Urooj Khan
ESG Assurance Director, UAE & Oman | KPMG Lower Gulf | ACCA Global Council Member
Urooj Khan is a seasoned ESG and assurance lead with over 17 years of experience in financial and sustainability reporting across the Middle East and global markets. As Director and ESG Assurance Lead at KPMG Middle East, she specializes in the assurance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with global standards such as ISSB, CSRD, and GRI, and has led numerous engagements focused on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions for high-impact sectors including banking, oil and gas, logistics, real estate, hospitality, and healthcare sector.
A qualified chartered accountant and a Global Council Member of ACCA, Urooj plays a strategic role in shaping sustainable finance and reporting conversations across the region. She frequently moderates ESG panels, mentors students and women professionals in the industry, and contributes to thought leadership on climate change and corporate sustainability. Urooj is also actively involved in community and academic sustainability initiatives and serves as an advisory board member at CARE (Climate Action for Renewable Energy).
1. What international partnerships or cross-border collaborations have effectively driven circular economy outcomes? Are there best practices others can replicate?
One of the most impactful global collaborations advancing circularity is the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) — a public-private partnership hosted by the World Resources Institute. PACE serves as a high-level convening body and action platform, uniting over 100 partners, including Philips, IKEA, Accenture, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and the governments of Canada, the Netherlands, and several African and Latin American nations. Its strength lies in bringing together government leadership with private sector innovation to co-develop action roadmaps, implement country-specific circular economy programs, and publish open-access insights for replication.
A standout success is Philips’s global take-back program for large-scale medical imaging equipment. The company refurbishes MRI machines and CT scanners, extending their lifecycle while significantly reducing resource use and emissions — a powerful demonstration of how circularity can thrive in high-tech and regulated sectors. Through PACE, Philips worked alongside policymakers to address regulatory barriers that previously made refurbishment difficult across borders.
Another example is the Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP), incubated by PACE, which aims to make electronics fully circular by 2030. It brings together major manufacturers and recyclers like Dell, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, and Cisco, focusing on reverse logistics, e-waste legislation, and design for disassembly — crucial areas for global electronics sustainability.
2. What technological innovations are transforming circular economy practices globally? From AI to blockchain, what’s driving change?
Innovations in AI and digital traceability are revolutionizing how companies track, recover, and reuse materials. Technology is rapidly reshaping the way we design, use, recover, and repurpose materials — making circular economy models smarter, scalable, and financially viable.
At the forefront is Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is helping organizations optimize resource flows, reduce waste, and design for circularity. Google, for example, uses AI in its data centers to optimize cooling systems, cutting energy consumption by up to 30%, while similar machine learning models are being deployed in manufacturing to improve yield efficiency and minimize raw material waste.
Blockchain is another game-changer, enabling full material traceability and transparency in global supply chains.
Digital Product Passports (DPPs), a core initiative under the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan, are now being piloted in the battery, textile, and electronics sectors. These passports carry critical data on product composition, repair history, environmental footprint, and end-of-life handling instructions. For instance, companies like Samsung and Decathlon are exploring DPPs to support recyclability and better post-consumer recovery, while aligning with incoming EU Ecodesign Regulation requirements.
The convergence of AI, blockchain, IoT, and cloud computing is building the digital backbone for a future where waste becomes a resource and value is retained across lifecycles.
3. What circular economic opportunities are emerging in the GCC and wider Middle East? Are there sectors showing particular promise?
The GCC is at a critical inflection point in its journey toward circularity. Policy frameworks like the UAE’s Circular Economy Policy 2021–2031 and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 are translating into tangible industrial shifts. With strong governmental support, the rise of ESG-linked investments, and a growing innovation ecosystem, the region is increasingly positioning itself as a laboratory for circular solutions adapted to its unique environmental challenges — particularly around water scarcity, energy intensity, and waste generation.
In the construction sector, new approaches are being adopted that prioritize offsite, modular building methods and design-for-deconstruction strategies — significantly reducing material waste while improving energy efficiency. Material recovery and reuse is also gaining traction, supported by integrated waste management systems and green infrastructure planning.
In agriculture, circular practices such as precision irrigation, organic waste composting, and controlled-environment farming are reshaping traditional methods, allowing for higher yields with lower resource inputs. These models also integrate AI-driven systems to monitor inputs and reduce spoilage — contributing to both food security and circular efficiency.
The fashion and retail sector is beginning to embrace circularity with new models that reprocess unsold inventory and post-consumer textiles into new garments. These innovations support a closed-loop production cycle, diverting waste from landfills and boosting local manufacturing resilience. Such developments signal a shift from linear consumption patterns to circular value creation, reinforcing the region’s emerging role as both an adopter and innovator of sustainable design and production models.