Cooperation between nations and organizations is vital if society is to tackle the numerous global and systemic challenges it faces. Nowhere is this more evident than in the circular economy, but research from the University of Freiburg highlights how excessively optimistic narratives can undermine such cooperation.
The study came to the somewhat counter-intuitive conclusion that when the narrative around the circular economy is primarily optimistic and politicized, this sense of a win-win situation for all can dissuade conversations around key areas of tension and therefore limit the likelihood of successful implementation.
“Some stakeholders see the Memorandum of Understanding as a milestone in global efforts to address pressing environmental issues in extraction, resource use and waste management. We believe this expectation is premature,” the researchers explain. “Our discursive analysis of China-EU cooperation shows why, despite good intentions and consensus on goals, cooperation has so far failed to move from rhetorical agreement to practical implementation.”
Two camps
The researchers suggest that in the circular economy debate there are two main camps, with the optimists typically using a positive win-win narrative that aims to stimulate mutually beneficial trade between the EU and China that simultaneously tackles the environmental and economic issues in both regions.
This approach can often result in any areas of tension or differences between the two sides being overlooked. These areas are often crucial, such as the uneven development between the states or the differences in culture, economy, political system, and history.
By contrast, skeptics tend to emphasize these very differences and tensions and highlight how they can hinder the development of the circular economy. They also argue that the competitive nature of the global economy would need to give way to a more trusting and cooperative mindset, which could be difficult given the rising tensions over access to resources.
Moving forward
The authors believe that in time, the optimistic narrative tends to dominate, but argue that whereas this might intuitively seem like a good thing, it could result in crucial issues being overlooked in the journey towards a circular economy.
“Ignoring the differences between China and the EU fuels feelings of mistrust, which threatens any cooperation. Political debate about market-focused cooperation through free trade inevitably leads to value-laden discussions about equality and justice,” the authors explain. “This depoliticization disrupts communication channels for negotiating the nature of a shared circular economy. Maintaining optimistic narratives constructs common interests but is unable to resolve underlying political tensions.”
Suffice to say, those with a more skeptical mindset wouldn’t be able to do this either, and as with so much, the ideal is a combination of the two, with a new narrative strategy better able to open up new negotiation channels and ensure environmental cooperation is achieved.
