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Redefining a circular built environment

The built environment is responsible for about 40% of global CO emissions, so a transition to circularity is essential. This session brings together industry leaders to enhance transparency, increase collaboration and leverage performance systems to accelerate the shift. We will highlight the role of value chain stakeholders in implementing circular principles across the life cycle of buildings, enabling circularity from design to deconstruction. A circular built environment creates business value by reducing financial risks, and through success stories we will show how circular initiatives drive innovation and collaboration towards delivering long-term benefits for people and planet.  

Organisers: World Business Council for Sustainable Development, with the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo.

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Welcome

Diane Holdorf

Diane Holdorf

Executive Vice President, Pathways
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Diane B. Holdorf is a member of the leadership team at WBCSD, based in Geneva. Since joining the council in 2018, she has led transformative efforts across food, nature and water systems, and now spearheads the pathways work to drive sustainable value chain transformation. Prior to WBCSD, Diane was chief sustainability officer at Kellogg and held leadership roles at Delta Consultants. She holds degrees in public communications and German from Syracuse University and an executive MBA from the University of St. Thomas. Diane serves on several advisory boards and international initiatives.

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Tracking the loop – how to measure success in a circular built environment

Roberto Waack

Roberto Waack

Chairman of the Board
Arapyaú Institute

Roberto Waack is a board member, entrepreneur and sustainability leader. He co-founded key environmental initiatives and has a background in pharma, forestry and governance. He is a columnist for Estadão Economia. Waack holds a degree in biology and a master’s in business administration (with a concentration in New Institutional Economics) from the University of São Paulo.

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Alice Monteiro

Alice Monteiro

Head of Corporate Sustainability
Arcadis

With over 14 years’ experience in corporate sustainability, Alice is strategically integrating Arcadis’ ESG practices into organisations in Brazil. An environmental engineer and specialist in sustainable infrastructure and ESG, she works on driving cultural transformation within companies and implementing solutions aligned with national and international ESG protocols. Alice has extensive experience in preparing sustainability reports, assessing and measuring socio-environmental impacts, and developing strategies to enhance ESG maturity across businesses . Her work spans sectors such as mining, energy, sanitation and transportation, fostering more responsible and sustainable management within organisations.

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Silvia Solano

Silvia Solano

Regional Lead Latin America, Green and Resilient Buildings Program
International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Silvia is an architect with a master’s in natural resources management. With over 15 years’ experience in the construction market, she has honed her expertise across Latin America. She is a leader of the Green Building Market Transformation Program (GBMTP) in Latin America, responsible for strategy and implementation of the programme in Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Brazil. Experienced in green buildings and EDGE certification, she engages with private sector developers, industry associations, financial institutions, government and international cooperation agencies. Her focus on decarbonising the built environment and promoting the expansion of green and resilient buildings underscores her commitment to sustainable development.

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Elizabeth Shie

Elizabeth Shie

Senior Manager, Strategy and Sustainability
Novelis

Elizabeth Shie works currently for Novelis South America, leading the company’s regional strategic planning process, evaluation of market drivers, analysis of expansions and management of sustainability goals. Over the past years, she held positions in the financial and pulp and paper sectors, playing important roles in business development initiatives through partnership models, new business structuring, mergers and acquisitions and equity investments. Elizabeth holds a degree in production engineering from Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and an MBA from the London Business School, with a concentration in finance and change management.

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Bruno Pelli

Bruno Pelli

Global Director, Technical Services in Mining
Vale SA

Bruno Pelli is a mining executive with international experience. He is a mining engineer (University of São Paulo), risk management specialist (University of Queensland), management excellence specialist (University of Pretoria), MBA Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV-UCI) and holds a sustainability certificate from the University of Cambridge. At Vale, Bruno is responsible for brownfield exploration, geoscience, mine planning and closure, mining rights, mineral resources and processing for iron ore assets around the world. He also leads transformational projects such as Vale's circular mining programme and manages four R&D facilities. Bruno is a board member of Circlua and the Minas-Rio iron ore joint venture.

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Related UN sustainable development goals