Event info

1 min

WCEF2018 speakers

Published

May 11, 2018

We’re excited to have the world’s top business leaders, policymakers, researchers and innovators speaking at the World Circular Economy Forum 2018.

Project

WCEF2018

The World Circular Economy Forum presents the world’s best circular economy solutions and brings together key circular economy thinkers and doers from around the world.

Kimmo Tiilikainen

Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing, Finland

Vice-President, European Commission

Izabella Teixeira

Co-chair, UNEP International Resource Panel

CEO and Chairperson, GEF

President, Japan Center for International Finance (JCIF)

Noriko Ishizaka

President, Ishizaka Sangyo Ltd.

Founder and President, “GPS-Dev” (Governance & Policies for Sustainable Development)

Fumiaki Koizumi

Chief Operating Officer, Mercari, Inc.

President, Resins & Functional Materials, DSM

Janez Potočnik

Co-chair, UNEP International Resource Panel

Director, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Julien Guerrier

Director, EASME

Deputy Secretary-General, OECD

Shardul Agrawala

Head of the Environment and Economy Integration Division, OECD Environment Directorate

Project Director, Resource-Wise Citizen, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Kaisa Koistinen

Director, Me & MyCity, Economic Information Office TAT

Verónica de la Cerda

Partner and CEO, TriCiclos Chile

Hidetoshi Nishimura

President, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)

Michikazu Kojima

Senior Economist, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)

President, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Project Director (Impact Investing), Sitra

Giorgos Demetriou

Professor, École des Ponts Business School and ENPC in Paris

Project Director, Circular Economy, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Head of Circular Economy Initiative, World Economic Forum

Director General for DG Environment, European Commission

Managing Director, World Resources Forum (WRF)

Venkatachalam Anbumozhi

Senior Economist, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)

Member on the Board of Directors, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Director, Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology

Senior Advisor, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Founder & CEO, Everledger

Roald P. Lapperre

Director General for the Environment and International Affairs, Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management

Research manager, sustainable materials management , VITO

Takayuki Kitajima

Representative Director & General Counsel, Unilever Japan Holdings KK

Executive Director, Circular Economy, IDEO

CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Director, Quest Associates

Founder and CEO, Plastic Bank

Director for Sustainable Consumption and Production, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

Sustainability Officer, Google

Jocelyn Blériot

Executive Officer, Head of International Institutions and Governments, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Managing Executive Officer, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC)

Policy Analyst at the Cities, Urban Policies, and Sustainable Development Division, OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities

Professor, Environmental Preservation Research Center, Kyoto University, Japan

Karl-H. Foerster

Executive Director, PlasticsEurope

Founder and Chairman, Development Alternatives

Takashi Shimazu

Director, Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. (TCRDL)

Executive Councilor / General Manager, Ricoh Group

Lena Pripp-Kovac

Head of Sustainability, Inter IKEA Group

SENIOR LEAD, RESOURCE-WISE CITIZEN, SITRA

Aimee T. Gonzales

Executive Director, Partnerships on Environmental Management for the Seas in East Asia (PEMSEA)

Senior Vice President, ESG Division, Kao Corporation

Yuichi Moriguchi

Professor at the Department of Urban Engineering, The University of Tokyo

Programme Officer, ICLEI East Asia Secretariat

Titoy Francisco

Executive Vice President, General Manager, Technical, Coca-Cola (Japan) Company, Limited

CEO, AMITA CORPORATION

Deputy Director, Economy Division, UN Environment

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment of Finland

Yoshihiro Yamamoto

Director-General, Environmental Regeneration and Material Cycles Bureau, Ministry of the Environment, Japan

Executive Director of the International Environmental Economic Affairs Department, Environment Bureau, the City of Kitakyushu

Director-General for Environmental Policy, Ministry of the Environment, Japan

Hironori Hamanaka

Chair & Special Research Advisor, ICLEI Japan & Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

Global Head of Sustainability, ING

Senior Lead, Business Development, Circular Economy, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Krista Huhtala-Jenks

Head of Ecosystem & Sustainability, MaaS Global Oy

Director, office of Environmental Education, Ministry of the Environment Japan

Takuya Kitatsuji

Osaka City Government, Japan

Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty

Environment Programme Coordinator/Expert, UNCRD/UN DESA

Sofie Bouteligier

Policy advisor, International Policy Unit, OVAM

Director General, Global Environment Department, JICA

Koichi Takahashi

CEO, Japan Food Ecology Center

Director, International Environmental Technology Centre, United Nations Environment Programme

Project leader, EDAG Engineering GmbH

Head of pre-development of R&D Laundry Care Competence Centre and Lead R&D engineer, Gorenje Group

Economist and Trade Policy Analyst, the Policies in Trade and Agriculture Division, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Director, the Division of Circular Economy Development, National Development and Reform Commission, the People's Republic of China

Executive General Manager, Toyota Motor Corporation

Chairman, Climate-KIC

Programme Director, Wipak

Yoshiki Takeoka

Managing Executive Officer & General Manager, New Business Development Department, Kaneka Corporation

Hiroshi Kuniyoshi

Deputy to the Director General and Managing Director, Directorate of External Relations and Policy Research, United Nations Industrial Development Organization

Chief of Rural Development and Food Security, Thematic Group, Development Bank

Wolfram Palitzsch

Chief technology officer (CTO), Loser Chemie GmbH

Edoardo Peterlini

SOFTline s.r.l.

Cesare Rapparini

Tsukasa Akimoto

State Minister of the Environment, Japan

Yoshiaki Harada

Minister of the Environment, Japan

Director General, Water Management and Resource Conservation, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

DirectoR, Office of the Secretary-General of ASEAN

Director General, Resources and Waste Recycling Bureau, City of Yokohama

Mayor, City of Yokohama

Government & Cities Programme Lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Senior Economist, The International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Jeanet van Antwerpen

CEO, Schiphol Area Development Company (SADC)

Massimiano Tellini

Global Head, Circular Economy, Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center

Global Sustainability Director, Whirlpool Corporation

Kazuhiko Takemoto

Director, UNU-IAS

Senior director of Operations Product Development and Environmental Initiatives, Apple

Chief Representative Officer, World Economic Forum Japan , Member of Executive Committee, World Economic Forum

Markus Laubscher

Program manager Circular Economy, Philips

Trade and Environment Specialist, Trade policy unit, Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Director, Solid Waste Management

Director, Mobility Service Promotion Office, Information Service Development Division, SoftBank Corp.

Yoshie Munakata

Business Innovation Producer, B. Grove Inc.

Recommended

Have some more.

Apply metrics and regulation to scale up circular solutions

Leading multilateral development banks tighten their collaboration to accelerate the circular economy

Engage the youth and regenerate nature – strong messages from the World Circular Economy Forum

How popular is the circular economy with Nordic consumers?  

Wanted: Circular Solutions for Nature. Submit your solution now!

We are looking for the leading European companies with circular economy solutions for nature – apply to participate!

Hand holding Sitra memorandum Putting nature at the heart of European Green Deal

Putting nature at the heart of the European Green Deal

european green deal 2.0

Sitra’s proposal to the next European Commission: put nature at the heart of decision-making and continue the European Green Deal

Questions and answers

FAQ on the list of circular economy solutions for nature

Nordic circular solutions tackle biodiversity loss

Top circular economy event calls for future-proofing of investment portfolios

Revolution and the WCEF

Finnish researchers developed a nature footprint indicator for companies – pilot project mapped S Group’s harmful ecosystem impacts

How will food be produced and what will Finns eat in the future? New study anticipates a major food transformation by 2050

sitra memorandum: nature safeguards our economy

Nature safeguards our economy

Call for WCEF2023 Studio applications

Collective action for biodiversity starts with learning

Show all

What's this about?

WCEF2018

The World Circular Economy Forum presents the world’s best circular economy solutions and brings together key circular economy thinkers and doers from around the world.

A circular economy

Circular economy solutions are needed to safeguard biodiversity and solve the climate crisis. In a circular economy we maintain the value of what we produce through smarter design and shifting from owning products to using services.

Sustainability solutions

Our daily lives, decision-making practices and business can fit within the earth’s carrying capacity. It pays to seize sustainable solutions right now, as they can help us stop overconsumption and biodiversity loss and mitigate climate change.