Thank you for inviting me and for bringing together different perspectives here today.

Today’s event is called ‘Building a better bioeconomy’ and we want to do exactly that. We plan a Bioeconomy Strategy for the end of the year. And leading up to that, I want to collect as much input as possible, from an as wide range of stakeholders as possible.

Our forests are clearly a strategic resource and a major asset for the EU’s bioeconomy.

Coming from Sweden, forests are very close to my heart, as you probably know already. When it comes to forests, I say they are just like time: you can never have enough of them. And quantity is not enough, we need to have healthy and resilient forests.

40% of the EU’s land is covered by trees. And let’s just pause a moment to reflect on all the services our forests deliver.

From carbon storage, water purification, flood mitigation and oxygen production to the provision of timber, food, medicine, energy and increasingly bio-chemicals, bio-plastics and other innovative applications.  Not to mention the cultural and tourism services!

It’s clear that forest products and services are in great demand, and this will undoubtedly increase as we are transitioning towards a carbon neutral economy.

For instance, using a building frame made from wood instead of concrete can reduce the carbon footprint of a building by 10–20%.

I even saw how a car interior can look just like plastic or leather but be made 100% out of bio-based materials.

This shows how broad and exciting the bioeconomy can be!

But precisely because our forests are so important for our well-being and for our economy, we need to take good care of them. We need to ensure that they are healthy, diverse and resilient. Investing in biodiverse forests is a win-win situation.

Despite all the potential that lies in our forests—and the same goes for our farmland—forestry incomes can be uncertain and be negatively affected by external factors like wildfires and pests. Also, rural areas are sometimes overlooked when public investment is needed.

This is why, by the end of this year, I will publish a new EU bioeconomy strategy, harnessing the potential of this wide sector.

The bioeconomy is very much at the heart of what we do to tackle Europe’s challenges.

We must boost our competitiveness and strengthen our resilience in an uncertain world.

The transition to more bio-based materials and more circularity is one of the keys for Europe to get there.

A crucial part of this is supporting innovators and pioneering entrepreneurs in scaling up and commercialising their breakthroughs. The EU excels at innovation, but too often, we fall short when it comes to turning those ideas into thriving businesses.

I also want to increase demand for circular biological resources.

I just returned from Nice where we discussed how to reduce plastics in favour of bio-based products. It’s about being sustainable and

making sure bio-based products  stay in the value chain for as long as possible.

We’re also looking at the supply side, both within the EU and beyond. We want to reinforce the role of primary producers, supporting job creation and income diversification for foresters and farmers.

We want to reward those who preserve ecosystems and this is where our work on nature credits, to be published before the summer, comes in.

The Strategy will also position the EU as a global leader in the rapidly expanding international market for bio-based materials, biomanufacturing, biochemicals, the blue bioeconomy, as well as the agri-food and biotech sectors.

I think we can all agree that this is an ambitious agenda. But we want to build it through constructive dialogue with you, with stakeholders, industry leaders, and businesses.

It will be about how Europe can better value and use its biological resources, in a way that aligns with our overarching objectives put forward in the Competitiveness Compass and the Clean Industrial Deal, and with our biodiversity goals and commitments.

While we are intensively working to make this Strategy possible, I want to have an  open discussion with all stakeholders, including local and rural communities. I want to hear your stories, your struggles but also your ideas of how we can help you build thriving and resilient local value chains.

I look forward to hearing from you today and also to your contributions to the public consultation and call for evidence running until 23 June.

Let us work together to truly see how we can make European foresters and farmers the gatekeepers of our biodiversity while at the same time direct beneficiaries of the growth potential of the European bioeconomy!