Labour market consequences of a transition to a circular economy

Abstract

By Frithjof Laubinger (1), Elisa Lanzi (1) and Jean Chateau (1) (1) OECD Environment Directorate OECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or its member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the authors.

OECD Environment Working Papers

“…Moreover, the report highlights the importance of transversal skills as jobs will be evolving and workers will need to be adopting. In addition to ICT and transversal skills, the projected increase in service sectors could lead to an increase in highly skilled jobs (International Labour Organisation, 2018 [17]). Finally, some of the studies attempt to define "green skills" demanded by circular economy job categories, such as recycling and waste (Cedefop, 2018[23]; Cedefop, 2012 [32]).…”

“…Only two studies -by the European Commission (EC) (2018 [16]) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2018 [17]) -cover these aspects to some extent, providing insights on the sectoral reallocations of jobs in a circular economy. Both studies conclude that RE-CE policies are likely to lead to relatively modest (and generally positive) impacts on aggregate employment levels.…”

Policy brief on making the most of the social economy’s contribution to the circular economy

“…It is indeed a way to "raise the possible" and bring systemic change as it can inspire other economic actors to adopt responsible practices and business models, thereby bringing formerly niche practices into the mainstream (van Dijk et al, 2020 [84] ). This strategy is recognised as an indirect path to scale by "inspiring copycats, either a new entrant, or an existing player launch ing a new product or business line inspired by and based on the experience of the initial innovator" (Kubzansky and Breloff, 2014 [85] ).…”

Synergies and trade-offs in the transition to a resource-efficient and circular economy

“…Depending on their design and implementation, some regulatory instruments can operate similarly to economic instruments. This is, for example, the case when regulations allow economic actors to choose the most cost-effective way to achieve regulatory compliance (OECD, 2020 [11]; Laubinger et al, 2021 [13]).…”