Many sharing economy business models claim to be circular economy (CE) allies. They claim to create platforms for enabling need-based access to–instead of ownership of–underused goods in ways that facilitate the realization of CE goals, including waste avoidance and efficient (re)-use of existing products. While private cars offer more flexible services, they are parked most of the time and carry very few people when moving. Private cars are also widely criticized for their significant negative externalities, including congestion, pollution, and road crashes. Ride-hailing is often presented as a new car-sharing business model that can alter consumer behavior toward possessing fewer private cars and an overall reduction in the number of cars on roads. This, in turn, will lead to increased public health and environmental benefits, including reduced congestion, energy consumption, vehicular pollution, and car crashes while stimulating job creation including opportunities for people to commercialize private cars. This chapter questions ride-hailing potential to enable a CE transition in Africa’s transport sector through a case study of Ghana. It argues that not only does ride-hailing put more private cars on the roads, but it also undermines existing shared modes of transport that have the potential to reduce private car use. Overall, ride-hailing in Ghana encourages the commercialization of private cars in ways that benefit a minority while socializing the negative externalities for all in the form of increased risky driving practices, shifts from shared public transport, and inundation of the roads with more highly polluting and crash-prone used cars. The chapter contributes to the growing calls for increased scrutiny of the sustainability transition claims of so-called CE-based sharing business models. This is necessary for reducing the risks of tying sustainability transition financing and other opportunities to linear economy business wolves dressed in CE sheep clothing.
Linear Economy Wolf in Circular Economy Sheep Clothing: Ride-Hailing in Ghana
Sustainable Development Goals Series
Circular Economy Strategies and the UN Sustainable Development Goals ; Chapter : 6 ; 157-175
2023-08-22
19 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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