IUFRO’s Carola Egger and Maja Radosavljevic represented the Teaming Up 4 Forest science-business platform at the Cepi Bioeconomy LAB in Brussels, Belgium, on 24 September 2024.
The event on 23-24 September was organized by the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), the pan-European association representing the forest fibre and paper industry, as a follow-up to the Cepi Bioeconomy LAB that took place in the context of the 9th World Forestry Week at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, in July 2024. It did not only comprise an exhibition of over 50 innovative bio-based products, but also a session with insightful discussions and presentations.
The session kicked off with a talk by Marco Onida from the Directorate-General for Environment of the EU Commission on the 3 Billion Trees initiative and its progress. In 2021, the EU pledged to plant at least 3 billion additional trees by 2030, in full respect of ecological principles. Cepi is among the organizations contributing to this pledge and Ulrich Leberle, Raw Materials Director at Cepi, delivered a comprehensive progress report.
Carola Egger gave an overview of the work and goals of the TEAMING UP 4 FORESTS collaborative partnership that was initiated by IUFRO and Mondi in 2021 and presented findings of a major synthesis study report “Europe’s wood supply in disruptive times” and related business brief published by IUFRO earlier in 2024.
Her presentation was followed by best practice examples from industry leaders including Juha Jumppanen (Metsä Forest), Jessica Nordin (Södra), and Henrique Vieira (Biond). The session was rounded off by a panel discussion offering valuable insights into critical topics such as forest resilience, climate adaptation, and the vital role of biodiversity in sustainable forest management.
Join the next Webinar – Europe’s future forest management in a changing climate – Teaming up 4 Forests on 7 November 2024 at 14:00 CET!
