Side Events
The Circular Economy Forum will have three special side events happening alongside and after the main sessions of the forum.
Circular by Design: Sustainable Infrastructure, Energy, and Water for Inclusive Growth
18 June 2025, 9:00–10:30
Auditorium 4
Open to all participants
This special session—organized by Acciona, a Spanish global company that develops and manages sustainable infrastructure solutions—will showcase practical and scalable circular economy solutions across infrastructure, renewable energy, and water, particularly within Southeast Asia. The session will combine high-level presentations and a moderated panel discussion to emphasize the tangible outcomes of circular strategies, from solar home systems to wastewater reuse and low-carbon construction. The session will also include a case study from the Embassy of Spain or Acciona Energía to highlight international best practices.
This multi-sectoral dialogue aims to drive cross-sector learning and collaboration to embed circular principles into development pathways that promote resilience, inclusion, and climate action. The session also seeks to promote public-private partnerships and policy environments that enable circular outcomes, and to inspire replicability and scalability of circular models across the region.
Community-Driven Circular Solutions: The Eco-Ikot Center Model
18 June 2025, 11:00–12:30
Auditorium 4
Open to all participants
This 90-minute side event has been prepared by the Communities Organized for Resource Allocation or better known as CORA, a nonprofit organization in the Philippines dedicated to creating sustainable programs that help address hunger, poverty, inequality, and climate change.
This session aims to present CORA's Eco-Ikot Center (EIC) as a replicable, community-based model for scaling circular economy initiatives in high-risk, low-resource communities. As plastic pollution continues to threaten the environment, public health, and local economies in Asia and the Pacific, the EIC stands as an innovative, people-powered approach to waste reduction, inclusive development, and behavioral change. This event will gather changemakers, development actors, and community voices to unpack how the EIC model addresses both the social and environmental dimensions of plastic pollution from source to sea.
Seventh Meeting of the Working Group on Marine Litter (WGML-7)
19 June 2025, 9:00–17:00
Auditoriums 1-2
By-invitation only
Organized by the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this by-invitation event for the Seventh Meeting of the Working Group on Marine Litter (WGML-7) will review progress of the approved marine litter biennial workplan 2025–2026 under the COBSEA Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter (RAP MALI), identify priorities for the next biennial workplan 2027–2028, and serve as a preparatory meeting for the second part of the fifth session (INC-5.2) of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.
The meeting will be held in a hybrid format, allowing for both in-person and online participation. All meeting documents are now available to country participants on the Papersmart Portal.
See the official meeting page here.