 2019. "Circular economy for climate neutrality: Setting the priorities for the EU," CEPS Papers 25584, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    19. Homi Kharas, 2010. "The Emerging Middle Class in Developing Countries," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 285, OECD Publishing.
    20. Su, Chang & Urban, Frauke, 2021. "Circular economy for clean energy transitions: A new opportunity under the COVID-19 pandemic," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    21. Jeff Tollefson, 2018. "IPCC says limiting global warming to 1.5 °C will require drastic action," Nature, Nature, vol. 562(7726), pages 172-173, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Faten Derouez & Adel Ifa & Abdullah Al Shammre, 2024. "Energy Transition and Poverty Alleviation in Light of Environmental and Economic Challenges: A Comparative Study in China and the European Union Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-25, May.
    2. Iordanis Eleftheriadis & Evgenia Anagnostopoulou, 2024. "Developing a Tool for Calculating the Carbon Footprint in SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-23, February.
    3. Bhavesh Kumar & Love Kumar & Avinash Kumar & Ramna Kumari & Uroosa Tagar & Claudio Sassanelli, 2024. "Green finance in circular economy: a literature review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 16419-16459, July.
    4. Ashish Dwivedi & Claudio Sassanelli & Dindayal Agrawal & Md. Abdul Moktadir & Idiano D'Adamo, 2023. "Drivers to mitigate climate change in context of manufacturing industry: An emerging economy study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4467-4484, November.
    5. John Vakros & Evroula Hapeshi & Catia Cannilla & Giuseppe Bonura, 2023. "Synthesis, Characterization and Performance of Materials for a Sustainable Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-3, December.
    6. Yasanur Kayikci & Nazlican Gozacan‐Chase & Abderahman Rejeb, 2024. "Blockchain entrepreneurship roles for circular supply chain transition," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 197-222, February.
    7. Caitriona Corr & Niamh Murphy & Barry Lambe, 2023. "Harnessing Systems Science and Co-Creation Techniques to Develop a Theory of Change towards Sustainable Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-22, October.
    8. Manav Khanna & Tiberio Daddi & Federico Merlo & Fabio Iraldo, 2024. "An Assessment on the Carbon Footprint of a Football Club—an Action Research from Theory to Practice," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1587-1612, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Dey, Prasanta Kumar & Malesios, Chrysovalantis & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Saha, Krishnendu & Budhwar, Pawan & De, Debashree, 2022. "Adoption of circular economy practices in small and medium-sized enterprises: Evidence from Europe," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    3. German Arana‐Landin & Waleska Sigüenza & Beñat Landeta‐Manzano & Iker Laskurain‐Iturbe, 2024. "Circular economy: On the road to ISO 59000 family of standards," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1977-2009, May.
    4. Concepción Garcés-Ayerbe & Pilar Rivera-Torres & Inés Suárez-Perales & Dante I. Leyva-de la Hiz, 2019. "Is It Possible to Change from a Linear to a Circular Economy? An Overview of Opportunities and Barriers for European Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Companies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, March.
    5. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    6. Doussoulin, Jean Pierre & Bittencourt, Mariana, 2022. "How effective is the construction sector in promoting the circular economy in Brazil and France? : A waste input-output analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 47-58.
    7. Daniel Holzer & Claudia Mair-Bauernfeind & Michael Kriechbaum & Romana Rauter & Tobias Stern, 2023. "Different but the Same? Comparing Drivers and Barriers for Circular Economy Innovation Systems in Wood- and Plastic-Based Industries," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 983-1011, June.
    8. Anna M. Walker & Katelin Opferkuch & Erik Roos Lindgreen & Andrea Raggi & Alberto Simboli & Walter J.V. Vermeulen & Sandra Caeiro & Roberta Salomone, 2022. "What Is the Relation between Circular Economy and Sustainability? Answers from Frontrunner Companies Engaged with Circular Economy Practices," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 731-758, June.
    9. Nudurupati, Sai Sudhakar & Budhwar, Pawan & Pappu, Raja Phani & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Kondala, Mukesh & Chakraborty, Ayon & Ghosh, Sadhan Kumar, 2022. "Transforming sustainability of Indian small and medium-sized enterprises through circular economy adoption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 250-269.
    10. D. D’Amato, 2021. "Sustainability Narratives as Transformative Solution Pathways: Zooming in on the Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 231-242, June.
    11. Antonioli, Davide & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2017. "Towards a green economy through innovations: The role of trade union involvement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 286-299.
    12. Ying, Ying & Wang, Shixiang & Liu, Yang, 2022. "Make bricks without straw: Eco-innovation for resource-constrained firms in emerging markets," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    13. João Leitão & Sónia de Brito & Serena Cubico, 2019. "Eco-Innovation Influencers: Unveiling the Role of Lean Management Principles Adoption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-27, April.
    14. Gotsch, Matthias & Kelnhofer, Anton & Jäger, Angela, 2019. "Environmental product innovations and the digital transformation of production: Analysing the influence that digitalising production has on generating environmental product innovations," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S07/2019, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    15. Alejandro Aristi Capetillo & Fredric Bauer & Cristina Chaminade, 2023. "Emerging Technologies Supporting the Transition to a Circular Economy in the Plastic Materials Value Chain," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 953-982, June.
    16. Faria, Lourenço Galvão Diniz & Andersen, Maj Munch, 2017. "Sectoral patterns versus firm-level heterogeneity - The dynamics of eco-innovation strategies in the automotive sector," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 266-281.
    17. Dewick, Paul & Maytorena-Sanchez, Eunice & Winch, Graham, 2019. "Regulation and regenerative eco-innovation: the case of extracted materials in the UK," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 38-51.
    18. Qiong Yao & Suzhen Zeng & Shibin Sheng & Shiyuan Gong, 2021. "Green innovation and brand equity: moderating effects of industrial institutions," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 573-602, June.
    19. Ha, Le Thanh & Nam, Pham Xuan & Thanh, To Trung, 2021. "Effects of Bribery on Firms' Environmental Innovation Adoption in Vietnam: Mediating Roles of Firms' Bargaining Power and Credit and Institutional Constraints," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    20. Andrea Cecchin & Roberta Salomone & Pauline Deutz & Andrea Raggi & Laura Cutaia, 2021. "What Is in a Name? The Rising Star of the Circular Economy as a Resource-Related Concept for Sustainable Development," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 83-97, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:7:p:3991-:d:781430. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.