IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fem/femwpa/2026.16.html

Mapping and Framing Circular Economy in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: A Systematic Text Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Castellini

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Padua and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei)

  • Nadezhda Ushakova

    (Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padua and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei)

  • Sergio Vergalli

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei)

Abstract

Although the circular economy (CE) is recognised as a key climate mitigation strategy, its integration within global climate frameworks, such as those developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Assessment Reports, remains unclear. This study provides a systematic analysis of how the circular economy is framed in the climate-mitigation context of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report using a mixed-methods approach that combines computational text analysis with qualitative content analysis through sentence-level manual coding. Eight Chapters relevant to the mitigation were examined and findings show that CE is most frequently framed as a supporting strategy (44.3%), followed by implicit (29.3%) and primary roles (26.4%), while being unevenly distributed across sectors, with the strongest representation in industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Castellini & Nadezhda Ushakova & Sergio Vergalli, 2026. "Mapping and Framing Circular Economy in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: A Systematic Text Analysis," Working Papers 2026.16, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    • Handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2026.16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://feem-media.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/NDL2026-16.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gavin Harper & Roberto Sommerville & Emma Kendrick & Laura Driscoll & Peter Slater & Rustam Stolkin & Allan Walton & Paul Christensen & Oliver Heidrich & Simon Lambert & Andrew Abbott & Karl Ryder & L, 2019. "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles," Nature, Nature, vol. 575(7781), pages 75-86, November.
    2. Baojing Gu & Xiaoling Zhang & Xuemei Bai & Bojie Fu & Deli Chen, 2019. "Four steps to food security for swelling cities," Nature, Nature, vol. 566(7742), pages 31-33, February.
    3. Galina Churkina & Alan Organschi & Christopher P. O. Reyer & Andrew Ruff & Kira Vinke & Zhu Liu & Barbara K. Reck & T. E. Graedel & Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, 2020. "Buildings as a global carbon sink," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(4), pages 269-276, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Etienne Lorang & Antonello Lobianco & Philippe Delacote, 2023. "Increasing Paper and Cardboard Recycling: Impacts on the Forest Sector and Carbon Emissions," Post-Print hal-04690101, HAL.
    2. Guo, Baishu & Jin, Gui, 2025. "Beyond the land quantity: Rethinking the role of land quality in agriculture from the efficiency perspective," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Gu, Xubo & Bai, Hanyu & Cui, Xiaofan & Zhu, Juner & Zhuang, Weichao & Li, Zhaojian & Hu, Xiaosong & Song, Ziyou, 2024. "Challenges and opportunities for second-life batteries: Key technologies and economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    4. Kılkış, Şiir & Ulpiani, Giulia & Vetters, Nadja, 2024. "Visions for climate neutrality and opportunities for co-learning in European cities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    5. Shahjalal, Mohammad & Roy, Probir Kumar & Shams, Tamanna & Fly, Ashley & Chowdhury, Jahedul Islam & Ahmed, Md. Rishad & Liu, Kailong, 2022. "A review on second-life of Li-ion batteries: prospects, challenges, and issues," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    6. Li, Huaijin & Wang, Shoukang & Yang, Lin & Zhou, Zhengyi & Meng, Yizhen & Zhang, Wugao & Shuan, Zhu & Li, Yang & Lv, Feng, 2025. "SOH estimation method for lithium-ion battery packs under real-world operating conditions based on a new attenuated model without additional experiments," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(C).
    7. Yan Zhao & Yangbo Qiu & Lei Xia & Xi Zhang & Shuang Zheng & Gang Lu & Jin Shang & Raf Dewil & Seth B. Darling & Bart Van der Bruggen & Chuyang Tang, 2026. "Lithium-ion battery recycling through an integrated electro-membrane crystallization technology," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 17(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Fatmawati Fatmawati & Nuryanti Mustari & Haerana Haerana & Risma Niswaty & Abdillah Abdillah, 2022. "Waste Bank Policy Implementation through Collaborative Approach: Comparative Study—Makassar and Bantaeng, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, June.
    9. Korde, Vivek B. & Khelkar, Ashish B. & Khot, Suhas & Malavadakar, Prakash & Deshmukh, Prajakta & Amalraj, Shankar, 2026. "Advancements of lithium-ion battery Recycling: Transitioning from traditional methods to AI and machine learning techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    10. Cindy X. Chen & Francesca Pierobon & Susan Jones & Ian Maples & Yingchun Gong & Indroneil Ganguly, 2021. "Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Mass Timber and Concrete Residential Buildings: A Case Study in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    11. Andrzej Pacana & Dominika Siwiec & Robert Ulewicz & Malgorzata Ulewicz, 2024. "A Novelty Model Employing the Quality Life Cycle Assessment (QLCA) Indicator and Frameworks for Selecting Qualitative and Environmental Aspects for Sustainable Product Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-24, September.
    12. Liu, Yansui & Zhou, Yang, 2021. "Reflections on China's food security and land use policy under rapid urbanization," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    13. Pérez-Sánchez, Laura À. & Velasco-Fernández, Raúl & Giampietro, Mario, 2022. "Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. Sinha, Shreya & Narain, Nivedita & Bhanjdeo, Arundhita, 2022. "Building back better? Resilience as wellbeing for rural migrant households in Bihar, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    15. Creutzburg, Leonard & Lieberherr, Eva, 2021. "To log or not to log? Actor preferences and networks in Swiss forest policy," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    16. Arjun K. Thapa & Abhinav C. Nouduri & Mohammed Mohiuddin & Hari Prasad Reddy Kannapu & Lihui Bai & Hui Wang & Mahendra K. Sunkara, 2024. "Recycling and Reuse of Mn-Based Spinel Electrode from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-13, August.
    17. Donghui Ding & Zhao Li & Linhao Luo & Ming Jin & Bin Zhu & Yichen Zhong & Junhao Hu & Peng Cai & Huiqi Hu, 2025. "Large lithium-ion battery model for secure shared electric bike battery in smart cities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, December.
    18. Enze Li & Zelong Li & Qiancheng Xia & Feiyu Zhang & Zhangqi Liang & Zhaozan Xu & Guandao Gao & Hu Li & Fangqin Cheng, 2025. "Lithium extraction by extractant confined in Pickering emulsion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, December.
    19. Song, Hongyu & Hou, Guisheng & Jiang, Liwen, 2026. "Optimal decisions and coordination of power battery closed-loop supply chain considering fairness concerns and government subsidies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    20. Dominik Noll & Christian Lauk & Willi Haas & Simron Jit Singh & Panos Petridis & Dominik Wiedenhofer, 2022. "The sociometabolic transition of a small Greek island: Assessing stock dynamics, resource flows, and material circularity from 1929 to 2019," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 577-591, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2026.16. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Alberto Prina Cerai The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Alberto Prina Cerai to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feemmit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.