Toronto Action Plan on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency

Over the past decade, the G7 has taken significant action to advance efforts on circular economy and resource efficiency, including through the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency (G7 ARE) launched in 2015, the Agenda on Circular Textiles and Fashion (G7 ACT) adopted in 2024, the Berlin Roadmap on Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy (2022-2025) adopted in 2022, the Bologna Roadmap adopted in 2017 and the Toyama Framework on Material Cycles adopted in 2016.

Over the past decade, the G7 has taken significant action to advance efforts on circular economy and resource efficiency, including through the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency (G7 ARE) launched in 2015, the Agenda on Circular Textiles and Fashion (G7 ACT) adopted in 2024, the Berlin Roadmap on Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy (2022-2025) adopted in 2022, the Bologna Roadmap adopted in 2017 and the Toyama Framework on Material Cycles adopted in 2016. As part of Canada's G7 Presidency this year, technical workshops on circular economy were hosted in relation to critical minerals and textiles and fashion to help inform future work in these high-priority sectors.

The OECD estimates that circular economies could create as much as USD 4.5 trillion in global economic growth by 2030.^{Footnote 1} Circular economies generally aim for materials to be used and circulated within the economy for as long as possible, reducing the demand for primary resources, utilizing renewable resources and minimizing the environmental impacts throughout value chains (from extraction and processing to end of life), while reducing the impact of pollution (including soil, water, and air) caused by untreated or poorly managed waste.^{Footnote 2}

As a result, circular economy and resource efficiency can contribute to sustainable growth, development and competitiveness and help to address environmental crises and challenges. For instance, the findings of the Global Resources Outlook report (2024) by the International Resources Panel highlight that, without intervention, material resource extraction could increase by nearly 60% from 2020 to 2060, a trajectory that would be further exacerbated by unsustainable practices and environmental pressures unless strong measures are taken to decouple extraction from its environmental impacts.^{Footnote 3} Furthermore, the sound management of chemicals is a cross-cutting element of circular economies, and mismanagement of chemicals and waste contributes significantly to environmental degradation and has adverse human health impacts. 

The G7 identified initial high-impact sectors where circular and resource-efficient solutions could offer significant economic and environmental potential: textiles and fashion, plastics, and critical minerals and critical raw materials. These sectors not only present substantial opportunities for circularity but also face urgent sustainability challenges, as they continue to exert considerable pressure on resources and the environment. This illustrates how growing demand and waste can strain systems and underscores the importance of resource efficiency and circular economy to enhance the sustainability and resilience of our economies, including supply chains.

Circular economies can bring meaningful environmental, social and economic advantages, helping people save money through access to reused and refurbished goods, creating jobs in repair and recycling, and making businesses more resilient by reducing reliance on unpredictable supply chains. As such, the G7 will intensify efforts on circular economy and resource efficiency through the adoption of the following G7 Action Plan.

Mode of Work

This Action Plan will cover a three-year period (2025-2028) with a focus on key high-impact sectors (plastics, textiles and fashion, and critical minerals), while also allowing for efforts on other relevant sectors, as appropriate. This work will complement and build upon the efforts of the G7 ARE, including under the existing Berlin Roadmap and the G7 ACT, and will inform future efforts by the ARE. Efforts will also be made to cooperate and seek synergies with existing global and regional initiatives, such as the G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue and the Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency (GACERE).

Implementation of the Action Plan through the ARE reflects the importance of continued engagement as relevant with partners, including Indigenous Peoples, the private sector, academia, women, youth, local communities and other levels of government.

In working to effectively and sustainably manage resources and to promote circular economies, each member may contribute, as appropriate, at the national, regional and/or international levels. G7 members are encouraged to facilitate the implementation of the Action Plan, to attend or to convene workshops of the G7 and meetings of the ARE, while fostering engagement with partners and stakeholders.

High-Impact Sectors

G7 efforts under the Action Plan focus on a full life cycle approach in the following high-impact sectors where circular and resource-efficient solutions offer significant economic and environmental potential. While these sectors are the main focus of this work, this does not preclude any activities or other sectors or areas building on the Berlin Roadmap.

• Critical Minerals and Critical Raw Materials: As energy demand grows, critical minerals and critical raw materials are essential for economic growth and security, supply chain resiliency, energy security, and sustainability. In order to improve resilience of our economies, promote responsible mining, alleviate pressures on ecosystems, enable recovery from waste streams and recycling to improve resource efficiency and help meet material demands, there is a need to strengthen circular economy efforts along the whole life-cycle of critical minerals. G7 members will work to ensure coordination and complementarity with existing initiatives on critical minerals, while avoiding overlaps and ensuring that this Action Plan focuses on circular economy and resource efficiency.
• Textiles and Fashion: Shifting the textiles and fashion industries towards more circular business models could generate USD 700 billion in economic value globally by 2030.^{Footnote 4} The G7 can lead systemic change by advancing circular solutions for textiles, and by promoting repair, reuse, recycling and recovery, building upon the Agenda on Circular Textiles and Fashion from Italy's 2024 G7 Presidency and The Fashion Pact which was launched as part of France's 2019 G7 Presidency. The G7 will also aim to strengthen circularity and transparency across value chains, including through traceability tools and sustainable business models, and voluntary standards on social and environmental responsibility.
• Plastics: Circular and resource efficient solutions for reduction, reuse, refill, repair, remanufacture, refurbishment, recycling, recovery, as well as plastic product design and extended producer responsibility (EPR) and other cost-recovery tools can drive global action to reduce plastic pollution, enhance value recovery and enable more sustainable and efficient use of resources. G7 members have also committed to enhancing international cooperation, including by playing a constructive role in ongoing discussions to develop an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, in line with the mandate of UNEA resolution 5/14.

Actions and Activities

With these considerations in mind, we are committed to sharing experiences, expertise, and best practices to strengthen our efforts in increasing resource efficiency and circularity including of the high-impact sectors. Some examples of actions and activities are described below while they are not an exhaustive list.

Lead and facilitate technical exchanges within and beyond G7

• Collaborate with partners and stakeholders to share best practices, opportunities, and solutions.
• Share goals and targets and track progress through indicators while exchanging on methodologies and data.
• Produce a summary report at the end of the three-year period to capture progress and lessons learned.
• Convene workshops and other events focused on but not limited to the priority sectors.

Build on existing initiatives

• Advance and step up relevant efforts, including outstanding actions across high-impact value chains, under existing G7 initiatives, notably, the Berlin Roadmap, the Bologna Roadmap, the Toyama Framework, the Five-Point Plan for Critical Minerals Security, and the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan while ensuring consistency across initiatives.  
• Collaborate with domestic and international partners and stakeholders to implement the Agenda on Circular Textiles and Fashion.
• Work with the B7 and other private sector stakeholders and initiatives to promote circular practices with industries by advancing the Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency Principles (CEREP), which can serve as valuable guidance for policymakers seeking to support and scale circular business models and enhance public-private partnerships.

Mainstream circular economy and resource efficiency efforts

• Collaboratively promote and explore enhancing the interoperability of voluntary standards to advance circularity and transparency across the key value chains taking into account existing frameworks, avoiding duplicative efforts, engaging diverse stakeholders, integrating traceability tools, and building capacity for global uptake. This could include proactive engagement with partners beyond the G7, and knowledge exchange within the G7 on key topics such as circular metrics in priority value chains.
• Bring attention to circular economy and resource efficiency measures and benefits by highlighting them during discussions and integrating them into outcomes, in relevant international fora.
• Encourage all countries to integrate circular economy and resource efficiency in the development and implementation of relevant policies, to raise consumer awareness, and to share/exchange on how to incentivize efficient resource use.

Support research and development

• Promote research and innovation in circular and resource-efficient measures across the product lifecycle, including by continuing engagement with the B7, and relevant public-private partnerships.
• Exchange on sustainable public and private procurement standards and practices that can provide clear market signals to drive greater investment in circular, resource efficient products, technologies, and measures.
• Strengthen information management, advocacy, and awareness-raising mechanisms; and foster the conditions for learning, innovation, collaboration, and information exchange to advance resource-efficient circular economies domestically.