According to International Labour Organization, the key to building more circular economies, are people and data gathering.

The ILO stressed that transitioning to a circular economy could generate 7 million jobs globally.

The European Parliament said, the circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible.

Rie Vejs-Kjeldgaard, the Director of the ILO Enterprises Department, said this at a session entitled “The people driving change today” at the World Circular Economy Forum, organised by the organisation’s partners of the Jobs in the Circular Economy initiative, namely the Circle Economy Foundation and the Solutions for Youth Employment Programme of the World Bank.

Vejs-Kjeldgaard, ner, greener and more circular economies. Be the skilled workers that maintain products to prolong their lifetime, waste pickers, supporting themselves and their families, or entrepreneurs launching new circular designs or business models.”

She said, a transition to greener economies could create up to some 78 million new jobs, 72 million could be lost, also adding that the shift of a circular economy Will benefits both the environment and the economy.

“This is a massive transformation, and we do not know where jobs will be lost and where they will be created, or how they will change,” said the ILO director.

“More data are needed to ensure that the transition becomes fair and just and that it delivers on the promise of creating decent jobs and new circular business models,” Vejs-Kjeldgaard noted.

He added that the ILO, the Circle Economy and the World Bank had joined forces to measure, model and monitor jobs in the circular economy.

He disclosed that the initiative’s first report “Decent Work in the Circular Economy”, came out in 2023, providing an overview of existing evidence.

“In 2024, the three organisations will publish a comparative review, leading to the world’s first authoritative estimates of circular economy jobs in 2025.

“We stand ready to support governments, employers and workers in their efforts to formulate policies, foster an enabling environment and fight for fundamental principles and rights that are key to advancing a just and job-rich transition to the circular economy,” Vejs-Kjeldgaard concluded.