Martin Calisto Friant wins best presentation at 25th ISDRS Conference in Nanjing
Martin Calisto Friant has won the award for best presentation at the 25th International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) Conference, held on June 25-28th in Nanjing, China. His results suggest that EU Directives on the circular economy remain entrenched in un-transformative waste management directives which are unable to tackle the ecological problems the EU is seeking to address. They may instead drastically worsen the ecological footprint of the European Union.
Martin Calisto Friant, a PhD researcher from the Environmental Governance Group of the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development was awarded at the ISDRS conference for his talks Advancing a critical research agenda on the circular economy and A critical analysis of the discourses and policies of the European Union on the circular economy.
An innovative framework
Calisto Friant developed an innovative framework for the analysis of circular economy policies and visions which he applied this to EU Directives on the circular economy through a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques.
EU’s un-transformative waste management directives
His results suggest that while the European Commission talks abundantly about the circular economy transformation, the actions it takes remain entrenched in un-transformative waste management directives. These directives don't propose a sufficient economic transition to effectively tackle the ecological problems that the EU is seeking to address.
Rebound effects may drastically worsen the EU’s ecological footprint
The results further suggest that the Commission’s continued focus on eco-efficiency, economic growth and competitiveness might lead to rebound effects that instead drastically worsen the ecological footprint of the European Union and further aggravate the environmental crisis of the Anthropocene.
A European research project
Calisto-Friant's research is part of CRESTING, a research project funded through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 765198. Utrecht University’s involvement is led by Dr. Walter Vermeulen.
Utrecht University CRESTING researchers Kieran Campbell-Johnston and Kaustubh Thapa also presented their work at the conference. Campbell-Johnston presented on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) governance mechanisms for the circular economy and Thapa on waste leakage from the EU to the Global South.