IISD Speech: President and CEO Scott Vaughan at the World Circular Economy Forum 2017, Helsinki

A speech delivered by IISD President and CEO Scott Vaughan at the World Circular Economy Forum 2017 in Helsinki, discussing the need for macroeconomic indicators beyond GDP to properly value the circular economy, the potential for job growth, and the necessity of reforming fiscal incentives.

• Conventional GDP is an insufficient measure for the circular economy because it focuses on income and is "indifferent to—savings". While European Commission estimates suggest EU-wide resource-efficiency could reduce material inputs by 17% to 24% and save European industry EUR 630 billion annually, these savings are not captured by GDP unless reinvested. Vaughan advocates for "beyond GDP" accounts, such as the IISD's Comprehensive Wealth report which measures human, natural, social, and produced capital; this framework revealed a 25% decline in Canada's natural capital over the last three decades.
• The transition to a circular economy has significant potential for job creation, contrasting with older economic views that pitted jobs against environmental protection. In the EU, successful implementation could create over 180,000 direct jobs by 2030, alongside 400,000 jobs from existing waste legislation. In Denmark, the circular economy is estimated to create between 7,000 and 13,000 job equivalents by 2035.
• In developing countries, the circular economy must address the impact of automation in the mining sector. In approximately 50 developing nations—including Botswana, DRC, Suriname, Mongolia, and Zambia—mining is a primary economic driver, but automation is reducing employment. An IISD report estimated that automation could reduce employment by 30–40% in open-cut iron-ore mines and over 75% in open-pit mines.
• Current fiscal policies often contradict circular economy goals by encouraging the extraction of new resources over recycling. While some progress has been made with landfill taxes and extended producer responsibility, the mining, oil, and gas sectors benefit from "very high tax write-offs for operations", flow-through shares, and accelerated capital cost appreciation rates that are not available to other sectors.

APA

Vaughan, S. (2017). IISD Speech: President and CEO Scott Vaughan at the World Circular Economy Forum 2017, Helsinki. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/iisd-speech-president-and-ceo-scott-vaughan-world-circular-economy-forum

Chicago

Vaughan, Scott. IISD Speech: President and CEO Scott Vaughan at the World Circular Economy Forum 2017, Helsinki. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017. https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/iisd-speech-president-and-ceo-scott-vaughan-world-circular-economy-forum.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Vaughan |first1=Scott |title=IISD Speech: President and CEO Scott Vaughan at the World Circular Economy Forum 2017, Helsinki |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=6 June 2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/iisd-speech-president-and-ceo-scott-vaughan-world-circular-economy-forum |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{vaughan2017iisd, author = {Vaughan, Scott}, title = {{IISD Speech: President and CEO Scott Vaughan at the World Circular Economy Forum 2017, Helsinki}}, publisher = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/iisd-speech-president-and-ceo-scott-vaughan-world-circular-economy-forum}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }