On 6 November 2023, Arthur ten Wolde, ECESP Coordination Group member and Executive director of  Ecopreneur.eu - the European Sustainable Business Federation, represented the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP) at a G7-B7 online meeting on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency Principles. Ten Wolde has been a member of the ECESP since its foundation in 2017.

The meeting was organised as part of the G7 Sapporo Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy and the Environment in Japan. The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the USA and the EU. The Business7 group (B7) is the G7 platform for dialogue with the international business community, consisting of the industry and employers’ associations from the G7. It includes BusinessEurope.

After explaining the setup and working of the ECESP, ten Wolde presented some of the best circular business practices by giving examples from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Ecopreneur.eu membership.

The ECESP was presented as an example of a stakeholder-led platform aimed at fostering the debate about the circular economy and encouraging civil society, public authorities and private organisations to exchange best practices across countries and sectors.

It was the first time that Ecopreneur.eu was heard in the G7. All the more relevant since the B7 mainly represents the views of multinationals, while SMEs are key for the transition to a circular economy.

See the presentation here.