IFC’s Circular Economy Investment Tracker Reveals a Stark Global Divide in Private Investment

Valerie Hickey is the Director for Environment at the World Bank Group. In this role, she leads a global team that leverages data, knowledge, and partnerships to ensure that the WBG’s public and private sector investments in nature, natural resource management, pollution management, and the circular economy generate more and better jobs, in more places, putting another nail in the coffin of poverty. This work centers on scaling proven solutions to achieve greater impact and to build a better future for communities, companies, and countries.

Prior to that she was the Global Director for Climate Change and the Global Director for Environment at the World Bank following a decade managing the World Bank’s public sector portfolios on climate and environment in Latin America and in Europe and Central Asia. In those roles she managed cross-sectoral teams that invested in countries and communities on issues related to climate change, sustainable forest management, integrated conservation and development, integrated coastal zone management, fisheries and aquaculture, pollution management and environmental health, environmental economics and environmental risk management.

Valerie joined the World Bank in 2003 as a specialist in East Asia and the Pacific, working on environment and rural development projects in Cambodia, China and Lao. Valerie has since worked across the Bank’s regions providing design and implementation support to a variety of operations, including in fragile states, where she led the Bank’s environment portfolio in Haiti following the earthquake in 2010. She has also led analytical work and technical assistance on frontier issues related to the blue economy, biodiversity and wildlife crime. Valerie focuses on solving problems and deploying the World Bank Group’s capital, convening services and analytical powers to unlock healthy nature as an engine of jobs and GDP, ensure healthy environments set communities, companies, cities and whole countries up to succeed, and build green, inclusive and resilient economies. Before joining the World Bank, Valerie worked for World Wildlife Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the US National Park Service where she worked on invasive species programs in Lake Mead, the reservoir to the Hoover Dam. Valerie holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University.

Lisa Da Silva is an innovative leader who has spent her career championing first-of-their-kind transactions and initiatives across climate, cities, and finance.

As Global Lead for Circular Economy Finance at the World Bank Group, she drives strategy across the circular economy agenda, convening across industries and regions to support teams in identifying and scaling investments. She works closely with global partners to develop and align financial products, tools, and thought leadership, including advancing common definitions and promoting insights on investment trends.

Since joining the World Bank Group in 1997, Lisa has played a key role in launching major initiatives. She led the multilateral development bank working group that developed blended finance policies for the Climate Investment Funds and structured the first blended finance investment—a private wind project in Mexico. She also contributed to the creation of Colombia’s Titularizadora, a secondary mortgage market company, and as Global Cities Lead, helped establish IFC’s cities platform to advance solutions to key urban challenges, including smart, resilient, and inclusive COVID-19 recovery.

Michael is the Executive Director and Board Chair of The Circulate Initiative, and works with his colleagues to deliver on The Circulate Initiative’s mission to solve the plastic pollution challenge and build circular and equitable economies across emerging markets.

Throughout his career, Michael has worked at the intersection of business and sustainable development. He has been a trusted advisor to senior executives, managed organizations and teams, driven change from within companies, led research and authored various reports, and facilitated a variety of multi-stakeholder collaborations.

Michael has extensive experience in the apparel and footwear sector on topics including climate change, waste, and the circular economy. He led strategy and managed external partnerships for Nike’s Sustainable Business & Innovation team, and led the company’s efforts on the circular economy. He has also advised industry groups such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and worked with the World Resources Institute to publish several reports on the climate impact of the apparel sector and how to reduce supply chain emissions.

Prior to Nike, Michael was a Vice President at SustainAbility, Inc. where he advised companies including BMW, Brown-Forman, Gap, Goldman Sachs, HP, Nike, and Walmart on strategy, communications, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability trends. He played a key role in developing multi-stakeholder collaborations including the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals Group and the Closed Loop Fund.

Michael is a founding Board member of DendriFund (Brown-Forman’s environmental foundation), Board Chair of The Circulate Initiative, and served as a member of Rothy’s Sustainability Council. He holds a BA in Economics from Columbia University and an MBA with high distinction and an MS (Environmental Policy) from the University of Michigan.

In the field of business sustainability, Anthony is recognized as a global leader with more than 20 years of experience. As Chief Sustainability Officer of Indorama Ventures, a global chemical company with 114 sites in 32 countries, he drives strategies and builds partnerships that create economic, social, and environmental value.

To complement his role as CSO, Anthony advances sustainability thought leadership worldwide. In academia, he is an Adjunct Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, teaching a module of a Professional Master’s degree in Vietnam. He is a board member of the Indorama Ventures Centre for Clean Energy and sits on the Research Advisory Council, both of Plaksha University in India.

A champion of multilateral, multistakeholder efforts, he chairs a UN taskforce on the Circular Economy and is also co-chairing the Circular Economy Working Group of Sustainable Business COP30 scheduled to take place in Brazil in November 2025.

To facilitate capital flows to climate startups, he is also a Global Ambassador for Investors for Climate, active in over 30 countries.

Believing that lasting change begins with people, he coaches sustainability leaders to maximize their impact and their happiness in work and in life.

Charlotte Doyle is an Operations Officer at the World Bank Group, where she focuses on scaling private sector opportunities in the circular economy. She has worked at World Bank Group for more than 10 years, previously working on sustainability policies and knowledge programs, and supporting the Creating Markets team with campaigns on climate and inclusion. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University.