23 May 2017

The world is in serious need of solutions to create sustainable growth and jobs. The World Circular Economy Forum 2017 is bringing 1,500 specialists from around the world to Finland to show how this can be done. The groundbreaking event will focus on the world’s best circular economy solutions in which business and the environment go hand in hand.

The host country Finland is the first in the world to have published a comprehensive road map to a circular economy. The country’s leading future-oriented think-and-do tank Sitra is now inviting the shapers of our future well-being to celebrate Finland’s 100th year of independence at the forum. Come and experience Finland’s own inspirational story as a global leader as we put the circular economy into practice and deliver concrete benefits across all sectors of business and society.

“A circular economy is about using resources more efficiently and creating more value with what we have,” says Dr Mari Pantsar, Director of Sitra’s Carbon-neutral circular economy. “It can be the win-win approach everyone is looking for. For companies, circular products and business models help cut costs, manage risks and create new revenue. For societies, moving away from the current linear ‘consume-and-throw-away’ economy offers large benefits for tackling the climate crisis, reducing waste and creating jobs.”

World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF2017)
Time: 5 to 7 June 2017
Place: Finlandia Hall, Mannerheimintie 13, Helsinki, Finland

The forum features more than 130 recognised speakers from across the world, including top business and political leaders, representatives of NGOs and innovators. Among the speakers are Amra Balic, Managing Director at BlackRock; Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Mahindra Group; Isabel Fernandez-Niemann, Head of Wholesale Banking at ING; Janez Potocnik, Co-chair of the UN International Resource Panel; Ashok Khosla, Founder and President of Development Alternatives; and Achim Steiner, Director of Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford.

Former NASA Astronaut Dr Cady Coleman also brings her inspiring circular economy story about surviving in a closed system with limited resources during her six month expedition to the International Space Station.

The programme highlights how the circular economy plays an important role in the realisation of the UN’s global sustainable development goals (SDGs). Future well-being is built on co-operation between different sectors. The World Circular Economy Forum 2017 contains 17 plenary and parallel sessions showcasing circular economy solutions for business, finance and cities.

The event offers three days of discussions, networking, side events and business excursions. Twenty-three exhibitors will be presenting their most interesting circular economy solutions at the venue.

See the programme and full list of speakers on the event website www.wcef2017.com.

Media accreditation for WCEF2017

Representatives of the media interested in being accredited to cover the World Circular Economy Forum are kindly asked to fill in the registration form by 26 May 2017.

Register here: https://www.lyyti.fi/reg/World_Circular_Economy_Forum_2017_7932

For further details, please contact Communications Specialist Sanna Autere, sanna.autere@sitra.fi, +358 (0)50 331 7510, or see the event website www.wcef2017.com. A live stream of the event will be available at live.wcef2017.com.

World Circular Economy Forum 2017 in numbers

• 1,500 participants from 90 countries
• 17 plenary and parallel sessions
• 130+ top speakers from across the world
• 23 exhibitors
• 13 side events
• three days of discussions and business excursions

Organisers of the WCEF2017 include the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Ministry of the Environment of Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, in co-operation with the following institutions: the European Commission, the European Environment Agency (EEA), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Koli Forum, the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Forum (WRF).

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Geneva, 5 December 2016 – India could save $624 billion a year by 2050 if it adopts circular economy principles rather than following a conventional but more wasteful development path, according to a new report on India produced by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in association with UNCTAD.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an economic research and innovation think tank, promotes the concept of a “circular economy”, which is restorative and regenerative by design, and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times.

“Today’s linear ‘take, make, dispose’ economic model which relies on large quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy, is increasingly challenged in the long term. A circular economy is an attractive and viable alternative that businesses are already exploring,” the Ellen MacArthur Foundation said.

Pilot projects have already shown these practices contributing towards cost savings of hundreds of millions dollars per year.

“Increasing circularity can help unlock efficiencies, opening up urgent investment opportunities and delivering environmental, economic and social gains,” Guillermo Valles, Director for International Trade in Goods, Services and Commodities, UNCTAD said. “Lessons from this work in India serve as an important example for other developing countries seeking to meet both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and commitments in the Paris Agreement.”

India’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ajit Kumar, said: “India is earnestly working towards finding ways to improve the living standards of its citizens, compatible with its resources. Sectors such as mobility, agriculture and construction will play a crucial role in the future growth of India. The suggestions contained in the report are therefore, noteworthy and timely.”

Dame Ellen MacArthur, founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said: “This report builds on the Foundation’s previous analysis of the circular economy opportunity for Europe, by exploring for the first time the potential of applying the circular framework in a fast-growing market context. With its existing circular mindset and strong digital backbone, India can reap significant economic and societal benefits, embarking on a positive development path as it focuses on regenerative practices.”

The report says that better product design and innovative business models could generate cost savings and increase profits for businesses, in parallel with the shift to digitally enabled platforms for asset sharing, such as Zipcar, in which procuring services replaces owning goods.

A shift from selling cars to providing vehicles as a service could create new revenue streams for India’s car industry. Only about 2% of the Indian population currently owns a car, but the demand for mobility is increasing, the report says.

Using data from UNCTAD, the report estimates that India could save costs amounting 11% of its current GDP in 2030 and 30% of GDP in 2050 if proven circular approaches were adopted by the public and private sectors. Greenhouse gas emissions could be cut by 44%.

The report is the first conducted into a developing country by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The Foundation was set up by Ms. MacArthur, a world-famous British yachtswoman, in 2010.

The report was launched in New Delhi, India, on 5 December, and an international briefing will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 12 December.

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• Circular economy seeks to reconcile growth and economic participation with environmental prudence and equity
• Progressive companies move from responding to environmental activists to building new business models
• The theme of the 44th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business
• For more information, visit http://wef.ch/Davos

Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 25 January 2014 – Progressive companies and forward-looking governments are shifting their attention from old-style sustainability – a linear concept that goes from take and use to dispose – towards a “circular” approach. This “circular” approach effectively decouples growth from rising resource constraints in a world that will add 3 billion middle-class consumers over the next 15 years, participants at the 44th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting were told.

Speaking at a session, From Waste to Wealth, Ellen MacArthur, Founder, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, United Kingdom, said: “The circular economy opens up ways to reconcile the outlook for growth and economic participation with that of environmental prudence and equity. It is inspiring CEOs, politicians, engineers, designers and the next generation of leaders,” she said.

Leading global companies are already building the concept of the circular economy into the way they do business. It is helping them to drive innovation across product design, to develop product-to-service approaches and to test new ways of recovering materials from redundant products such as old mobile phones. Heineken, for example, is now pursuing circular practices across its whole value chain.

“We started out on this journey responding to pressures from environmental groups, but we soon learned that it makes sense to think holistically about everything we do, from treating the water we use and conserving energy to composting yeast and recycling bottles and aluminium cans,” Jean-François van Boxmeer, Heineken’s Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer, said.

The Netherlands, which has half its surface area under sea-level and a population that is aware of the importance of respecting nature, has embraced the approach. China, too, is a leader and has adopted the circular approach in its latest five-year plan.

Another Dutch company, Royal Philips, has moved rapidly from dealing with hazardous materials and conserving energy to a circular approach that Frans van Houten, President and Chief Executive Officer, credits with a number of breakthroughs. “We are a major producer of LED lights, but when we introduced this energy-efficient technology, municipal customers railed against the additional cost for lighting their streets. Our response was to offer them lighting services rather than selling them bulbs, allowing them to take advantage of energy savings without having to pay higher upfront costs,” he said.

Circular manufacturing has huge economic potential. The European market for fast-moving consumer goods totals €3.2 trillion a year, of which 20% could be recuperated through smart circular practices, MacArthur said. With early adopters moving ahead, how can we accelerate these processes?

“We need to shift our thinking away from the idea of consumption and eliminate the whole idea of waste. This means thinking about meeting people’s needs through services rather than consumption,” William McDonough, Consulting Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, USA said. “When was the last time you consumed a TV set?” he asked.

Cutting-edge thinking in the scientific community is moving us rapidly from linear to circular. The next big thing is what Neil Gershenfeld, Director, The Center for Bits and Atoms, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, described as analogue materials. These contain digitized information that enable them to disassemble the elements that initially went into their fabrication and make them available for re-use.

The Annual Meeting 2014 is taking place from 22 to 25 January under the theme, The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business. Participating this year are over 2,500 leaders from nearly 100 countries, including 300 public figures, 1,500 business leaders and representatives from civil society, academia, the media and arts.

The Co-Chairs of the Annual Meeting 2014 are: Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Group, Nigeria; Kris Gopalakrishnan, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); Vice-Chairman, Infosys, India; Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of the Board, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, People’s Republic of China; Joseph Jimenez, Chief Executive Officer, Novartis, Switzerland; Christophe de Margerie, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Total, France; Marissa Mayer, Chief Executive Officer, Yahoo, USA and Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation, USA.

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