An Evaluation of the Transition from Linear Economy to Circular Economy

*Orhan Özçatalbaş*

### **Abstract**

The agriculture sector and food industry have always been essential sectors of the economy and countries. Factors such as limited resources in the face of a growing population as well as climate change and even the COVID-19 pandemic, and between Russia with Ukraine conflict have maximized the strategic importance of the agro-food industry on a global scale. Since it is a global issue affecting almost every country adversely, especially the fight against climate change requires institutional establishment of international cooperation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the current dynamics of existing economic theories and economic models, highlighting the transition from linear economy to circular economies. To do this, the concept of the circular economy and the economy is discussed in relation to the SDGs to better understand the problem. To evaluate the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy, again, the sustainability publications were searched using bibliometric methods. Mostly four concepts related to sustainability, sustainability and rural development, circular economy, and green economy were analyzed by using VOSviewer software. These four concepts are closely associated with sustainability.

**Keywords:** sustainability, linear economy, green economy, green deal, circular economy

### **1. Introduction**

With its vital functions for humanity, the agro-food industry has always been an essential sector of the economy. Factors such as limited resources in the face of a growing population as well as climate change and even the COVID-19 pandemic have maximized strategic importance to the agricultural industry on a global scale, thus the sustainability of development and rural life.

Sustainability stands out as a concept whose frequency of use is constantly increasing in academic literature and socioeconomic life and which remains to be one of the major agenda items because it represents an important approach to the future of the world, humanity, and the ecosystem. With its respective methodology in almost all fields, sustainability has been considered a go-to approach for the earth.

International agreements based on sustainability have been concluded in order to leave a habitable planet to future generations, given the adverse impact of the global

climate change. In this context, in September 2000, the United Nations announced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) consisting of eight items, highlighting "eradication of extreme poverty and hunger" as the first goal. The remaining seven goals are as follows: promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development [1].

Later, the Millennium Development Goals were restructured in 2015, increasing the number of goals to 17. The first two goals among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) announced by the UN in 2015 are no poverty and zero hunger. The SDGs went into effect in January 2016 and will guide UNDP's policies and financing until 2030. UNDP, the leading development agency of the United Nations, represents a crucial potential for the implementation of these goals as it carries out its operations in more than 170 countries and regions. Although sustainability has not dominated all sectors in all of the 17 goals of the UN, efforts are underway to be successful at the international level. In particular, some important studies and applications need to be carried out in the field of combating inequality and injustice, especially to "eradicate extreme poverty (no poverty and zero hunger)" on a global scale. Note that the sustainability of rural life and production in rural areas, which is still of vital importance for food production, and thus the increase in welfare in rural areas remain to be major political agenda items [2]. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) needs the involvement of governments, the private sector, civil society, and citizens. However, unfortunately, it seems that it will not be possible to achieve these goals until 2030 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is clear that it concerns all countries and industries. Therefore, it is no doubt that it would be appropriate to relate the SDGs to the current realities of sustainable development.

### **2. Development, climate change, and agricultural policies**

The position of communities in the development process can be defined to a significant extent by sociocultural, environmental, and economic indicators. Undoubtedly, the initial phase of the social and economic development of humanity was dominated by rural and agricultural production. The transition from this initial phase, namely, agrarian society, to industrial society was not easy, whereas the transition from industrial society to information society has been far more complicated. The transition from agrarian society to industrial society began in the second half of the 18th century when the steam engine was invented and started to be used as a source of energy. Therefore, in the last two centuries, there has been a rapid industrialization process with the use of electrical energy in all fields, including agriculture, following the advent of new inventions, especially steam-powered machines that convert potential energy into kinetic energy [3].

This process has led to great changes in the settlement areas of the communities around the world, particularly in developed industrial societies. Skyrocketing population growth has brought with it urbanization and new economic activities, resulting in alteration and diversification of consumption patterns. This, in turn, has increased the pressure on the environment and natural resources and the rapid development process has led to new social and environmental challenges.

Even the projections for the world population keeping on rising and reaching 10 billion by 2050 entail expansion of food production on a global scale. According

#### *An Evaluation of the Transition from Linear Economy to Circular Economy DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107980*

to the estimations of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the global demand for food needs to be increased by 70% by 2050. Hence, would require raising overall food production by some 70% between 2005/2007 and 2050 [4] related another study; the total global food demand is expected to increase by 35 to 56% between 2010 and 2050, while the population at risk of hunger is expected to change by −91 to +8% over the same period. Moreover, if climate change is taken into account, the ranges change slightly (+30 to +62% for total food demand and − 91 to +30% for the population at risk of hunger) but with no statistical differences overall [5]. As shown, the anticipated changes will be so great that they will affect the settlements, lifestyles, and production and consumption systems.

The fact that all these challenges threaten human life and our planet at a global scale and the threats of climate change and global warming have made the agricultural industry central to life and production sectors. Considering it from the perspective of climate change, it is expected that global warming will lead to global temperature increases every year, resulting in extinction of one quarter of (or more than 1 million) plant and animal species [6] by 2050. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, each country will be affected by global climate change at varying levels [7]. This is why the issue of global warming has been addressed not only conceptually, but also concretely by governments, economic sectors, and communities. In this context, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1990, through which the signatory countries agreed to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases [8].

Considering the climate change projections, the risks posed by global climate change entail measures for increasing production and productivity in the face of population growth as well as the development of novel technologies and production systems based on adaptation to increases in temperature [3]. In this framework, R&D and technology policies and research and extension (R&E) policies need to be highlighted.

As is known, worldwide experience shows that new technologies have been the driver of social and economic development. As shown in **Figure 1**, "Cumulative Adoption of Technology" refers to the sum of all countries. Generally speaking, countries compete to take, use and utilize the technology by their own means (locally) or under the influence of international scientific research. Naturally, countries' ability to produce technology and adoption of innovations lead to faster utilization of the positive effects of such technologies, but not all countries have the capacity to develop and transfer from outside and uphold the technologies they need [9]. Therefore, it is necessary to define a new approach in which the technologies produced for climate change are considered, in a sense, the "common property of humanity" for countries that are unable to produce or transfer technology and have no means to compete with others. It is a fact that the creation of such a culture of sharing will serve all of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the UN. So, in order to reduce the effects of climate change, which is a global threat to the earth, it will be important that the UN develops a mechanism that will ensure the exchange of existing and new technologies to be developed among countries, regardless of their ability to produce technology.

It is clear that the global climate change will disrupt the current balances, resulting in adverse impacts on the sustainability of agro-food industry and rural development. Hence, the UN specifically addresses this issue in its SDG 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts) and highlights SDG 17 (Partnerships for the

**Figure 1.** *Processes and factors determining the direction of change in development and technology.*

goals: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development) as a solution [2]. Since it is a global issue affecting almost every country adversely, the fight against climate change requires institutional establishment of international cooperation.
