On 09/09/2021, Centre for Responsible Business and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) organised a World Circular Economy Forum side event titled “CircularEconomy: Opportunies & Challenges for countries of the Global South”.

This event is aimed at various stakeholders from the Global North (policy actors, academia and private sector players such as large brands and supply chain companies), emerging CE actors in the Global South, and international organisations that can drive. This session, designed as a panel discussion, aims to bring perspectives from countries of the Global South (India, Kenya and Vietnam) to highlight the opportunities, challenges and potential solutions.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Quan, Director of the Institute for Circular Economy Development (ICED) attended this event as a guest speaker, he shared his perspectives on: “What are the challenges for promoting circular practices in Vietnam? How does the Institute address some of the challenges? How does it engage with different stakeholders? What are some of the innovations facilitating action on circularity?”

Experts in the discussion panel include: Dr. Lai Van Manh, Head of the Department of Economics of Natural Resources and Environment at the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), MONRE; Mr. Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra & Mahindra Group (he is also the Chairman of the Circular Economy Working Group at FICCI); Ms. Noreen Nthiga, SME Advisory, Executive Office of the President, Kenya; Mr. Newton Owino (Director, Alisam Products) – A business working in Kenya on silk rearing (engaging with farmers), silk yarn and other products; Prof. Prasanta Dey – Professor, Operations and Information Management, Aston Business School (with research focus on SMEs and circularity amongst other areas).

The program was a great success and laid the initial foundation for the development of a cooperative network between the Institute of Circular Economy Development (ICED) and government and private entities in the Global South in the future.

Link to watch recorded event: https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6841709735402618880/

Agenda

Time	Speaker	Topic/ Question
6:00 pm IST	Devyani Hari, Centre for Responsible Business	Welcome the participants and hand over to Rijit
6:01 pm – 6:05 pm IST	Rijit Sengupta, CEO, Centre for Responsible Business	Setting the context
6:05 pm – 6: 10 pm IST	Erin Tansey	Special Remarks
6:10 – 7:30 pm IST: Panel discussion starts (Chair and Panel introduced by Devyani Hari)
6:10 – 6:20 pm	Ms. Izabella Teixeira, Co-Chair, International Resource Panel	Global perspectives and trends towards circularity. Also touch upon perspectives of Global North and South. Current scenario in Brazil
6:20 – 7:15 pm IST (55 mins) 7-8 mins per speaker	Dr. Lai Van Manh, Head of the Department of Economics of Natural Resources and Environment at the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), MONRE.	Highlight the government’s perspective on opportunities for circular economy in Vietnam and how policies are supporting such a transition. Can also touch upon major challenges perceived to achieve circular objectives
	Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Hồng Quân (Quan), Member of the Council Board, Director, Institute For Circular Economy Development (ICED), Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City (VNU – HCM)	What are the challenges for promoting circular practices in Vietnam? How does the Institute address some of the challenges? How does it engage with different stakeholders? What are some of the innovations facilitating action on circularity
	Mr. Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra & Mahindra Group (he is also the Chairman of the Circular Economy Working Group at FICCI)	Current state of the conversation on circularity in India for businesses? What is the potential for job creation through circularity? What are challenges for business or supply chains for circularity? Can you share some innovations or practices that support circular models
	Ms. Noreen Nthiga, SME Advisory, Executive Office of the President, Kenya	What role does a circular transition play in the priorities of the Kenyan government? How are policies considering and supporting such a transition especially for SMEs? What are the main challenges that policy actors face when integrating circular considerations?
	Mr. Newton Owino (Director, Alisam Products) A business working in Kenya on silk rearing (engaging with farmers), silk yarn and other products.	What opportunities do you see for circular economy in your business? What are some of the challenges that you face in pursuing circularity? What support do businesses need in order to adopt more sustainable and circular practices?
	Prof. Prasanta Dey Professor, Operations and Information Management, Aston Business School (with research focus on SMEs and circularity amongst other areas)	Given your experience of working with stakeholders both in developed and emerging economies can you share your experiences on how is circularity driven through different economies? (covering some examples of what you are doing in UK, other European countries, Kenya, Vietnam and India, role of different stakeholders and differences in the approaches) How can the Global North support initiatives in emerging and developing economies?
7:15 pm – 7:30 pm	Q&A
7:30 pm – 7:35 pm	Vote of Thanks- Dr. Bhim Adhikari, IDRC