Statement by Vivianne Heijnen, Minister for the Environment, at the World Circular Economy Forum session on the built environment, Helsinki

Toespraak | 31-05-2023

Good afternoon everyone,

It’s a pleasure to open this session on the built environment here in the beautiful city of Helsinki.

It’s so important and so necessary for us to have a session on the built environment. After all, this is a sector that employs millions of people in the EU alone!

It’s also a sector that will grow substantially in the coming years. There is a huge demand for new housing and infrastructure - in my country alone we need to build a million new houses by 2030.

When you think about how this will increase demand for building materials, combined with the fact that the sector is responsible for almost 40 per cent of carbon emissions globally, the answer is clear: business as usual is not an option.

To tackle this, in the Netherlands we’ve made the built environment a priority in our National Circular Economy Programme.

But construction value chains often cross national borders. So for circular construction to reach its full potential, on a scale that will ensure a sustainable future, we must work together more intensively in addition to stepping up our national efforts.

We need international cooperation to:

• boost knowledge and innovation development;
• identify and share best practices for policies that benefit circularity in the sector; and
• ensure alignment and harmonisation of norms and standards, which will enable more circularity in construction.

The good news is: circular solutions already exist in the construction sector – as we will see today.

This session will highlight some inspiring developments that are making the building and infrastructure sectors more sustainable.

What new policy developments are worth noting? How can we extend the lifespan of building materials? How can smart design contribute to more circularity?

Today’s session includes videos that illuminate good practices. One of them is from my own country, the Netherlands. It shows the CO2 Performance Ladder, a tool that gives sustainable contractors an advantage in the procurement process. Evidence shows that this is an effective tool that helps organisations and businesses reduce their carbon emissions.

We also have videos that show best practices developed in Finland, Norway and South Africa.

I look forward to learning about these different approaches to circularity in construction sectors around the world, and to hearing the perspectives of the panelists.

But first: a keynote speech by Janez Potočnik and Julia Okatz, who will discuss the latest developments in circularity for the built environment.

Thank you.