Growth within limits? The materials economy is already overdrawn

06 Apr 2027
Keynote
The materials economy depends on resources and natural systems whose limits do not appear on a purchase order. Yet choices made in packaging, textiles and consumer goods determine how much pressure those systems face. What would change if planetary boundaries became part of every design brief, purchasing decision and investment test? And where should businesses act first?
  •  Which planetary boundaries are under most pressure from how we extract, make, use, and dispose of materials?
  •  Where do material choices in packaging, textiles and consumer goods carry the most weight?