School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Jul 20;727:138602. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138602. Epub 2020 Apr 13.
This discussion paper explores the relationship between biodiversity and the circular economy and the potential implications of this relationship. The circular economy has emerged as an alternative model to a traditional linear economy. It aims to tackle the resource exploitation that accompanies a linear economy and decouple economic growth from reliance on primary resources. In the face of global environmental degradation and an urgent need for change, the concept has become popular around the world and has led to the release of national policies and strategies on the circular economy. Problematically, while the basic concept is clear, it is ambiguous in how it will achieve some of its objectives, and it fails to address some key issues. In light of the accelerating rate of change, precipitous biodiversity decline is one such key issue. Through a content analysis of relevant circular economy publications, authors demonstrate that biodiversity protection is rarely mentioned in theory and policy. While the circular economy holds many benefits for society, its evasion of scrutiny has prevented it from manifesting in a comprehensive solution to environmental issues. The circular economy advocates for biomimicry, ecosystem service valuation, bioeconomy, and renewable energy. Each of these, however, has its own set of conflicts with biodiversity protection. Given the imminent need to protect biodiversity, the authors call for further research on the interaction between biodiversity and the circular economy, and for circular economy advocates to explicitly acknowledge the concept's limitations, thereby revealing the need for intersectional and complementary policies which aim to protect biodiversity.
这篇讨论文件探讨了生物多样性与循环经济之间的关系以及这种关系的潜在影响。循环经济作为一种替代传统线性经济的模式已经出现。它旨在解决伴随线性经济而来的资源开发问题，并使经济增长与对初级资源的依赖脱钩。在全球环境退化和迫切需要变革的背景下，这一概念在全球范围内得到了广泛关注，并导致各国出台了循环经济方面的政策和战略。但问题在于，尽管基本概念明确，但它在实现某些目标的方式上并不明确，并且未能解决一些关键问题。鉴于变化的加速，生物多样性的迅速减少就是一个这样的关键问题。通过对相关循环经济文献的内容分析，作者表明，生物多样性保护在理论和政策中很少被提及。虽然循环经济对社会有许多好处，但它逃避了审查，因此无法成为解决环境问题的全面解决方案。循环经济提倡仿生学、生态系统服务评估、生物经济和可再生能源。然而，每一种都有其与生物多样性保护相冲突的一面。鉴于保护生物多样性的迫切需要，作者呼吁进一步研究生物多样性与循环经济之间的相互作用，并呼吁循环经济倡导者明确承认该概念的局限性，从而揭示需要交叉和互补的政策来保护生物多样性。
