As of April 2025, 76 countries have adopted national strategies or roadmaps for the circular economy (Chatham House, 2025). These strategies reflect growing recognition of the need to address cascading environmental risks while unlocking new avenues for competitiveness, environmental protection, pollution reduction, and climate change mitigation.

This brief explores the intersection of circular economy and bioeconomy concepts, advocating for an integrated circular bioeconomy approach. It underscores the risks of maintaining linear bioeconomy models, such as unsustainable biomass use that can lead to environmental degradation, soil depletion, and the loss of biodiversity-linked ecosystem services.

The brief makes the case for a circular bioeconomy that maximizes the efficient use of biomass through circular economy principles such as cascading use, reuse, recycling, and nutrient loop closure. It draws on previous analyses by Chatham House and UNIDO (Barrie et al.,, 2024), while incorporating new insights and case studies from UNCTAD and UNIDO that demonstrate the tangible benefits of integrating circularity with bioeconomy strategies. Finally, it outlines actionable pathways for policymakers—including the need to align and integrate national circular economy and bioeconomy policies—and concludes with practical recommendations to help scale circular bioeconomy models, particularly in the Global South.

The brief was jointly prepared by UNCTAD and Chatham House in the context of the 9th World Circular Economy Forum 2025 (13-16 May, Sao Paulo, Brazil), and informed by field visits organised in early 2025 with SMEP projects in Uganda and Kenya.