European Parliament Intergroup webinar on “Empowering the circular bioeconomy through the EU Green Deal”

The 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan is one of the main blocks of the European Green Deal - Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth - including initiatives along the entire life cycle of products and aiming at rendering sustainable products the norm in the EU. It focuses on boosting circular economy processes, fostering sustainable consumption, and safeguarding that the resources used are kept in the economy for as long as possible. In addition, it remains committed to making circularity work for people, regions, and cities, while leading global efforts on circular economy.

At the same time, and closely linked with the above, the bioeconomy offers great potential in contributing to tackle environmental and societal challenges, such as resource efficiency, climate change, maintaining European competitiveness and job creation. The bioeconomy can therefore play a significant role in the EU Green Deal and particularly in the transition to a circular economy, as outlined in a position paper developed by the European Bioeconomy Alliance. As a result, this webinar aspires to address the above developments by providing an opportunity for discussion of how to best empower the circular bioeconomy through an enabling policy framework.

FINAL AGENDA

14:00 – 14:10

Introduction by MEP Franc Bogovič

14:10–14:25

Keynote address by John Bell, Director on Healthy Planet, DG RTD, European Commission

14:25 – 14:40

Presentation of the European Bioeconomy Alliance (EUBA) position paper on the Circular Economy Action Plan, Dr. Claire Skentelbery, Director-General, EuropaBio

14:40 – 14:50

Lauri Hetemäki, Assistant Director, European Forest Institute

14:50 – 15:00

Luc Bas, Director, IUCN European Regional Office

15:00 – 15:20

Reactions by MEPs:

• Simone Schmiedtbauer
• Asger Christensen
• Ulrike Müller
• Eero Heinäluoma

15:20 – 15:50

Q&As session

15:50 – 16:00

Closing remarks by MEP Franc Bogovič