11-05-2025
Oman commissions Mideast's first Circularity Gap Report
Underscoring Oman's commitment to fostering the growth of a circular economy, the Ministry of Economy has tapped Circle Economy, a global circularity foundation behind the internationally acclaimed Circularity Gap Report (CGR), to undertake the production of the first-ever report on the Sultanate of Oman.
Preparatory work on 'CGR-Oman', envisaged as a definitive roadmap charting the country's pathway to circularity by 2040, will be kicked off this week in conjunction with the Oman Sustainability Week 2025, which opens in Muscat today, May 12, 2025.
'The Ministry of Economy of Oman has commissioned the Circularity Gap Report Oman, in partnership with Circle Economy,' the Amsterdam-based think-tank announced in a recent post.
'This trailblazing initiative aims to: Support the development of Oman's Circular Economy National Roadmap and advance the country's vision of a green and circular economy by 2040; Provide strategic insights to reposition the waste sector as a driver of economic growth; and Measure Oman's circularity baseline and its potential, allowing for strengthening circular economy policies and aligning them with international standards and climate objectives,' the Foundation added.
A coalition of industry experts and stakeholder representatives – dubbed the CGR Oman coalition – will hold its first roundtable this week against the backdrop of Oman Sustainability Week 2025.
Circle Economy, based in the Netherlands, describes itself as a global impact organisation that seeks to empower businesses, cities and nations with practical and scalable solutions to put the circular economy into action. Its ultimate goal is to enable the doubling of global circularity by 2032, up from a dismal 6.9 per cent presently.
'More and more countries are recognising the circular economy as a means to make their economies more competitive, improve living conditions for growing populations, help meet emissions targets and avoid deforestation. But how countries reach an ecologically safe and socially just development space for their people varies greatly. The Circularity Gap Report for Countries provides insight into the best interventions to boost circularity on a national level and the tools to monitor progress,' it explained on its website.
First unveiled in 2012 during the World Economic Forum in Davos, around the dozen countries have since engaged Circle Economy to produce Circularity Gap Reports on their respective national performances benchmarked against a global circularity score.
The list includes Austria, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Poland, Ireland, Scotland, United Kingdom, Quebec (Canada) and India. Slated to join this august list is the Sultanate of Oman – the first country in the Middle East to seek an assessment of its circularity performance, backed by a national strategy to take it to world-class levels by 2040.
'The Circularity Gap Reports highlight the urgent need to transition to a circular economy. We aim to empower key decision makers in both government and business to coordinate action to accelerate that transition. We do this by measuring current states of circularity and by bringing together stakeholders from businesses, governments, academia and NGOs to input and evaluate our findings on the state of the transition based on the latest scientific evidence,' the Foundation added.
