Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA): REMA’s DG joins a Roundtable Meeting at UNGA to discuss Circular economy

REMA’s DG joins a Roundtable Meeting at UNGA to discuss Circular economy

The Director General of the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), Juliet Kabera, on 20th September 2022, joined a roundtable meeting in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss circular economy.

This meeting convened a high-level, cross-industry, and multistakeholder community of leaders to shape the circular transformation of the global economy.

The world has changed in the past years following climate, public health and geopolitical crises that put the global economy under stress. A circular transformation is no longer only a sustainability imperative, but also a way to increase supply chain resiliency and an opportunity to develop new competitive business models.

Kabera reminded that we live in a world of unsustainable consumption and overexploitation of resources, and if the global population reaches 9.6 billion by 2050, the equivalent of almost three planets will be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles.

“No doubt, this unsustainable production and consumption of goods has a negative impact on the wellbeing of nature, and people” she said.

The good news is that governments, can use their purchasing power to choose goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact, by putting in place effective policies that serve as a critical enabler to accelerate and scale up circular actions in the economy.

By way of example, in 2018, the Government of Rwanda passed the Environment and Climate Change Policy which called for development of green procurement guidelines.

This was a new concept to us but we surely knew that it was the right thing to do and in partnership with the Global Green Growth Institute we developed that guidelines with the intension of guiding public procurement of goods, services and works.

“Now if there’s anything am supper proud of about my country, is that implementation of such policy actions is not optional” Kabera added.

Kabera reiterated that effective policy-making is crucial in accelerating and scaling up circular actions in the economy, as good policies support businesses in overcoming hurdles by stimulating innovative projects and long-term investments in circularity, facilitating collaboration and partnerships, and producing tangible results.