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WRF 2023

Rethinking Value - Resources for Planetary Wellbeing

We live in times of economic, social and environmental disruption. The economic model we have relied upon has been driving the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss ad pollution. Time for systemic change has never been more urgent. 

WRF23 puts global resource use at the core of a broader economic and societal paradigm shift, calling for a collaborative and effective strategy to respond to the triple planetary crisis and pave the way for a future delivering wellbeing for all within planetary boundaries. 

DATES: 4-6 September 2023

LOCATION: Geneva, Switzerland

FORMAT: Hybrid

Conference Tracks

Three disruptive transitions

WRF23 put resource use at the core of a broader societal paradigm shift through both a macro- and micro-perspective on value creation, spanning from inter-governmental resource governance to globalised value chains and individual resource use.  The conference focused on three major transitions with a high potential for transforming systems towards sustainability.

SUFFICIENCY

From a consumer to a sufficient society

DIGITALISATION

From growth to purpose

VALUE CHAINS

From extractive to regenerative value chains

Read the Report

Conference Report

WRF’23 took place on 4-6 September 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland and online. The three-day event welcomed over 500 participants in Geneva and 1000 online, including international policy-makers, scientists, UN organisations, financial actors and civil society organisations. The event was hosted by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, and supported by main partners International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Empa, International Resource Panel (IRP) and ETH-Rat.

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SESSIONS

UNEP Global Intergovernmental Meeting on Minerals and Metals

The Road to UNEA 6

WRF23 was organised back-to-back with the UNEP Global Intergovernmental Meeting on Minerals and Metals Management.  In its resolution 5/12, the United Nations Environment Assembly requested to convene transparent and inclusive intergovernmental regional consultations to feed into a global intergovernmental meeting, with the aim of developing non-prescriptive proposals to enhance the environmental sustainability of minerals and metals along their full life cycle.

The Global Intergovernmental Meeting took place on 7-8 September 2023 at CICG Geneva. WRF23 served as a supportive platform to advance the conversation and highlight solutions that may improve the environmental performance of global mineral value chains.

Impressions from WRF23

Videos

After Movie

Intro Movie

Image Gallery

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Quotes

Yamina Saheb

We could reduce global emissions by 2050 by more than half if we consider sufficiency policies.

Lewis Akenji

We are not going to solve the ecological crisis without addressing the social tensions we have in our systems.

Siddhart Kara

It is the lack of equitable allocation of value that leads to so many negative consequences at the bottom of value chains. You cannot hope to achieve a regenerative value chain until you change that.

Paul Ekins

Currently, the main rule of the game is that the polluter does not pay. We don't pay for carbon, we don't pay for the real costs of raw materials, and we don't pay for the environmental impacts.

Susanne Guth-Orlowski

Digital product passports are not going to be the next big cash cow for software companies. Data exchange technology needs to be cheap and easy to access.

Luis Neves

The digital industry, as any other industry, needs to have a purpose. The enabling impact of digital technologies can be an answer to the challenges we are facing in relation to climate change.

Sheila Agarwal-Khan

How can we call it a clean energy transition, if the minerals and metals required for these applications are sourced in a way that causes biodiversity loss and pollution?