On 22-23 November 2021, more than 40 policy experts and business leaders from European and Latin American and Caribbean countries came together in the webinar entitled "Circular Economy – Governance and Scale: Europe & Latin America and the Caribbean in conversation about circular transition", co-organised by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the EU-LAC Foundation, in partnership with Exchange 4 Change Brazil (E4CB), Circular Change, and the Brazilian Centre for International Relations (CEBRI) to further the discussion between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on governance issues regarding the change of economic paradigm and circular transformative processes in both regions. The webinar was held in the framework of the presidency of Slovenia of the Council of the European Union and the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the EU-LAC Foundation and is part of the sustainable, resilient and inclusive economy agenda of the Foundation.
With the EU Green Deal, circular economy has become a top priority for the climate-neutral, resource-efficient, and competitive European economy. The EU Circular Economy Action Plan recognizes that while Europe intends to lead the process of circular transition, it cannot achieve transformative change by acting alone, thus requiring a global effort and outreach. The LAC region is a natural partner of the EU in transformative global change. The region is focused on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda with special emphasis on sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12) through the promotion of innovation, sustainable infrastructure, and an inclusive and circular economy. While a wide and diverse network of dialogue and collaborations already exists between Europe and LAC in the area of circular economy, a more systemic bi-regional dialogue is still under construction. Hence, this webinar was organised to bring this dialogue on the bi-regional potential on these matters further.
The two-day event offered a platform for business leaders from selected sectors to share their experience and expertise as well as engage in the dialogue about openings for new circular partnerships. The encouraging discussions were guided towards exploring potential leads for new business opportunities and featured interventions by high-level panellists, important entrepreneurs, and experts from EU and LAC countries.
The first high-level panel on Monday, 22 November, addressed the need to set a broad canvas on future strategies and addressed the question of how to scale up and enhance the strategic bi-regional partnership to promote a more sustainable economic system. Key contributions were made by the State Secretary for Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Crafts, Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Polona Rifelj, the Vice-minister of Energy and Environmental Quality, Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, Rolando Castro Córdoba, the Secretary of Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Innovation from the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina, Rodrigo Rodríguez Tornquist, the Deputy Managing Director for Americas, European External Action Service, Javier Niño Pérez, Deputy Director-General, Directorate for International Partnerships, European Commission, Marjeta Jager, and the Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Ecuador, Cristina Solis. The panel was moderated by the Ambassador of Slovenia to Brazil, Gorazd Renčelj.
The panellists suggested that the EU and LAC recognize each other as natural partners with great potential to lower carbon emissions and to achieve a circular transition that must be just and inclusive, i.e. by including a myriad of stakeholders from all sectors of society such as firms, consumers, academia, researchers, governments, and public institutions. Moreover, they agreed on the importance of sharing a common vision and a global approach towards a circular economy, while respecting each countries’ different standpoints and the necessity to link policies and governments to their people. All things considered, they shared the view that a circular economy is an opportunity to fundamentally improve the systems that deliver core material societal needs. In addition, those present underlined the important role of the EU-LAC Foundation in promoting spaces for dialogue in which different actors can learn from each other’s experiences.
Afterwards, Dr Janez Potočnik, Co-chair of the International Resources Panel gave a keynote speech on the topic of “Governing the circular transition – The case for European/Latin American partnership in the Green Post-Pandemic Recovery". This was followed by an exchange on how to concretize circular economy initiatives through circular roadmaps. Similarly, innovative circular businesses were discussed in the example of textiles and the fashion industry. Lastly, Dr Stanislav Raščan, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Minister for Development, Slovenia, underlined that circular economy features as one of Slovenia’s main priorities of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and therefore of its relations with LAC.
On Tuesday, 23 November, the second part of the webinar focused on network governance as a strategy to facilitate the circular transition process. Network governance is a horizontal form of governance that implies including plenty of stakeholders from various societal sectors in policy decisions, also considering actors and executers on the ground. The discussion was initiated by Ladeja Godina Košir, Founder and Director of the Circular Change & Chair of CG of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP), as she presented the Leadership Group within the ECESP that works on the network governance and the role of the circular economy hubs. Following, invited experts participated in a “Fireside Chat” on the topic and agreed on the need to overcome the drawbacks of traditional governance limited to medium-term administration periods. Network governance has thus the potential to guarantee that transformative initiatives like circular economy are set forward in the long run and not changed by newly entering administrations. Likewise, the participants stressed the importance of actors such as transition brokers for building bridges to link and bring together academia and industry and the private and the public sector on the micro and macrolevel.
Furthermore, the second session of the day was focused on the theme “circular business: the future of living”. In this panel, renowned entrepreneurs from different LAC and EU countries presented innovative projects and practices that the private sector in both regions has already undertaken to further the path to a circular economy way of production. The participants shared the viewpoint that for it to prosper, a circular economy needs to be a global endeavour with localized strategies, plans of action, and roadmaps. Moreover, they emphasised the need for dialogue, ambition, mutual understanding, and willingness to work together, setting aside political differences and interest conflicts.
