The conference was started at full speed with the presentation of Ladeja Godina Kosir, Founder and Executive Director of Circular Change, a private non-profit organization that leverages know-how from international experts to develop a strong circular economy in Europe.

As it happens, circular economy is one of the main focus points for climate action for many companies in various industries. It can help us manufacture low-impact products that are made from recycled materials and also in such a way that they can be recycled easily at the end of their life. Circular economy means using as little virgin resources as possible and employing as many existing resources as possible, reintroducing them on the market.

"Very often, we are a little bit puzzled: who to trust, who is actually the one who leads the change or transformation and who has the influence on our choices?", said Ladeja. Quoting from the Circularity Gap Report 2024, she pointed that discussions and debate regarding circular economy tripled over the past five years, but despite this, circular economy initiatives declined by 21%, while consumption continued to accelerate, raising by 28%.

First of all, to achieve success in circularity and in our fight against climate change as a whole, we need to look at the whole picture and not just focus on one immediate solution. Electric mobility is one of the industries in this regard. The focus on electric cars doesn't represent the entire solution, but just a small piece in the big puzzle. While selling less-polluting vehicles, we also need to focus on public transport and alternative solutions, like walking and biking or working remotely, whenever possible, she said.

Consumers can make a difference in circular economy

Ladeja also mentioned how in the past, people were used to repair their own products to prolong their lifespan. However, the last 20-30 years saw an acceleration of the trend that was focused on replacing the product once it broke, instead of trying to fix it. Nowadays, European regulation fights for repairable products once more, pushing for easily repairable products that can be fixed even by the consumers themselves.

What can we do on an individual living to support circular economy and a sustainable economy? The expert in circularity believes that voting with our wallet is the best thing we can do as consumers and the biggest influence we can have on companies. This doesn't mean just refraining ourselves from purchasing products entirely, but also buying the products that bring the most value over time and that allow us to fix them ourselves, supporting sustainable companies and goods.

"Circular economy is related to business models, it is related to the governance, but it is very much related to everyday life and our lifestyle", she concluded.

Promoting practical change at Climate Change Summit 2024

Of course, there were other interesting and important discussions at Climate Change Summit 2024 that you can check out on YouTube for the Blue Stage, as well as for the Green Stage.

While you're at it, you might want to check some of our interviews with speakers that were on stage at the event.

For example, Tom Meijeraan is the co-founder of Arctic Reflections, a startup that aims to regenerate the icesheet in the Arctic Sea in order to slow down global warming.

If you want to find out more about how hotels can become more sustainable and how soap, a simple hygiene product can save the life of millions, check out our interview with Pauline Grumel, founder at Unisoap, an NGO that recycles used soap and gives it to vulnerable communities for free.

And if you would like to find out how a startup involves big companies in the change directly, check our discussion with Oliver Bolton, CEO at Earthly, a 4X founder on a mission to protect and regenerate over 1% of our planet by 2030.