This high-level roadmap should spur further debate and fine-tuning among key stakeholders and evolve into a formalised and widely accepted action plan in the near future.

The roadmap proposal is the culmination of six months of collaboration with an IFI exchange network. The network, commissioned by the Dutch government and developed by Circle Economy, hosts content specialists from: the Ellen MacArthur Foundation; Chatham House; UNEP-FI; the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management; and technical representatives of major international financial institutions and private banks (acting in their own capacity), all of whom work directly on the circular economy (CE) strategy of their respective institutions.

This report provides steps for IFIs to fund the circular transition. In addition, the paper presents a roadmap for IFIs to ignite and finance a CE. The four main goals of the roadmap are:
 

1. Link circularity to environmental objectives. This can ensure that CE becomes a standalone objective and critical tool to achieve the goals of the Paris achievement.
2. Improve assessment methods for CE investments. This way, high-impact circular projects can be identified. Such an assessment method can become the default in lending and investing.
3. Build internal capacity for CE transition. This way, it is embedded in operations to achieve economic success and can be a systemic approach to meet environmental goals.
4. Develop mechanisms to de-risk investments and improve funding for CE that will leverage public-private collaboration.

Every goal has a roadmap from 2023 to 2030, and many goals specifically target financial institutions. Still, local and regional authorities can support these institutions in achieving the outlined goals, e.g. by aligning on key definitions related to a CE, supporting with identifying high-impact local circular projects and understanding the risks and securities of these projects, thereby developing strategic public-private partnerships. Cities and regions could also seek support of financial institutions for the implementation of Circular Systemic Solutions (CSS). Successful CSS project implementation could also help demonstrate the real value, impact and securities of CE projects at local or regional level.