24 January 2017: The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and its partners launched a Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The platform aims to enable greater cooperation among public and private-sector organizations to close the production-consumption loop, addressing problems of pollution and waste. PACE will contribute to achieving SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) by developing solutions for e-waste, plastic pollution and other SCP challenges.

PACE builds on a previous CEO-led initiative under WEF, Project MainStream, which sought to scale up circular economy innovations. PACE has three aims: developing models of blended financing for circular economy projects, especially in developing and emerging economies; creating policy frameworks to address specific barriers to advancing the circular economy; and promoting public-private collaboration for these purposes.

PACE is co-chaired by the CEO of Philips and the heads of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and UN Environment. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the International Resource Panel, Circle Economy and Accenture Strategy are knowledge partners in this initiative, and WEF hosts and facilitates the platform. Areas of focus include plastics, electronics, and food and the bio-economy. PACE seeks to transform business models and markets across China, Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa.

Alongside the launch of PACE at WEF, UN Environment announced its cooperation agreement with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The agreement will support joint action by the two organizations to strengthen the scientific basis for policy decisions, including at city level, to decouple economic development from environmental degradation.

Steven Stone, Chief of UN Environment’s Resource & Markets branch, stated that 2018 could be thought of as ‘the Year of Consuming and Producing Sustainably’. The High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF) will review achievements toward SDG 12 when it meets in New York in July.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK-registered not-for-profit organization established in 2010 with the support of several companies including Renault, the National Grid utilities company, and British Telecommunications in cooperation with Cisco. The Foundation’s mission is to promote acceleration toward a circular economy. The Foundation works with business, government and academia to design a ‘restorative and regenerative’ economy. [WEF Press Release] [UN Environment Press Release] [Ellen MacArthur Foundation Press Release] [International Resource Panel Press Release]