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Environmental impacts – including climate change and pollution – cannot be effectively mitigated by focusing on emission reduction alone. The accelerated depletion of natural resources is at the heart of the climate, biodiversity and pollution challenges facing the world today. The level of resource use determines the magnitude of final waste and emissions released into the environment, making resource management and efficiency key strategies for environmental protection.

Reducing consumption remains one of the “elephants in the room” of sustainability thinking today. The latest research from academics, policymakers and campaigners looking closely at global resource flows could help determine what could make resource reduction politically feasible and the suitable legal approach to make it a reality.

The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform is organising this #EuCircularTalks event, on 25 November at 14:00 – 15:30 CET, as part of the official WCEF side events, to explore:

• Ways to govern the use of global resources in a sustainable and just manner
• Ways to reduce our total resource use while safeguarding human well-being and creating a just transition for all.

Draft programme

• Welcome and introduction
  Sofie Bouteligier, OVAM
• Introductory remarks
  Peter Schmidt, EESC member
• “An international agreement on natural resource management with specific focus on the implications for different groups of countries” (paper)
  Colette van der Ven, TULIP Consulting
• Rational use of resources and environmental justice
  Monika Dittrich, The European Environmental Bureau
• The challenges and possibilities of urban mining perspectives from Brazil
  Lucia Helena Xavier, CETEM
• Reflections on policies for resource use reduction
  Giovanni Santambrogio, DG ENV – European Commission
• Open discussion
• Conclusions and closing
  Sofie Bouteligier, OVAM