At the latest World Economic Forum (WEF, Geneva / Switzerland; www.weforum.org) in Davos, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF, Cowes / UK; www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP, Nairobi / Kenya; www.unep.org) announced the start of a new agreement on 24 January. The focus is to “accelerate” a shift towards a circular economy, which supports sustainable consumption and production processes that are in line with the UN’s sustainability goals. The WEF's theme was “Creating a shared future in a fractured world”. Appropriately, the two organisations plan to stimulate public-private sector engagement and solutions, and strengthen scientific bases for policy decisions to “decouple economic development from environmental degradation.”

The announcement was made alongside the launch of the WEF’s Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE; www.acceleratecirculareconomy.org), which is to bring companies, organisations and governments together for creating partnerships that drive global and regional actions. This includes developing blended financing models for circular economy projects, especially in developing economies, creating and adjusting policy frameworks to address specific barriers and enabling public-private collaborations to scale-up impact around circular economy initiatives.

In an interview with Reuters, UNEP executive director Erik Solheim said China's plastics waste imports ban can be a signal for wealthy countries to increase recycling and reduce non-essential products usage. Solheim said he heard “some complaints from Europeans,” but China’s decision should be seen as a positive service to the country’s population, as well as a signal to the rest of the world.

The EMF also announced the five winners of its “Circular Materials Challenge” innovation competition at the WEF – see Plasteurope.com of 25.01.2018. Each prize was worth USD 200,000 (EUR 163,336).