The 14th Edition of the EDDs took place on 15 – 16 June 2021 on “The Green Deal for a Sustainable Future” with a focus on two main topics: a green economy for people and nature, and protecting biodiversity and people. Organized by the European Commission, it is Europe’s leading global forum on international development since the year 2006.
SWITCH to Green together with UNIDO and the regional SWITCH programmes organised the lab debate: Building new partnerships to globally support EU priorities on the circular economy: The SWITCH to Green experience with SMEs establishing circular business models.
Circular economy is a key topic of our European green deal, which call for a global response to climate change and environmental degradation. The European Commission has recently adopted a European Union action plan on circular economy, that reaffirms once again the EU ambition to promote it in Europe and across the world”, stated Carla Montesi, Director at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA).
The panelists highlighted how circular economy helps SMEs not only address environmental impacts but also develop and contribute to decent jobs and the growth of their business. For example, the SWITCH project in Ghana created and sustained about 500 jobs in waste management, including in repair and re-manufacturing, with the majority of these jobs being in the informal sector, while the SwitchMed project in Morocco supported at least 2.000 new jobs.
Nilgün Tas, Deputy Director of UNIDO’s Department of Environment, said, “The SWITCH to Circular Economy Value Chains project provides sustainable value chain management as a drive and model for scaling up circular economic approaches through private sector led partnerships.”
The recording of the session is available here.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), co-organised the lab debates with key partners such as the SWITCH To Green Facility, the SWITCH Africa Green , switchMed and the SWITCH-Asia programme.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), co-organised two further lab debates with the EU, LKDF, UNOPS, FESTO, USAID & many more, inspiring new partnerships and innovative solutions to achieve a greener and more inclusive transition for people’s well-being and a healthy planet for the next generations:
The recording of the session is available here.
The recording of the session is available here