WCEF2019 Speakers

We’re excited to have the world’s top business leaders, policymakers, researchers and innovators speaking at the World Circular Economy Forum 2019.

Image: Sara Vihavainen

Published

December 18, 2018

Project

WCEF2019

The World Circular Economy Forum 2019 in Helsinki, Finland on 3-5 June 2019 built the next era of the circular economy.

Published

December 18, 2018

Vice President, Sustainable Development, The World Bank

Flemming Besenbacher

Chairman, Carlsberg Group and Carlsberg Foundation

Vice-President, European Investment Bank EIB

Torbjörn Lööf

CEO, Inter IKEA Group

Chief Executive Director , Beijing Future Innovation Center

Director, Economy Division, UN Environment

President & CEO , World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Minister of Environment, Republic of Rwanda

Asistant Secretary General for Economic Development and Chief Economist , United Nations

Esther Agricola

Director for Urban Planning and Sustainability, City of Amsterdam

Vice President, New Business Development and CSR , Uponor Group

Marleena Ahonen

Project coordinator, Circular economy , Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Tsukasa Akimoto

State Minister of the Environment, Japan

Founder, writer, editor and moderator, The Nzinga Effect

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

Damiano Avellino

Jocelyn Blériot

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

Executive Vice President , Stora Enso Consumer Board Division

Hans Bruyninckx

Executive Director, European Environment Agency

Jamie Butterworth

Partner, Circularity Capital

Lead, Waste Management and Resource Productivity

Director-General for Environment, European Comission

Kok Chung Cheang

Deputy Director-General, National Environment Agency, Singapore

Senior Policy Advisor , Environment and Climate Change Canada

Lindsay Clinton

Senior Vice President, NYC Economic Development Corporation

Higher Education Network Manager , Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Deputy Director, Environment Directorate , Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Gwenole Cozigou

Director, DG GROW, European Commission

Executive Director, Center for the Circular Economy, Closed Loop Partners

Deputy Director General , Bruxelles Environnement

Annerieke Douma

Director for Cities and Regions, Circle Economy

Chief Executive Officer, EIT Climate-KIC

Founder, Green Venture Recycles

Lorraine Francourt

Director of Chemicals Management Policy and Circular Economy, Dow

CEO, Circle Economy

Arturo de la Fuente

Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission, Eurostat

Álvaro García

Director, Planning and Budget Office, Presidency of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay

Assistant Deputy Minister, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Director, Gauge

Ladeja Godina Košir

Founder, Executive Director, Circular change

Liesbet Goovaerts

Environmental Engineer, European Investment Bank (EIB)

WSSC Student Ambassador for India, Student , St. George’s College, Mussoorie, India

Guillermo González

Head of the Circular Economy Office , Ministry of the Environment of Chile

Julien Guerrier

Director, EASME

Director, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Programme Director, Wipak

Project Director, Circular Economy, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Executive Vice President, Head of Extruded Solutions , Hydro

Jelmer Hoogzaad

Founder, Shifting Paradigms

CEO, London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB)

Markku Hämäläinen

CEO, Kotkamills Oy

Director General, Moroccan Research Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN)

Jaakko Kangasniemi

CEO, Finnfund (Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd.)

Daniel Kaufmann

Leading Specialist, Circular economy, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Henrietta Kekäläinen

Entrepeneur, Carbo Culture

Senior Director, Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice, The World Bank

Partner, Material Economics

Joost de Kluijver

Director, Closing the Loop (CTL)

Monika Koncz-MacKenzie

Learning Innovation Manager , Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Co-Founder & Chief Data Scientist, Swap.com

President, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Executive Director, Helsinki metropolitan Smart & Clean Foundation

Paula Lehtomäki

Secretary General, Nordic Council of Ministers

Director, Trade and Environment Division, World Trade Organization

President and CEO, Fortum Corporation

Ditte Lysgaard Vind

Managing Partner, Lendager TCW

CEO, Avanto Ventures

Head of Circular Economy, Enel Holding

President, WssTP, the European Water Platform

Chief Director, Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa

Ashleigh Morris

President, Finnish Agenda 2030 Youth Group

Secretary-General, China Plastics Reuse and Recycling Association (CPRRA)

Vice President, Development Alternatives Group, India

Director of Climate Change and Green Growth, African Development Bank

Professor and Chair of Green Economy and Resource Governance, EPFL

Principal and Partner, Gray Organschi Architecture

Senior Economist, The International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

Leading Specialist, Circular economy , Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Director, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Executive Vice President and CTO , SSAB AB

Project Director, Climate Solutions, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Janez Potočnik

CO-CHAIR, UNEP INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE PANEL

Stefan Ranstrand

CEO, TOMRA Systems ASA

Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure & Real Assets, Ultra Capital

Governor, Bank of Finland

Amanda Rejström

Co-Founder and CEO, Spark Sustainability

Philippa Roberts

Managing Director, Low and Behold

Director of Environmental Services and Technologies, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa

Vice Minister, Ministry of Environment, Peru

Analyst, World Bank Water Global Practice

Founder and Director, Shaba Green Building Design & Engineering

Riitta Silvennoinen

Specialist, Circular economy, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Project Director, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Post-doctoral researcher and Project coordinator, Aalto University

Member on the Board of Directors, Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Circular and Waste Manager, Ingka Group (Formerly IKEA Group)

Martin Stuchtey

Co-founder and managing partner, SYSTEMIQ

Massimiano Tellini

Global Head, Circular Economy, Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center

Senior Director Sustainability and leader of the Circular Economy Program, Philips

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

Kimmo Tiilikainen

Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing, Finland

Executive Director, One Earth

Head of the Consumption and Production Unit, UN Environment, Economy Division

President and CEO, Fiskars Group

Entrepeneur, Angaza

Professor, Head of the Department of Built Environment, Aalto University, School of Engineering

Mayor of Helsinki, City of Helsinki

President and CEO, VTT Ltd

Stientje van Veldhoven

Minister for the Environment, The Netherlands

Senior lecturer , University of Exeter Centre for the Circular Economy

CEO, Peerby.com

European Commissioner for Environment, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs

Chairman, Climate-KIC

Director, Quest Associates

Recent Graduate, Yale University

Tiina Zilliacus

Entrepreneur, growth advisor, business angel

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What's this about?

WCEF2019

The World Circular Economy Forum 2019 in Helsinki, Finland on 3-5 June 2019 built the next era of the circular economy.

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.