World Circular Economy Forum | Kigali, 5-8 December 2022
date: 24/01/2023
The World Circular Economy Forum 2022 (WCEF2022) brought together forward-looking thinkers and doers and presented the game-changers in the circular economy for the first time in Africa.
DAY 1
The opening session featured innovative African entrepreneurs leading the circular transition, positively impacting local communities. The conclusion of this session was that ‘we need all hands on deck because the transition to a circular economy cannot be done by one person or company’.
The second session ‘Circular economy for climate and nature’ brought reflections on the outcomes of global negotiations.
Davinah Milenge, principal programme coordinator at the African Development Bank, highlighted the importance of ensuring that Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) not become additional policy targets that replicate existing work, but rather help integrate the circular economy in existing areas to ensure more effective policy outcomes.
The third session ‘Circular trade and value chains’ explored inter-continental trade dynamics in Africa, stressing the potential of circular supply chains, trade and services related to electronic waste. The conclusion was that global trade powers our societies and economies, and a profound transformation of the economy can only be achieved if it is supported and enabled by international trade, and this cannot happen unless the international trade regime supports the transition.
The final session ‘Circular cities shaping the future’ underlined the role of circular infrastructure, food, water and waste management in the built environment. The main outcome of the session was that the future is increasingly urban, therefore we need to look at cities in a new way, for example, buildings as material banks and cities as carbon sinks. But creating a circular built environment requires co-operation and partnerships.
DAY 2
During the second day, the value of partnerships, policies, knowledge sharing and finance in the global circular transition was explored, ending with a look at local technologies and youth-led innovation.
Gaëtan Ducroux— International Policy Officer in charge of bilateral and regional environmental cooperation with Africa and South Asia at the European Commission Directorate General for Environment — participated in the session ‘Partnerships for a global circular economy’, which explored how countries can develop impactful and coherent circular economy policies through greater collaboration at regional and global levels.
DAY 3
On the third day, partner organizations and their collaborators lead Accelerator Sessions, outcome-oriented events that linked the WCEF2022 with the daily work needed for a circular transition.