From Ambition to Action

For years, companies wanting to measure and report on circularity faced a fragmented landscape: inconsistent metrics, conflicting definitions, and no global, unifying standard. Unlike climate reporting, which already has the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

Now, at COP30, the Global Circularity Protocol (GCP) was launched – a milestone for sustainable business. Developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) with input from over 80 organizations and 150 experts, the GCP sets a global standard for measuring, managing and communicating on circularity. You can access the GCP here.

KPMG is proud to have contributed to this journey, building on our role as co-author of the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) and many years of supporting businesses on circular metrics. We believe the GCP will further empower companies to move from circular ambition to action.

Circularity is no longer a “nice to have”; it is a business imperative as a result of:

• Geopolitical context: Resource security is under pressure due to global conflicts and supply chain disruptions. Companies that reduce dependency on virgin materials gain resilience.
• ESG trends: While ESG investment faces scrutiny, regulators and investors increasingly demand credible, comparable data on resource efficiency and climate impact. Circularity delivers both.

The GCP provides companies with a credible, standardized approach to move from circular ambition to action. It offers:

• Clear scope and governance: Defining system boundaries, determining which parts of the value chain (e.g., product, business unit, or entire enterprise) need to be included in the circularity assessment to ensure consistency and comparability.
• Reporting guidance: Specifying how circularity performance should be disclosed in annual reports and sustainability statements, ensuring comparability across sectors.
• Enhanced and expanded performance metrics: Refined for relevance and expanded with new metrics, such as dematerialization (using fewer materials to deliver the same value).

Beyond standardizing measurement and reporting, the GCP is about creating value for businesses by:

• Unlocking innovation opportunities: By identifying material hotspots, companies can redesign products, adopt new business models (e.g., Product-as-a-Service), and reduce costs.
• Delivering comparable data for stakeholders: Investors and regulators can benchmark performance across industries, increasing trust and reducing greenwashing risk.
• Ensuring accountability for corporate targets: Clear metrics make progress visible and auditable, strengthening governance and credibility.

The GCP builds on the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) framework, which already provided metrics for companies to measure and manage circularity. These metrics have been refined based on learnings and feedback from participating companies and experts, ensuring they remain practical and relevant.

New in the GCP are metrics focused on dematerialization: using fewer materials to deliver the same value. Examples include lightweighting packaging without compromising durability, designing modular furniture that uses fewer components but offers the same functionality, and digital solutions replacing physical products (e.g., e-books instead of printed books).

These additions make circularity more actionable, enabling businesses to track progress on two critical levers: resource efficiency and innovation.

Adopting the GCP can deliver measurable impact:

• Double the pace of circular maturity.
• Cut global material use by 4-5% between 2026 and 2050, saving up to 120 billion tons of materials and reducing dependency on virgin resources, which lowers environmental degradation and supply risk.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6-7%, equivalent to 1.3-1.5 times today’s annual global emissions, driven by less energy-intensive production and extended product life cycles.
• Deliver other benefits, including an 11-12% annual reduction in air pollution because reduced extraction and manufacturing means fewer pollutants released.

First steps towards aligning with the GCP:

• Frame your assessment: Define your use case, map your boundaries, and engage the right stakeholders to set a clear foundation for circular action.
• Prepare your value chain: Identify and prioritize material flows and circularity hotspots across your operations, ensuring you capture what matters most.
• Select and apply metrics: Choose GCP performance metrics that fit your business needs to measure, report, and unlock business value.

The GCP is a true milestone for sustainable business.

How is your organization preparing for circularity? What challenges do you see in adopting a global standard? Let’s talk!