Understanding the characteristics of the green, circular and bioeconomy models within the context of sustainable development

Abstract

Background

This paper aims to analyze, synthesize and evaluate the main differences, similarities, advantages, and disadvantages of the narratives of green economy (GE), circular economy (CE) and bioeconomy (BE) models within a sustainability framework. The article seeks to provide a critical comparison of the notion of three models, related in their concepts, approaches and tools, as well as establish and analyze the strategies that lead to a change in the dominant paradigms in sustainability applications.

Main text

The emerging green, circular and bioeconomy approaches focus on proposing strategies that lead to sustainability. This study shows that despite their notable conceptual differences, a model that adapts to rapid changes in the needs and limitations of natural resources is common across all approaches. However, in terms of analysis and application, they are not always clear because of the complexity of differentiating approaches, conceptual incorporation frameworks and analytical tools. The results show that, in the environmental dimension, the circular economy and bioeconomy focus on resource management, whereas the green economy starts by analyzing ecological processes to reduce environmental risk and ecological scarcity. In the economic dimension, the circular economy aims to decouple economic growth from environmental pressure, whereas the bioeconomy emphasizes the processing and enhancement of biological raw materials to foster new value chains.

Conclusions

The findings of this paper clarify the limits, synergies, and differences in sustainability between the concepts of the green economy (GE), the circular economy (CE) and the bioeconomy (BE), and address gaps in the literature. These concepts continue to be limited by their economic growth; limits in the interrelation between the biosphere and individuals; and specific assessments of the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainable management.