Geneva, 19 October 2017 Well over 400 participants have registered for WRF 2017, the annual World Resources Forum that this year has changed its venue from Davos to the Swiss “UN capital” Geneva. The two-day conference will be opened on the 24th of October by Valentin Zellweger, the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in Geneva. Various (by invitation only) side-events will take place before and after the conference, held in the prestigious CICG Conference Centre.

Jørgen Randers
Professor Emeritus, Climate Strategy, BI Norwegian Business School

Highlights of the plenary sessions include a special keynote presentation by Club of Rome “Limits to Growth” author Jørgen Randers, and a Business Panel about the Resource Revolution with high-level representatives from LafargeHolcim, ICMM, the World Materials Forum, the Swiss Environmental Office FOEN and the UN Economic Commission for Europe, chaired by Climate-KIC Chair and former Member of European Parliament Anders Wijkman. 

Another highlight will be the WRF 2017 plenary discussion about the interface between science and society with Doaa Abdel-Motaal (Executive Director, Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health), Harry Lehmann (General Director, German Federal Environment Agency), Janez Potočnik (Co-Chair UN Environment International Resource Panel, RP, former EC), Mathis Wackernagel (President, Global Footprint Network) and Solitaire Townsend (Founder, Futerra).

The Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information, resulting from an international, multi-stakeholder process, led by UN Environment and the International Trade Centre in the framework of the 10-year Consumer Information Programme will be launched and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation will present its New Plastics Economy Initiative.

Partner workshops will be held on various topics related to the main theme of the WRF 2017 conference, by among others the German International Cooperation Organisation GiZ, the StEP Initiative, the Concrete Sustainability Council, VITO, ESM, EIT Raw Materials and UNECE, the Innaxis Research Institute with the Spanish Research Council, UNIDO and the Confederation of the Indian Industry, the European Geological Surveys, the German Federal Environmental Agency UBA, the World Resources Institute, Swisscontact, ReProMag consortium, Ecole Polytecnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Development Alternatives Group and the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production CSCP, Carbon Trust and Business Models.

A workshop on international cooperation on Raw Materials by European Union Horizon 2020 programs will for the first time ever bring together all related project leaders and consortiums, an initiative of the FORAM project. In a special (by invitation only) back to back event progress made with the Swiss-funded SRI (Sustainable Recycling Industries) initiative will be reviewed with Swiss-based permanent representatives to the UN. Download here the full workshop program. 

Scientific sessions will be organised on measuring resource efficiency, society and sustainable consumption, renewable and eco-efficient energy, sustainable construction and smart cities and the water-food nexus, circular economy, zero waste, critical metals and minerals, lifecycle analysis, resource governance and Sustainable Development Goals, SDG’s. Almost 150 leading scientists from all regions of the world will present and discuss their work in a highly interactive format, chaired by scientific chair prof. Christian Ludwig and scientific co-chair prof. Sonia Valdiva.  Download here the full scientific program.

As a side-event the 10th Anniversary of UN Environment’s International Resource Panel (IRP) will be celebrated with a special cocktail at the occasion of United Nations Day (October 24).  Download the full WRF2017 program here (PDF). 

The very popular WRF Cinema will be in the program again, offering movies, short documentaries and short videos related to the Sustainable Development Goals, along with free samples of fairtrade Maya popcorn. Download full WRF2017 Cinema program here (PDF).

More WRF 2017 information

Two years after the establishment of two historic global agreements – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – leaders and other change agents from government, business, research and NGOs will come to Geneva (Switzerland), host of the United Nations, to talk about how to accelerate the Resource Revolution.The theme is based upon the joint WRF/UN Environment IRP online course for business.

All information can be found on the social media and conference website. Or write to info@wrforum.org

Online registration is open until October 23