PACE, the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy, is pleased to announce that four new members are joining its board of directors. Coming from government, business and civil society, the new board members bring years of experience and leadership to help address the consumption challenge and speed up the transition to a circular economy.
PACE is an initiative to drive public-private action and collaboration on the circular economy. It was launched in 2018 at the World Economic Forum and has grown to include more than 75 CEOs, ministers and heads of organizations working to bring about the circular economy at speed and scale. PACE is now hosted by World Resources Institute. PACE has active projects underway on plastics, food and electronics in Africa, Asia and Europe.
The new board members include:
- Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- Lisa Jackson, vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, Apple
- Dame Ellen MacArthur, Founder, Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- Stientje van Veldhoven, Minister for the Environment and Housing, Government of the Netherlands
“These four leaders will provide world-class leadership and guidance to our global network,” said David McGinty, global director, PACE. “With a breadth of global expertise and relationships from geopolitics to economics to natural capital, PACE’s new board members will further enable us to understand social and environmental problems and how we can change systems at speed and scale through collective action.”
The four new members join existing board members Frans van Houten (Royal Philips), Naoko Ishii (Global Environment Facility), Peter Lacy (Accenture Strategy), Andrew Steer (World Resources Institute) and Dominic Waughray (World Economic Forum).
Inger Andersen has served as Executive Director of UNEP since June 2019, and joins the PACE board with more than 30 years of experience in senior positions at the UN and World Bank. Her expertise lies in sustainable development as both a developmental economist and environmentalist.
“2020 will be the super year for nature. Circularity has a big role in shaping a world where nature and people thrive together,” said Andersen. “In supporting countries to build circularity into their economies, PACE can play a powerful role in advancing the climate, biodiversity and resource efficiency agendas with both scale and speed.”
Lisa Jackson has led Apple’s environmental initiatives since joining the company in 2013, following her role as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She also leads Apple’s global community education programs, product accessibility efforts, corporate giving and worldwide government affairs. Since Lisa’s arrival at Apple, the company has transformed its environmental footprint, including reaching its goal to power its global operations with 100 percent renewable energy and working with its suppliers to add over 5 gigawatts of new clean energy around the world. In addition, Lisa spearheads Apple’s circular economy programs, grounded in the company’s ambition to one day make its products using only recycled or renewable materials.
“Companies, governments and civil society each play a critical role in addressing the planet’s most pressing resource challenges,” said Jackson. “PACE is a unique platform bringing together all three to create pathways for a global circular economy. We are thrilled to be a part of this effort as Apple pursues its ambitious goal to use recycled and renewable materials to make the world’s most innovative technology.”
Dame Ellen MacArthur realized the finite nature of the resources upon which the world economy depends while circumnavigating the globe as a record-breaking sailor. Since 2010, through the work of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, she has championed circular economy as a viable alternative to today’s wasteful model. “Achieving circularity on a global scale requires concerted action and the involvement of all stakeholders, from emerging innovators to international institutions. PACE helps bring everyone together to demonstrate and stimulate progress,” said MacArthur.
Stientje van Veldhoven is a seasoned government official and politician, having worked in European and Dutch policy since the late 1990s. She was appointed Minister for the Environment and Housing on November 1, 2019, following her role as State Secretary for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management since 2017. Her policy expertise has included innovation, sustainability, climate, energy and development cooperation, among others. “I am committed to making PACE a decisive and effective platform that leads the world to realize we must reuse our scarce resources and move towards a fully circular economy to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said van Veldhoven. “On the Board, I want to focus on strengthening member state commitments and link to the COP process. Also we need to work on the circular economy in all its aspects: reuse, recycle, repair for a healthy future for our next generations, we need it all.”