Design & implement regenerative & equitable circular solutions to scale in cities across the world
Summary
In 2022, the Circular Cities Coalition, led by Pyxera Global, in partnership with Enel, Metabolic, Rheaply and others, commits to assist six cities worldwide to develop their plans for a sustainable, net-zero circular economy along the lines of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Pyxera is making a commitment to enhance economic, environmental, and social well-being by providing partner cities with supportive services. Pyxera will help cities identify circular opportunities, provide them with a funding platform to support initiatives, enable donor funding to historically underinvested communities to mitigate pollution, improve economic mobility, and provide entrepreneurial skills training, and work with local governments to advance policies that promote regenerative business models and economic mobility. Pyxera will begin this work in the Netherlands and the United States and has plans to scale it to Brazil and several cities in Europe, India, and Ghana.
Approach
Cities occupy only 3% of the global land surface but account for the consumption of 75% of our resources and produce 60-80% of our total greenhouse gas emissions. With 55% of the world’s population living in cities and growing, urban environments are where some of the greatest inequities occur. Building on the work we have collectively engaged on in cities such as Boulder, Colorado, Krakow, Poland, Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands, we will partner with cities that are placing climate change, waste mitigation and racial equity as a priority and provide the following services:
1. Engage the city, local community (historically marginalized as a priority) , and the private sector- helping them collectively define their circular focus areas (ex, Circular Manufacturing, Built Environment, and Valorizing Resources) through a proven methodology and approach (Material and Emission Flow Analyses, Stakeholder Convening, etc.) 2. Provide a patient, outcomes-driven funding platform that provides strategic investments to support the selected focus areas, converting linear value chains into circular value chains
3. In exchange for investment in circularity, enable the city to provide the necessary policy & procurement packages that support the selected focus areas, allowing a new circular economic platform to take shape
4. Provide donor funding (Donor Advised Fund model) that will provide grant disbursements to historically marginalized communities designed to mitigate pollution, improve economic mobility, and provide entrepreneur skills training
Action Plan
We plan to start the CCC model in 2-3 cities in Q2 2023. Reporting will take place every month focusing on our collective ToC’s inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts. While there will be a set of common performance indicators across geographies, each city will have its own unique strategic focus areas based on the needs of the local population, the cultural context, and what the data reveals.
Background
We are not going to recycle our way out of climate change. Sustainable packaging will not solve for racial inequality and endless waste. While the world’s current extractive-based linear economy is designed to support global commerce and consumption at scale, the consequences for our current form of capitalism is threatening our very existence. For decades, the extractive-based linear economy has simultaneously exceeded the supply of resources from the planet, degraded vital ecosystems, and failed to meet basic human needs for much of the global population. Even so, the damage caused by our collective action mostly goes unseen and ignored, in the hopes that someone else will take responsibility or that the problem is not that bad. Our current economic system actively undermines progress for the sake of convenience. All the while destroying that which enables human life on this planet. Climate: Based on current projections, we are likely to experience a 3–6-degree Celsius temperature increase. If we continue business-as-usual, we will emit 65 billion tons of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2030. Endless Waste: The world is consuming 100 billion tons of materials a year, and efforts toward a more regenerative consumption model have been in decline since 2019. Income Inequality: The world’s richest 1% own 44% of the world’s wealth, while 842 million people go hungry. This disparity is also reflected in racial inequality. Our socio-economic system is complex, multi-layered, and deeply intertwined with the natural world. While transactional solutions and innovations look positive on the surface, deep interconnections between cities, people, and the environment are unraveling our good intentions. Only by fully understanding this dynamic will we be able to build a genuinely sustainable and resilient economy: one that works for all people and supports the development and growth of all living things.
Progress Update
PYXERA Global continues its fundraising plan in earnest while continuing to build important relationships in cities and front-line communities around the world. They have 36 US cities and 3 states signed on board supporting the initiative, and the Circular Cities Coalition was featured on stage at such illustrious events as COP 28 and UNGA Climate Week. The commitment has broadened due to an emerging partnership with Net Zero Cities in Europe, with a new mantra of bringing their shared vision to the USA and EU.
Partnership Opportunities
Financial Resources from like-minded organizations/people
Advisory Board Members
Impact Investment Guidance, We are offering our support and expertise collectively in the following fields:
Circular City Roadmap Design
Guidance on the Renewable Energy Transition & Trade-Offs
Reuse/Repurpose Material Technology
Informal Waste Stream Management
Circular Economy Policy & Procurement Global Best Practices
Corporate Governance at the intersection of Human Rights & Plastic
Material and Emission Flow Analysis
Public Sector-Private Sector-Local Community Engagement Tools