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Pressures around land use are emerging as one of the defining environmental challenges of modern times as competition for productive and ecologically valuable land intensifies.

The global economy’s thirst for water – a finite but underpriced and undervalued resource – is growing, as water-intensive products cross borders in ever greater volumes.

Biomass – crops and forestry products for food, energy, materials and industry – faces rising demand, making sustainable production, use and preservation essential to resilient economies and ecosystems.

Demand for the critical raw materials (CRMs) essential to low-carbon energy and digital technology is growing fast, driving risks to supply security, geopolitical dependency, price volatility, and environmental and social harm.

Climate change is emerging as one of the defining challenges of modern times as rising temperatures and extreme weather events disrupt economies, infrastructure and ecosystems, accelerating the need for mitigation, adaptation and resilient policies to support the transition.

Biodiversity loss, driven by habitat destruction, climate change, pollution and resource overuse, threatens essential ecosystem services such as food production, clean water, climate regulation and resilience to environmental shocks.

Pollution results from excessive production, consumption and poor waste management, contaminating land and oceans, harming wildlife, disrupting ecosystems and creating long-term environmental and human health risks.

A circular economy promotes resilience by eliminating waste, reusing materials and regenerating nature. Despite major economic and environmental benefits, adoption remains challenged by resource nationalism, inequality and policy trade-offs.

Trade is redistributing the world’s natural resources and products dependent on them faster, and more widely, than ever – spreading benefits and harms, and deepening dependencies, systemic risks and geopolitical entanglements.

The transition to low-carbon energy is advancing unevenly but rapidly, driven by emissions reduction imperatives, energy security concerns and economic opportunity.
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Eilis Lawlor

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How to finance the transition to a circular economy
Circular economy Finance

How to finance the transition to a circular economy
- Patrick Schröder & Eilis Lawlor, 19 July 2021
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