To achieve an inclusive circular transition as a society, we need strong policy that takes the most vulnerable families into account. This was the key message environmental economist Jan Brusselaers shared in a conversation with Her Majesty Queen Máxima and Minister for Climate and Green Growth Stientje van Veldhoven.
The conversation took place as part of the Week of the Circular Economy, which began last week with a special train journey. Brusselaers, together with two other scientists, was invited to join Queen Máxima and the minister in a train carriage for a discussion. Brusselaers said: “It was a unique experience. Beforehand, you have to take all kinds of unfamiliar guidelines into account. But during the conversation I really felt there was room for my message.”
Vulnerable households must benefit from circularity
Brusselaers, who works at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), specialises in sustainability transitions and the policy needed to support them. One of his areas of expertise is the circular economy. Because of climate change, and more recently the oil crisis in the Middle East, circularity is increasingly being seen as part of the solution. By this, we mean using raw materials, products and resources in a smarter and more conscious way so that as little as possible is wasted. “In my conversation with the Queen, I mainly tried to make clear that in this process we must not forget to include the most vulnerable families,” said the environmental economist.
At a time when vulnerable households are being hit hardest by rising raw material prices, circularity offers many advantages. After all, greater circularity makes us less dependent on buying materials that are becoming more and more expensive. At the same time, Brusselaers sees an inclusivity paradox: the households that stand to benefit most from circular initiatives are often the least involved in them. “We therefore urged the minister to introduce policy that ensures the benefits of circularity genuinely reach the people who need them most. And that those with the broadest shoulders in our society make a greater contribution.”
Future
Among other things, he argues for support for circular initiatives, investment in skills training, tax reform and financing mechanisms that make reuse and repair more attractive. Producers of polluting substances should also be given greater responsibility, so that the burden of the transition does not fall on unorganised consumers. All in all, Brusselaers looks back on a remarkable afternoon. One that was still very productive despite the fact that he was given only 15 minutes: “For a rather long-winded scientist, it was very useful to be forced to focus on the most essential message I wanted to convey. I think that worked out well.”
Photo: Jan Brusselaers (left in the photo) in conversation with Her Majesty Queen Máxima