Hacia una circularidad justa y sostenible: Una aproximación a la economía circular desde la economía ecológica y la ecología política
Resumen
Desde principios del siglo XXI, la economía circular ha ganado cada vez más importancia en la agenda política europea. En la actualidad, se presenta como una solución económica ideal para abordar la crisis ecológica y promover el bienestar social. Sin embargo, en los últimos años han aparecido numerosas voces críticas provenientes de campos como la economía ecológica y la ecología política. En este artículo reviso las principales críticas asociadas a la idea de una economía circular basada en la premisa de crecimiento verde. Posteriormente, presento algunas sugerencias teóricas y prácticas para transitar hacia una circularidad compatible con sistemas económicos justos y sostenibles. La tesis que defiendo aquí es que la noción de economía circular ha abierto una brecha en el marco neoliberal capitalista que puede favorecer a la transición eco-social. Para ello, es fundamental desligar la circularidad de la construcción social de anteponer el crecimiento económico a otras cuestiones sociales y ambientales. Solamente a partir de la emergencia de nuevas lógicas e instituciones fuera del marco capitalista será posible diseñar una circularidad justa y verdaderamente sostenible.
Palabras clave
Referencias
Alcott, B. (2005). Jevons’ paradox. Ecological Economics, 54(1), 9-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.03.020
Andersen, M. S. (2007). An introductory note on the environmental economics of the circular economy. Sustainability Science, 2(1), Art. 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-006-0013-6
Armstrong McKay, D. I., Staal, A., Abrams, J. F., Winkelmann, R., Sakschewski, B., Loriani, S., Fetzer, I., Cornell, S. E., Rockström, J., & Lenton, T. M. (2022). Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points. Science, 377(6611), eabn7950. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn7950
Bimpizas-Pinis, M., Bozhinovska, E., Genovese, A., Lowe, B., Pansera, M., Alberich, J. P., & Ramezankhani, M. J. (2021). Is efficiency enough for circular economy? Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 167, 105399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105399
Bocken, N. M. P., Niessen, L., & Short, S. W. (2022). The Sufficiency-Based Circular Economy—An Analysis of 150 Companies. Frontiers in Sustainability, 3. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frsus.2022.899289
Calisto Friant, M., Vermeulen, W. J. V., & Salomone, R. (2020). A typology of circular economy discourses: Navigating the diverse visions of a contested paradigm. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 161, 104917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104917
CCICED. (2008). Circular Economy Promotion Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Chen, C.-W. (2021). Clarifying rebound effects of the circular economy in the context of sustainable cities. Sustainable Cities and Society, 66, 102622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102622
Cosme, I., Santos, R., & O’Neill, D. W. (2017). Assessing the degrowth discourse: A review and analysis of academic degrowth policy proposals. Journal of Cleaner Production, 149, 321-334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.02.016
Daly, H. E. (1990). Toward some operational principles of sustainable development. Ecological Economics, 2(1990), Art. 1990. https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8009(90)90010-R
Daly, H. E. (2013). A further critique of growth economics. Ecological Economics, 88, 20-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.01.007
EC. (2020). A new Circular Economy Action Plan For a cleaner and more competitive Europe. European Commission.
European Environment Agency. (2016). Circular economy in Europe: Developing the knowledge base. Publications Office. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2800/51444
Figge, F., & Thorpe, A. S. (2019). The symbiotic rebound effect in the circular economy. Ecological Economics, 163, 61-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.04.028
Fitzpatrick, N., Parrique, T., & Cosme, I. (2022). Exploring degrowth policy proposals: A systematic mapping with thematic synthesis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 365, 132764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132764
Folke, C., Carpenter, S. R., Walker, B., Scheffer, M., Chapin, T., & Rockström, J. (2010). Resilience Thinking: Integrating Resilience, Adaptability and Transformability. Ecology and Society, 15(4), Art. 4. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-03610-150420
Gaffney, O., & Steffen, W. (2017). The Anthropocene equation. The Anthropocene Review, 4(1), 53-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053019616688022
Geng, Y., & Doberstein, B. (2008). Developing the circular economy in China: Challenges and opportunities for achieving «leapfrog development». International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 15(3), Art. 3. https://doi.org/10.3843/SusDev.15.3:6
Genovese, A., Acquaye, A. A., Figueroa, A., & Koh, S. C. L. (2017). Sustainable supply chain management and the transition towards a circular economy: Evidence and some applications. Omega, 66, 344-357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2015.05.015
Genovese, A., & Pansera, M. (2021). The Circular Economy at a Crossroads: Technocratic Eco-Modernism or Convivial Technology for Social Revolution? Capitalism Nature Socialism, 32(2), 95-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/10455752.2020.1763414
Georgescu-Roegen, N. (1971). The Entropy Law and the Economic Process. Harvard University Press.
Georgescu-Roegen, N. (1975). Energy and Economic Myths. Southern Economic Journal, 41(3), 347-381. https://doi.org/10.2307/1056148
Ghisellini, P., Cialani, C., & Ulgiati, S. (2016). A review on circular economy: The expected transition to a balanced interplay of environmental and economic systems. Journal of Cleaner Production, 114, 11-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.007
Giampietro, M. (2023). Reflections on the popularity of the circular bioeconomy concept: The ontological crisis of sustainability science. Sustainability Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01267-z
Giampietro, M., & Funtowicz, S. O. (2020). From elite folk science to the policy legend of the circular economy. Environmental Science & Policy, 109, 64-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.04.012
Glucina, M. D., & Mayumi, K. (2010). Connecting thermodynamics and economics. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1185(1), 11-29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05166.x
Gough, I. (2010). Economic crisis, climate change and the future of welfare states. Twenty-First Century Society, 5(1), 51-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450140903484049
Gregson, N., Crang, M., Fuller, S., & Holmes, H. (2015). Interrogating the circular economy: The moral economy of resource recovery in the EU. Economy and Society, 44(2), Art. 2. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2015.1013353
Haas, W., Krausmann, F., Wiedenhofer, D., & Heinz, M. (2015). How Circular is the Global Economy?: An Assessment of Material Flows, Waste Production, and Recycling in the European Union and the World in 2005. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 19(5), 765-777. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12244
Harvey, D. (2018). The Limits to Capital. Verso Books.
Hickel, J., & Kallis, G. (2019). Is Green Growth Possible? New Political Economy, 25(4), 469-486. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2019.1598964
Hirsch, F. (1976). Social limits to growth. Harvard University Press.
Hobson, K., & Lynch, N. (2016). Diversifying and de-growing the circular economy: Radical social transformation in a resource-scarce world. Futures, 82, 15-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2016.05.012
Howson, P. (2021). Distributed degrowth technology: Challenges for blockchain beyond the green economy. Ecological Economics, 184, 107020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107020
Huang, B., Xing, K., Pullen, S., Liao, L., & Huang, K. (2020). Ecological–economic assessment of renewable energy deployment in sustainable built environment. Renewable Energy, 161, 1328-1340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.08.004
Janssen, M., & van der Voort, H. (2020). Agile and adaptive governance in crisis response: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Information Management, 55, 102180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102180
Jarvis, H. (2019). Sharing, togetherness and intentional degrowth. Progress in Human Geography, 43(2), 256-275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132517746519
Jasanoff, S. (2007). Technologies of humility. Nature, 450(7166), Art. 7166. https://doi.org/10.1038/450033a
Jasanoff, S. (2018). Just transitions: A humble approach to global energy futures. Energy Research & Social Science, 35, 11-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.11.025
Jasanoff, S. (2021). Knowledge for a just climate. Climatic Change, 169(3-4), 36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03275-x
Kalmykova, Y., Sadagopan, M., & Rosado, L. (2018). Circular economy – From review of theories and practices to development of implementation tools. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 135, 190-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.10.034
Kemp, L., Xu, C., Depledge, J., Ebi, K. L., Gibbins, G., Kohler, T. A., Rockström, J., Scheffer, M., Schellnhuber, H. J., Steffen, W., & Lenton, T. M. (2022). Climate Endgame: Exploring catastrophic climate change scenarios. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(34), e2108146119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2108146119
Kirchherr, J. (2021). Towards circular justice: A proposition. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 173, 105712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105712
Kirchherr, J., Reike, D., & Hekkert, M. (2017). Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 127, 221-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.005
Korhonen, J., Honkasalo, A., & Seppälä, J. (2018). Circular Economy: The Concept and its Limitations. Ecological Economics, 143, 37-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.06.041
Korhonen, J., Nuur, C., Feldmann, A., & Birkie, S. E. (2018). Circular economy as an essentially contested concept. Journal of Cleaner Production, 175, 544-552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.111
Loiseau, E., Saikku, L., Antikainen, R., Droste, N., Hansjürgens, B., Pitkänen, K., Leskinen, P., Kuikman, P., & Thomsen, M. (2016). Green economy and related concepts: An overview. Journal of Cleaner Production, 139, 361-371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.08.024
Martínez-Alier, J. (2012). Environmental Justice and Economic Degrowth: An Alliance between Two Movements. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 23(1), 51-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/10455752.2011.648839
Mayumi, K., & Giampietro, M. (2019). Reconsidering “Circular Economy” in Terms of Irreversible Evolution of Economic Activity and Interplay between Technosphere and Biosphere. Romanian Journal for Economic Forecasting, XXII(2), 196-206.
McDowall, W., Geng, Y., Huang, B., Barteková, E., Bleischwitz, R., Türkeli, S., Kemp, R., & Doménech, T. (2017). Circular Economy Policies in China and Europe: Circular Economy Policies in China and Europe. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), Art. 3. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12597
Niskanen, J., & McLaren, D. (2021). The Political Economy of Circular Economies: Lessons from Future Repair Scenario Deliberations in Sweden. Circular Economy and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00128-8
Pansera, M., Genovese, A., & Ripa, M. (2021). Politicising Circular Economy: What can we learn from Responsible Innovation? Journal of Responsible Innovation, 0(0), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2021.1923315
Perman, R., & Perman, R. (Eds.). (2011). Natural resource and environmental economics (4th ed). Pearson Addison Wesley.
Pirgmaier, E. (2017). The Neoclassical Trojan Horse of Steady-State Economics. Ecological Economics, 133, 52-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.11.010
Rachidi, N. R., Nwaila, G. T., Zhang, S. E., Bourdeau, J. E., & Ghorbani, Y. (2021). Assessing cobalt supply sustainability through production forecasting and implications for green energy policies. Resources Policy, 74, 102423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102423
Rocha, J. C., Peterson, G., Bodin, Ö., & Levin, S. (2018). Cascading regime shifts within and across scales. Science, 362(2018), Art. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat7850
Saavedra, Y. M. B., Iritani, D. R., Pavan, A. L. R., & Ometto, A. R. (2018). Theoretical contribution of industrial ecology to circular economy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 170, 1514-1522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.260
Schlosberg, D. (2004). Reconceiving Environmental Justice: Global Movements And Political Theories. Environmental Politics, 13(3), 517-540. https://doi.org/10.1080/0964401042000229025
Schlosberg, D., & Collins, L. B. (2014). From environmental to climate justice: Climate change and the discourse of environmental justice. WIREs Climate Change, 5(3), 359-374. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.275
Schroeder, P., Anggraeni, K., & Weber, U. (2019). The Relevance of Circular Economy Practices to the Sustainable Development Goals. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 23(1), Art. 1. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12732
Sorrell, S. (2009). Jevons’ Paradox revisited: The evidence for backfire from improved energy efficiency. Energy Policy, 37(4), 1456-1469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2008.12.003
Steffen, W., Broadgate, W., Deutsch, L., Gaffney, O., & Ludwig, C. (2015). The trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration. The Anthropocene Review, 2(1), Art. 1. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053019614564785
Steinberger, J. K., & Roberts, J. T. (2010). From constraint to sufficiency: The decoupling of energy and carbon from human needs, 1975–2005. Ecological Economics, 70(2), 425-433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.09.014
Suárez-Eiroa, B., Fernández, E., & Méndez, G. (2021). Integration of the circular economy paradigm under the just and safe operating space narrative: Twelve operational principles based on circularity, sustainability and resilience. Journal of Cleaner Production, 322, 129071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129071
Suárez-Eiroa, B., Fernández, E., Méndez-Martínez, G., & Soto-Oñate, D. (2019). Operational principles of circular economy for sustainable development: Linking theory and practice. Journal of Cleaner Production, 214, 952-961. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.271
Szulecki, K. (2018). Conceptualizing energy democracy. Environmental Politics, 27(1), 21-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2017.1387294
Temesgen, A., Storsletten, V., & Jakobsen, O. (2021). Circular Economy – Reducing Symptoms or Radical Change? Philosophy of Management, 20(1), 37-56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-019-00112-1
Temper, L., Demaria, F., Scheidel, A., Del Bene, D., & Martinez-Alier, J. (2018). The Global Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas): Ecological distribution conflicts as forces for sustainability. Sustainability Science, 13(3), 573-584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-018-0563-4
Thomas, D. S. G., & Twyman, C. (2005). Equity and justice in climate change adaptation amongst natural-resource-dependent societies. Global Environmental Change, 15(2), 115-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2004.10.001
Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2010). The spirit level: Why greater equality makes societies stronger. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2019). The inner level: How more equal societies reduce stress, restore sanity and improve everyon’s well-being.
Winans, K., Kendall, A., & Deng, H. (2017). The history and current applications of the circular economy concept. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 68, 825-833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.123
Zink, T., & Geyer, R. (2017). Circular Economy Rebound. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 593-602. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12545
Enlaces refback
- No hay ningún enlace refback.
TERRA: Revista de Desarrollo Local. ISSN: 2386-9968. journal.terra@gmail.com