DIF: Measure the circular economy

The UN’s goal to deliver sustainable production and consumption requires a drastic transformation of current business models – can the green economy deliver?  Humans used more resources than nature was able to replenish inside one year for the first time back in 1970. Since then, the date that Earth’s biocapacity is breached – dubbed “Earth overshoot day” has crept forward each year. This year, it fell on 29 July.  Loss of natural resources on a mass scale have grabbed headlines, making the sight of Australian towns with no more than six months’ of water left or raging forest fires across swathes Latin America a regular feature in the world’s news bulletins. Meanwhile, plastic waste has reached every corner of the planet, seeping into insects and animals, snowfall, and even drinking water supplies, tarnishing everywhere from the peaks of the Himalayas to the depths of the Mariana Trench.