Abstract
The circular economy (CE) has been proposed as a potentially significant catalyst to enhance the current response to the global climate crisis. The objective of this study was to investigate the scientific literature of the research between climate change and CE adopting a knowledge mapping approach. Based on a total of 789 peer-reviewed publications extracted from Scopus, we found that research on climate change and CE is continually growing and interdisciplinary in nature. Europe notably leads scientific production. Keyword evolution shows that CE has been influenced by more lines of research than climate change. We also found that waste management is the CE approach most associated with climate change, mitigation is the climate action most impacted by CE, and food is the most reported greenhouse gas (GHG)-emitting material. However, there are knowledge gaps in the integration of the social dimension, the promotion of climate change adaptation, and the association of sustainable development goal (SDG) 13. Finally, we identified four potentially valuable directions for future studies: (i) CE practices, (ii) bioeconomy, (iii) climate and energy, and (iv) sustainability and natural resources, in which carbon recovery technologies, green materials, regional supply chains, circular agriculture models, and nature-based solutions are promising themes.
Highlights
Climate change is emerging as the most severe challenge facing our planet during the 21st century and requires efforts from science, decision makers in the public sector, and society [1]
This study contributes to shuttering the gap in the literature on synergistic climate change and circular economy (CE) interventions in two ways
The study presents an overview of this research field by describing the most relevant countries, institutions, authors, financial sponsors, journals, and publications that allows them to be shown as references
Summary
Climate change is emerging as the most severe challenge facing our planet during the 21st century and requires efforts from science, decision makers in the public sector, and society [1]. The growth in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 continued at a rate of 1.1%, reaching 57.4 GtCO2 equivalents per unit [3]. This amount was 59% higher than in 1990 and 44% higher than in 2000, where the three regions with the largest GHG emissions were China (27%), the United States (13%), and the European Union (8%). The human activity that generates the most concern is the industrial one with its CO2 emissions [4]. Industry is a vital human activity of any economy that has traditionally had an extractive character based on the ‘takemake-waste’ system [5]. The growing economies of countries are increasingly demanding industrial commodities and materials such as aluminum, cement, steel, and plastics to Sustainability 2022, 14, 521.
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