The NICE tool

An anaytical tool supporting industrial circular economy strategies.

Quick description

To this date, the circular economy’s potential triple dividend (economic, social and environmental) draws from high-income country experiences and also needs to be verified in a other country context. The UNIDO NICE (National Impacts of Circular Economy) Tool is a useful solution for analysing the impact of circular economy on economic, social and environmental indicators in developing countries. NICE fills a gap as circular economy activities are typically evaluated using anecdotal, case study evidence coming primarily from the Global North. It can be useful to study the impact of country policies on the basis of simulations assumptions or the impact of technical cooperation projects for a sustainable use of resources and materials through micro (firm) level data.

Methodology

The NICE framework is built upon the Eora global multi-region input-output (MRIO) tables. The NICE scientific framework has three key concepts: model development, sensitivity analysis and stakeholder involvement. The relevant actors that may be considered are firms, policymakers, sectors and countries. The involvement of industries and other relevant stakeholders has multiple goals: i) collect data and information in a bottom-up manner; (ii) provide relevant case studies (of winners and losers); and (iii) validate the results ex-post.

Studies

NICE can be applied to almost all world countries as an advisory tool for governments and practitioners engaged in the design and implementation of development projects. Reports can be used as an input of policy planning or to set strategic orientations of technical cooperation interventions.

Ukraine (2023)