It brings leading edge circular bioeconomy stakeholders around the same table to share and learn from each other. The event will see high-profile speakers from Governments, Industry and Education discussing the importance of the bioeconomy in a post-COVID-19 world. The event will also address how a fully functional, global circular bioeconomy, is a key tool in the battle against climate change.

The full day programme will consist of four different sessions: Regulators and Climate Change, Global Leaders and the Financial World, Bioproducts Around Us and Looking to the Future. Keynote speakers and panellists at the event include, Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, European Commission, Petteri Taalas, Secretary General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Mette Wilkie, Director of the Forestry Policy and Resources Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The CEO Panel at the event will include leaders from some of the most dynamic players in the world circular bioeconomy, Walter Schalka, CEO, Suzano, Annica Bresky, President and CEO, Stora Ensoand Pasi Laine, CEO, Valmet.

The World BioEconomy Forum (WCBEF) was born in Finland in 2018. The founders of the forum are a team of global experts - including experts in technology, marketing, stakeholder engagement and sustainability in forestry, pulp and paper industry - who realised that sustainable, circular, forestry bioeconomy is our future. In the last two years, WCBEF has been providing the global platform for Circular Bioeconomy stakeholders.

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Bio-economy at LIGNA 2021: Focus topic "Green Material Processing"

The concept of the bio-economy has gained political and economic importance worldwide in recent years and also plays a key role at LIGNA 2021 with Green Material Processing being one of the Focus Topics . Bio-economy describes the path from an economy based on fossil and mineral raw materials to an economic form that uses biological resources, processes and systems. As one of the world's most important renewable resources, wood has a central role to play in this process.

By choosing Green Material Processing as focus topic for LIGNA 2021 the economic and technological innovations arising from the new processing and finishing options for timber as a key renewable resource are highlighted. It is all about technology, research, framework conditions and developments in practice – especially in terms of potential value creation for small and medium-sized enterprises. Products and processes in the LIGNA portfolio, such as paints, coatings, lubricants and 3D printing, form the basis for the focus topic. In doing so, it is also important to consider the challenges and developments of the global wood-based bio-economy.