The circular economy transition along global value chains provides levers that can curb raw material use, preserve biodiversity, and reduce pollution, including the emission of greenhouse gases. While the transition to circularity is building momentum, several systematic barriers continue to exist from the view of accelerated trade and investment in emerging economies. This policy brief presents six proposals that facilitate the transition to circular value chains in G20 countries and the Global South. In detail, we recommend: (1) advancing the circular design of products, (2) making international trade and investment policies supportive of circular value chains, (3) enhancing funding for circular economy investments and establishing dedicated financing mechanisms for that purpose, (4) developing environmental, social, governance and circularity metrics that drive investment decisions towards sustainability, (5) facilitating a localised transition by harnessing regional resources to shorten value chains, allowing path diversity to long-term optimisation, and (6) developing an open digital platform to ensure that the diversified transition process is just and inclusive for the Global South by supporting reverse logistics and globally applied EPR standards.