The role of the circular economy in combating climate change

Climate change stands before humanity as one of the greatest global problems that threaten it. Although there has been a tremendous increase in the public interest, international studies and scientific publications against climate change issue in recent years, anthropogenic factors causing climate change and its negative impacts continue to increase. For this reason, to achieve the goals in the fight against climate change before it is too late, it is of great importance to implement the principles of material efficiency and the transition to renewable energy according to the sustainable development goals. In this study, the potential role of the circular economy in the fight against global climate change has been tried to be revealed, which promises a fundamental transformation in the current production and consumption patterns in line with sustainable development by preventing or reducing the factors causing climate change. According to the Paris Agreement, the parties have accepted the importance of sustainable production and consumption patterns in the fight against climate change. As a result of the literature review, it is concluded that there are few resources for the mitigation potential of circular economy and even fewer resources that have concrete examples. Available resources, which are examined here, have generally promising results regarding the mitigation potential of circular economy principles. The study aims to contribute to the literature in this field by displaying the varying results of the different principles of an improved and widely-applied circular economy in terms of mitigation in several sectors which have been causing significant emissions.