With the participation of 275 civil servants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, El Salvador, Venezuela, among other countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe, the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), in conjunction with the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), held the III Seminar on Circular Economy: measurement, monitoring and design of indicators for public policies on circular economy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

During the opening ceremony, Gustavo Herrera, Coordinator of Social Development of SELA, stated that “regional cooperation and the collective development of technical solutions are fundamental pillars for achieving a true circular transition.” He emphasised that “what is not measured cannot be improved” and that, in the circular economy, measuring the actual circularity of value chains and production and consumption patterns “is imperative for guiding decision-making.” In his remarks, he called for this seminar to become a “turning point towards the formulation of concrete proposals, the generation of regional consensus and the production of useful and applicable knowledge.”

For her part, Luisa Solchaga, Director General for Cooperation Policy at AMEXCID, stressed that “each of the region’s populations must be at the centre of circular public policies.” She emphasised that a circular approach helps reduce pressure on natural resources, decrease pollution, generate new business and employment opportunities, and represent significant savings for consumers. She also stressed that “at AMEXCID, we believe that these types of events are extremely important because international cooperation not only facilitates the exchange of resources and knowledge but also strengthens regional integration and contributes to the development of shared solutions to the challenges we face in the world at large.”

Similarly, she stressed the importance of joint work between SELA and AMEXCID as “a clear example of strategic collaboration to promote sustainable development and generate lasting impacts in our region.”

The seminar, which was held virtually and is available on SELA’s Youtube channel, brought together representatives from international organisations, cooperation agencies, experts from the private sector and national statistical systems. In this context, different topics were discussed, such as circularity metrics on both wings of the butterfly diagram, presented by Henrique Pacini, Economic Affairs Officer at UNCTAD; circular economy indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean and the construction of indicators for national strategies, presented by Estefani Rondón, Engineer at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); and urban data and the tools needed to ensure the sustainable future of cities, presented by Adriana Plata Blanco, Programme Specialist at UN-Habitat.

Reflections on metrics in circular economy design were also presented by Mitsue Elisa Guerrero, consultant to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Daniel Jaramillo, consultant to Future Lab & Partners. Considerations on the integration of impact measurement and environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria were added, presented by Roberto Carvallo Escobar, Director General of Terraética S.L. Likewise, Gerardo Omar Trujillo Vázquez, expert consultant in Sustainable Development, shared the public and private perspective of Circular Transition Indicators (CTI). Finally, Frithjof Laubinger, economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), presented the circular economy monitoring framework developed by this international organisation.

The purpose of the activity was to strengthen the institutional capacities of countries in the region through the exchange of experiences and the development of technical tools to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of public policies aimed at the circular economy. On this occasion, special emphasis was placed on the design of CTIs and the development of recommendations for their regional harmonisation.

The circular economy has established itself as an indispensable strategy in the face of global challenges such as the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pressure on natural resources. In this regard, SELA is promoting this Seminar as a technical and strategic space that will serve as a prelude to the XXXIII Meeting of International Cooperation Directors for Latin America and the Caribbean, in which the circular economy will occupy a central place in the regional agenda for South-South and Triangular Cooperation.

The III Seminar on Circular Economy: measurement, monitoring and design of indicators for public policies on circular economy in Latin America and the Caribbean is part of SELA’s Work Programme for 2022–2026, specifically the area of Sustainable and Resilient Development, which aims to generate and disseminate the knowledge needed to support the transition to circular production and consumption models in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The full broadcast of the event is available on SELA’s official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/sf6VYDlbl7Q?feature=share