The ICAT stakeholder participation methodology is a tool for countries to enhance stakeholder participation in the design, implementation, and assessment of proposed interventions through greater transparency, trust and ambition.

The climate watch NDC explorer enables a keyword search for circular economy references in other countries’ NDCs. Whilst actions might not be specified as “circular economy”, a search for the overall circular economy concept or related terms can help identify frequently referenced sectors and provide examples of appropriate measures.

The NDC registry maintained by UNFCCC secretariat shows the latest official NDCs as well as previous versions communicated by countries. You can review your country’s current NDC in relation to the prioritized sectors/sub-sectors to identify areas relevant to circular economy interventions where additional sectors or sub-sectors, GHGs, and/or emissions reduction efforts can be included.

The social life cycle assessment is a methodology that can be used to identify and analyse the social impacts (positive or negative) on stakeholders of products and services across their life cycle and related value chain. Information on types of stakeholders is available in step 1.3.

To refine the greatest potential impact in terms of material use and embodied GHG emissions and further prioritise sectors/sub-sectors, additional life cycle assessment information for key materials used in high-GHG emissions contributing sectors can be useful. This can be supported through a Life cycle analysis (LCA) inventory database.

Using the Sustainable Consumption and Production Hotspot Analysis Tool (SCP-HAT), countries can identify GHG emissions hotspots in relation to material use. The SCP-HAT provides data from international databases on a country’s environmental and socio-economic performance. It offers evidence of hotspots (‘Hotspot Identification’ module) to prioritize action.

The value chain analysis and market development integrating climate resilience and gender responsiveness toolkit aims to help countries in selecting and analysing value chains for opportunities to improve climate change resilience and reduce gender inequalities, particularly in the agricultural value chain.

The value chain approach outlines the methodology of analysing drivers, pressures and impacts in order to prioritize action across value chains.

The UNEP circularity platform provides resources on building circularity for different stakeholder groups and for specific sectors.

The knowledge hub by Circle Economy is a database of case studies, categorised in a detailed typology of 7 main and 80 subtypes, on circular economy.

Ellen MacArthur Foundation case studies and success stories from governments, cities and businesses.

Product lifetime extension hub includes cases and tools for product lifetime extension and building engagement within and across different sectors.

Circular economy earth includes information on circular economy related policies worldwide.

NDC Partnership knowledge portal provides guidance on good practices.

The climate watch NDC explorer enables an understanding of what has worked well in other countries’ NDCs in a similar context.

IPCC guidelines for national GHG inventories are used to prepare national GHG emissions and sinks. Emission factors can be used to estimate the GHG reduction potential of a circular economy intervention.

Guidelines | Emissions factor database | Software

CDM methodologies provide procedures to calculate GHG emissions reductions from activities that can be identified as circular economy interventions – a complementary tool to prioritise interventions based on potential impacts.

The GHG protocol policy and action standard provides an approach to estimate the GHG impacts of policies and actions. It assists with baseline, ex-ante and ex-post assessment, a monitoring and uncertainty assessment and for verification/reporting impacts.

The ICAT policy assessment guides’ chapters 3 and 4 inform how to assess GHG emission impacts on policy areas (renewable energy, buildings efficiency, transport, agriculture and forestry) as well as transformational change potential. It also provides guidance on impacts of actions at sub-national level and by non-state actors.

The circular indicators for governments provides a starting point to develop indicators for tracking circularity and examples of what other countries have done.

The SCAN tool provides a high-level analysis of potential positive or negative impacts, synergies and trade-offs of climate action on the SDGs, which can support the selection of interventions. It includes a method to analyze climate actions and linkages by sector or category, as well as mitigation or adaptation approaches.

The green jobs assessment model is designed to analyse and design policies that maximize job creation and minimize and protect job losses. It enables the quantification for how climate related policies affect job creation, including for women and young people.

The circular economy jobs tool provides data and evidence in relation to the employment potential of the circular economy. It enables policymakers to align their efforts with the skill needs of different regions, industries and sectors and obtain a baseline for defining sectors for scenario modelling.

Through this tool, Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund provides information on the different phases of developing a roadmap and shares specific examples of how it was done in Finland. The steps can also be useful for strengthening insitutional arrangements and coorindation for implementation.

The GHG abatement cost model (GACMO) provides guidance to calculate and track the GHG reduction and economic effects of approximately 100 climate mitigation actions organised by the 24 types of mitigation actions that have been used in the CDM.

Low emissions analysis platform (LEAP) is a tool for climate change mitigation assessment, including emissions projection in NDCs. It is a scenario-based modelling tool to track energy consumption, production, and resource extraction in all sectors of an economy.

Short product lifetimes contribute to increased GHG emissions for many products while adding pressure on natural resources and pollution impacts. Product lifetime extension (PLE) means postponing or reversing product obsolescence through interventions.

Deposit-return schemes incentivize re-use of packaging material and/or products by combining a tax or deposit when purchasing a product with a refund or subsidy when the product is collected and/or recycled.

For circular economy interventions to be implemented, it is necessary to invest in infrastructure for collecting and sorting of products, components, materials, fibres and in such a way that they can be safely re-used. This may require new kinds of waste recovery, reuse and recycling facilities.

Consumer information tools increase the understanding of the role of consumption in generating GHG emissions. They can guide consumers in sustainable choices for goods and services (products), including their use and end of life phases.

Bans and restrictions can directly prohibit the production, import or export, distribution, sale or use of one or more products or product components. They can cover any part of a product’s life cycle from production through to use, or target one specific behaviour, such as the sale of the product.

Circular procurement can yield a wider uptake of circularity and be impactful if implemented in coherence with other policies such as traceability (across the life cycle) and eco-design standards.

Lifestyle changes could help the planet reduce GHG emissions by 40-70 percent by 2050. The right policies, infrastructure and technology can enable these changes, especially if implemented in high-impact sectors.

The tourism value chain offers numerous opportunities for implementing circular economy interventions in relation to the materials utilized to deliver tourism services.

Carbon taxes are taxes levied on the GHG emissions required to produce goods and services and can help drive a twin agenda to improve circularity and reduce GHG emissions. Other options can include taxes on virgin materials, recycled content mandates, and removal of virgin material subsidies.

For an assessment of how to maximize the objective of the circular economy intervention and reap the most co-benefits, both economic and societal costs need to be assessed.

Governments require funding to not only implement circular economy interventions but to also generate the conditions to unlock private funding. There are a number of assessments that can be carried out to help assess the finance gaps and needs of the circular economy interventions and plans.

Governments require funding to not only implement circular economy interventions but to also generate the conditions to unlock private funding. There are a number of assessments that can be carried out to help assess the finance gaps and needs of the circular economy interventions and plans.

Direct funding can be considered as a key source of financing, particularly in low- or middle-income countries, which also plays an important role to leverage private finance. Countries can tap into public sector finance from international financing institutions (IFIs). There are options to explore on the climate finance explorer.

Governments have established voluntary carbon footprint programmes which quantify and recognise voluntary efforts from public and private sectors to reduce GHG emissions. These carbon footprint initiatives provide online emissions calculators, together with a system of public recognition by means of approval awards for actors that report, reduce or ideally make their operations carbon-neutral.

The Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) Guidelines can help SPP policy makers, experts and consultants design SPP policies and implement them. The guidelines use an adaptable approach, referred to as the ‘SPP Approach’, refined on the basis of the experiences and feedback received from countries using this methodology.

The Universal Policy Goals from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation can support national governments, cities and businesses in defining and implementing strategies and policies to shift to a circular economy.

The NDC Implementation Guide can help countries in developing implementation strategies. This includes: aligning climate and development objectives, though integrated implementation of the NDCs and SDGs; preparing for NDC implementation; developing a finance strategy, monitoring and reporting NDC progress and achievement; and revising strategies and preparing for subsequent NDCs.

The NDC Implementation Roadmap Development: Guidelines for Small Island Developing States can help any country implementing their NDC, with a focus on small island developing states (SIDS). The guideline provides steps that countries can undertake to create an overall NDC implementation plan, or roadmap, for one or more sectors.

IPCC GHG inventory methodologies described in the guidelines, supported by the software, Emissions Factor Database and life cycle assessment databases such as GLAD, can help estimate the impact of circular economy interventions on greenhouse gas emissions and removals.

Guidelines | Emissions factor database | Software

Reference manual for the ETF is a tool for clarifying the requirements for the review and reporting of information in the BTRs. It also serves as a checklist for applying the accounting guidance and ensuring consistency between NDCs and BTRs, taking into account principles of transparency, accuracy, consistency, completeness and comparability.

The UNDP transparency helpdesk aims to provide comprehensive capacity building support on climate data and transparency to francophone and lusophone countries and respond to countries’ requests for support on MRV systems.

Technical handbook for implementing the MRV arrangements under the Convention and the ETF under the Paris Agreement aim to improve awareness and understanding of the ETF and its modalities, procedures and guidelines for national experts and practitioners from developing country Parties.

The UNFCCC MRV/transparency helpdesk provides technical resources (such as library resources, discussion forum, webinars, expert database) for implementing MRV arrangements under the Convention and the ETF under the Paris Agreement.

The UNEP climate transparency platform covers aspects relating to the ETF and continued reporting under the UNFCCC. You will find information on the agencies and initiatives providing transparency support and offer technical assistance, capacity building, and financial support to countries that are seeking to implement the ETF.

Enhancing NDCs for Food Systems – recommendations for decision makers provides guidance and recommendations for policymakers to increase ambition in NDCs using the climate change mitigation and adaptation potential of a transition to sustainable food systems.

Circular Economy Action Agenda- Food is designed as a call for business, government, and civil society. It is currently made up of five publications: electronics, plastics, textiles, food, and capital equipment to transform existing knowledge into a collective agenda that will inform and mobilize action.

The Food Loss Index measures losses along the food supply chain starting from post-harvest losses on the farm, up to but not including retail stage.

The Food Waste Index measures food waste at retail and consumer level. It measures total food waste (rather than loss or waste associated with specific commodities) allowing countries to measure and report on food loss generated in manufacturing processes, not captured under key commodity losses by the Food Loss Index.

The Global Roadmap for Food Waste Reduction in the Tourism Sector aims to raise awareness among tourism stakeholders of the opportunities deriving from a more sustainable and circular management of food, with special emphasis on reducing food waste as a cost-effective and environmentally responsible strategy.

Sherpa: sustainable housing tool is a self-evaluation tool for project managers, communities, and other stakeholders involved in the planning, design, construction and assessment of housing projects. SHERPA assesses housing projects from inception through to site selection and design, choice of materials, and the recyclability of building materials used.

The re-think buildings toolkit is an integrated set of tools to “RE –think sustainability in the building sector” to support governments in transforming their buildings and construction sector, particularly the housing sector, in a resource efficient, low carbon, and climate-resilient manner.

Embodied carbon in construction calculator (EC3) tool is an open-access tool for benchmarking assessment and reductions in embodied carbon per material category, focused on the upfront supply chain emissions of construction materials.

The inventory of carbon and energy (ICE database) is an embodied carbon database for building materials.

Circular built environment reports provide a benchmark and recommendations on how to move forward towards a circular built environment.

The OECD guidance on EPR provides guidance and information on design and implementation of EPR policies, including cases by governments to better assess the cost and environmental effectiveness of EPR and its overall impact on the market.

The EPR toolbox is a collection of knowledge on the topic of EPR for packaging.

Going circular: The EPR guide is an open-access online course to promote locally adapted EPR schemes for packaging and includes a number of case examples.

Envisioning 1.5 degree lifestyles: Policies for low-carbon cities in 2030 explores the 1.5-degree lifestyles concept at the city level with findings from the project implementation in the six cities involved, including policy recommendations.