11 April 2025

PAGE Powers Circular Economy Policy Innovation at the upcoming WCEF in Brazil

The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) will participate in the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) 2025, marking its first occurrence in South America at Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil, on 13-14, with global accelerator sessions scheduled for 15-16 May. As a partner country of PAGE, the forum in Brazil serves as a significant platform for advancing PAGE’s strategy, enabling transformative policy influence by bridging PAGE’s global thought leadership with impactful country-level initiatives.

Co-organizing the accelerator sessions “Scaling Pathways for a Just Transition” and “Economic Drivers for Circularity: Secondary Materials and Beyond,” PAGE and its partners will discuss respectively the alignment of circularity with development and climate goals, including financial transitions, jobs, and supply chains and address macroeconomic policies and practices to enhance secondary materials markets and promote inclusive growth.

Additionally, PAGE will support an event led by the Global Green Growth Partnership (GGKP) on digital tools and a regional workshop led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In this context, on 12 and 16 May, UNDP will facilitate a regional South-South exchange workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean, concentrating on the integration of circularity into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

PAGE’s catalytic engagement at WCEF will play a crucial role in fostering systemic change aimed at promoting systemic change to develop inclusive and sustainable economies worldwide. PAGE partner agencies such as UNEP, UNIDO and UNDP will also play an active role in the forum as partners of the main event.

Open to online and in-person participation, the ninth edition of the WCEF 2025 will explore sustainable growth, regenerative economies, and the production sector’s role in transitioning to a circular economy, offering actionable insights for policymakers, industry leaders, and investors.

What to expect in 2025?

WCEF 2025, the world’s leading event on the circular economy, will focus on sustainable growth, regenerative economies, bioeconomy strategies, and the production sector’s role in transitioning to a circular economy.

The forum aims to generate actionable insights and momentum for adopting circularity principles globally, particularly in the context of the post-2030 global framework.

The forum in Brazil, a PAGE partner country, is a pivotal platform for advancing the PAGE’s strategy, enabling transformative policy influence by bridging PAGE’s global thought leadership with impactful country-level initiatives. PAGE’s catalytic engagement at WCEF amplifies its role in driving systemic change toward inclusive, sustainable economies worldwide.

PAGE’s sessions will provide practical solutions for policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to advance inclusive green and circular economies through cross-sector collaboration, financial innovation, and South-South cooperation.

PAGE at WCEF 2025

PAGE is supporting UNDP’s session on “Accelerating the just energy transition with a responsible critical minerals lifecycle” to be held on 13 May as part of the WCEF main programme. This session will discuss how circular economy strategies can promote nature-positive policies, technologies, and financing that support sustainable development while respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and vulnerable communities affected by mining throughout the mineral value chain.

On 15 May, alongside with Green Economy Coalition with the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI), EU Policy and Outreach Partnerships (EU Del Brazil/EU POP), Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP), Partners for Inclusive Green Economy (PIGE), PAGE will co-organize a session titled “Scaling pathways for a just transition,” addressing how nations can align circularity with development and climate goals, covering topics like financial transitions, jobs, skills, incomes, and supply chains.

Additionally, on 16 May, PAGE and UNIDO will lead a session on “Economic Drivers for Circularity: Secondary Materials and Beyond” exploring macroeconomic policies, investment options, and industry practices to build robust secondary materials markets, promote inclusive growth, and enhance industry competitiveness.

On the same day, PAGE is supporting the GGKP session on digital tools that empower policymakers and businesses to easily navigate an ocean of knowledge, assess actions to date, and track progress throughout their circular economy journey. The event titled ‘Harnessing the power of digital tools to accelerate circular actions‘ will be in-person and online.

Interested participants can check the WCEF programme and register online to join.

Regional South-South Exchange Workshop

On the sidelines of the WCEF 2025 in Sao Paolo, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) will lead on 12 and 16 May a regional capacity-building and south-south exchange workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean, titled “Building Circularity into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – A Practical Toolbox”.

The two-day workshop aims to enhance policymakers’ abilities to incorporate circular economy strategies into NDCs through hands-on exercises, facilitate knowledge sharing, and encourage south-south collaboration. Participants will include government focal points for climate change and sustainable consumption, resource experts, project partners, donors, and private sector representatives Additionally, the workshop will gather feedback to improve the toolbox for future applications.

Country representatives from Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Guatemala, Peru and Uruguay as well as UN representatives from the Latin America and Caribbean region will join this workshop.

This invite-only event is co-organized by the UNDP, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with support from the Netherlands and PAGE.

Previously at the WCEF

PAGE has participated actively in the WCEF 2022 and 2024, contributing to global discussions on sustainable and circular economies.

At WCEF 2022, held in Kigali, Rwanda, PAGE met with H.E. Minister of State in Charge of Economic Planning Dr Uwera and the Minister of Environment Dr. Jean d’Arc Mujawamariya to discuss enhancing coordination for a sustainable green economy and circular practices to boost well-being, nature preservation, and economic competitiveness. PAGE also joined a panel on “Small Green Enterprise in East Africa, Powering a Circular Economy Transition” and laid groundwork for collaboration with Rwanda, which joined PAGE in June 2022.

At WCEF 2024 in Brussels, South Africa’s green economy initiatives were showcased in a session on April 18, led by the EU and PAGE, highlighting global circular economy progress. On April 15, a PAGE-supported discussion, “The People Driving Change Today,” hosted by the International Labour Organization, Circle Economy Foundation, and the World Bank’s Solutions for Youth Employment Programme, emphasized the circular economy’s role in fostering innovation, economic growth, and decent jobs, featuring entrepreneurs, policymakers, and UN officials. Additionally, PAGE launched its updated strategy on April 15, outlining a new phase to drive global economic transformation through innovation, responsiveness, and alumni networks, promoting best practices for a sustainable green economy.

PAGE in Brazil

Brazil will continue their journey with PAGE to transform economies into drivers of sustainability – being the first countries confirmed in 2024 for strategic policy support under the updated Strategy. Since 2024, PAGE has been supporting the Brazilian Federal Government in the Ecological Transformation Plan (ETP), through the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with other ministries, in modelling the potential economic, environmental and social impacts of the ETP. With its global response mechanism ready to tackle urgent requests for economic policy advisory support, PAGE provides a timely solution for implementing Brazil’s actions across the Plan’s six thematic axes: Bioeconomy, Technological Densification, Green Infrastructure, Energy Transition, Circular Economy, and Sustainable Finance.

Learn more

About PAGE

The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) is a collaborative initiative bringing together five United Nations agencies—UNEP, ILO, UNDP, UNIDO, and UNITAR—to support countries in transitioning to inclusive, green, and sustainable economies. Launched in 2013, PAGE works with governments and key stakeholders to foster policies and practices that promote sustainable finance, green jobs and just transition, and circularity. By providing technical assistance, capacity building, and knowledge sharing, PAGE helps nations achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and meet climate commitments while ensuring equitable growth.