Parallel Session – Why do Materials Matter for Global Climate Action?

Taking the IRP report on Resource Efficiency & Climate Change as a starting point, this session will discuss various resource-efficient strategies and their impact on CO₂ emissions.

The International Resource Panel (IRP) looks further than only the potential of recycling in reducing CO₂ emissions. Discussions about a circular economy rarely address issues such as prioritising high emission industries to make an impact; policymaking to extend or intensify product life; and introducing reuse models as the new default in businesses. In this session, representatives of governments, businesses and research institutes introduce multiple ways in which the circular economy can reduce the carbon footprint throughout the value chain, and how these can be incorporated in policymaking.

Speakers include:

• H.E. Ms Krista Mikkonen, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Finland
• Janez Potočnik, Co-Chair of UNEP International Resource Panel
• Edgar Hertwich, Panel member of UNEP International Resource Panel
• Andrew Spencer, Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Sustainability, and Enterprise Risk Management at CEMEX
• Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer at Mahindra Group
• Sophie van den Enk, Moderator

Other sessions on WCEF+Climate day 1

• Global Opening WCEF+Climate – Circular Economy by 2050: A Necessity for Climate Neutrality
• Globalising the Circular Economy Dialogue
• Decent Work and Circularity in the End-of-Use Plastics Value Chain
• Circular Economy: Crucial in Achieving the SDGs?
• Let’s Talk about Money: The Role of a Circular Economy in the Climate-Finance Nexus
• Closing Day 1 – Let’s Go Circular: Closing the Loop from a Business Perspective