The second edition of the World Circular Economy Summit began in the Córdoba Fair Complex and in the Convention Center of the capital city, where local speakers and speakers from different countries raised scenarios of “circular transformation” and the challenges of acting “now” to mitigate the effects of climate change and promote the recycling of materials and products.
The modality of the summit is both virtual and face-to-face, which gave the possibility that 20,000 people signed up to participate actively, exchanging opinions with exhibitors and entering the world of new environmental trends.
Unlike the last edition, this year at the summit extra events added as the first World Fair of the Circular Economy, to boost the emerging market; the first day of Sustainable Mobility; Circular Experiences; a space dedicated to Environmental Education and the ideathon, which was already developed in 2021, in which proposals aimed at solving the challenges of the current production and consumption model will be selected.
The first speaker of the meeting was the iMayor of Montevideo, Carolina Cossewho assured that one of the main objectives of its management at the head of the commune of the Uruguayan capital is the environmental care.
“We took office in November 2020 and we have set ourselves as one of the objectives, I would say the main one, around the environment, to reverse a world trajectory that seems dangerous to us, which is being carried out in terms of environmental damage, increase in poverty and inequality,” Cosse said.
Regarding the actions carried out in the Uruguayan capital, the community leader of the Broad Front stated that “we have developed new strategies in terms of reagents and recyclable materials, in terms of electric mobility, sanitation, public spaces, squares and bodies of water, which abound in Montevideo, and we have done it under a concept of ‘greener Montevideo'”.
‘Greener Montevideo‘ “seeks to highlight our own environmental values such as our coast, our streams, our wetlands, through new actions that have a very high citizen participation in order to work together for a cultural change,” added the community chief.
To its turn, Nick Hurd, former British ministersaid that in his country they have “a circular economy plan that is quite comprehensive, very relevant.”
“The circular economy is central to the climate changeand from my personal point of view it is also critical to the long-term resilience and prosperity of our regional economies,” Hurd said.
“I see throughout Europe that they are working together to be able to unlock this opportunity, and this is a huge challenge for governments so that it is not only a regulatory agent, but must be as up-to-date as possible when using the different tools available, in order to dissolve all barriers and thus generate new markets for the circular economy”, added the British leader.
“We have to work together, we have to learn from each other to be successful, and we must be able to recognize that talking is not enough, and that in politics the challenge is always to get things done,” he added.
Later, Belgian Gunter Pauliauthor of the book “The Blue Economy”, -by participating remotely- said that “Argentina is a country with great potential”.
“The circular economy is not only solving the garbage problem, it is an attempt and a need to change the business model,” the specialist added.
“I always want to show what is possible, I don’t want to talk about dreams or the prospects for 2030. I need to know what needs to be done today, and we have to extend the concept of the circular economy to all the logic that is the regeneration of ecosystems,” said Pauli.
“To pollute less is to pollute, you cannot pollute”, Pauli sentenced.
In its host role of the event, the mayor of the city of Córdoba, Martín Llaryora, said “we have to act in defense of the planet, we cannot wait”.
“This fight is no longer just for future generations, it is for ours. We must be the leaders of this new paradigm and act in defense of our planet,” said the municipal president.
#NOW | In the Inaugural Act of the Summit, the mayor speaks @MartinLlaryora: “It is incredible and the great repercussion it has had fills us with pride. Let us think that there are already more than 20 thousand registered. It makes us one of the summits of #CircularEconomy more important”. pic.twitter.com/2CNh4AQ4CM
– Municipality of Córdoba (@MuniCba) June 15, 2022
The circular economy is a new paradigm that seeks to redefine the ideals of growth and development, it aims to transform the current production and consumption model and move from a linear economy of extraction, production, consumption and waste to a circular, efficient and responsible one with the use of the resources.
The World Summit on the Circular Economy, which will end tomorrow, It will have the presence of speakers from different parts of the world, especially Africa and Asia, and the closing will be in charge of the Colombian Francisco Vera Manzanares, a 12-year-old environmental activist.
