Zoom in! Japanese-German Energy Transition Talks on Circular Economy, Resource Efficiency and Climate Protection

The second session of the series "Zoom In! - Japanese German Energy Transition Talks" on the nexus of circular economy, resource efficiency and climate protection took place on September 21. In the webinar, Franziska Erbe (Wuppertal Institute) first defined the circular economy and its components, then explained how circular economy can contribute to climate change mitigation through measures such as waste elimination, product reuse and material recirculation and finally presented how policy integration can promote the transition towards a resource-efficient, circular economy. Then, Chika Aoki-Suzuki (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)) provided interesting insights on the topic with regard to Japan. She talked about the development of the material flow in Japan, material input reduction pathways and a policy framework for circular economy in Japan. Subsequently, Peter Hennicke (Wuppertal Institute, Principle Advisor to GJETC) provided further insights on the German status quo and trends in the field, also pointing out the national circular economy strategy that is currently being developed. An extensive and lively discussion and Q&A session concluded the format jointly organized by the German-Japanese-Energy-Transition Council (GJETC) and the Japanese-German Energy Partnership Team.