The Role of the Bioeconomy in the Circular Economy
On 12 January 2017, MEP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri and MEP Miriam Dalli co-chaired a lunch meeting at the European Parliament on “The Role of Bioeconomy in the Circular Economy.” The event was a good opportunity to emphasize to key stakeholders and policymakers the importance of European forestry and the role of state forests in moving towards a sustainable bioeconomy.
Ms. Kumpula-Natri (Finland) and Ms. Dalli (Malta) highlighted how the development of the bio- and circular economies can provide opportunities across Europe. Denny Cobianchi and Agnes Borg (European Bioeconomy Alliance) presented visions and concrete facts on the topic of the bioeconomy and how it is linked with the circular economy whereas Professor Erik Mathijs highlighted both the opportunities and challenges resulting from the bioeconomy. (Erik Mathijs’ presentation).
During the discussion, Salvatore Martire, representing EUSTAFOR’s Executive Office, reminded the participants about the potential of European state forests to ensure the provision of biomass and thereby fully contribute to the bioeconomy.
One of the key issues that emerged from the presentations and the discussion was that the concept of the “circular economy” should not limit itself to concentrating only on the “waste” aspect but should, instead, account more for the renewability of (bio‑)resources. Also highlighted during the meeting was the interlinkage between the development of the bioeconomy and the current LULUCF and ESR proposals.
