COP31 Estonian Pavilion

Intro session of Estonian pavilion: Unlocking the Resources Already Around Us

The world is facing interconnected challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss, increasing pressure on ecosystems, growing demand for food, and rising competition for the resources needed to support industrial development and the clean transition. These challenges are often addressed in isolation, yet they are closely linked through the way societies produce, consume and manage resources. The transition to a circular economy has the potential to mitigate many of these challenges.

Pär Larshans · Laura Remmelgas(TBC) · Johan Falk · Representative of UNFCCC(TBC) · Representative of EY(TBC)

From Wastewater challenges to Climate Solutions - Eliminating Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Water Systems

This session will explore how wastewater treatment and aquaculture systems can become important contributors to both climate mitigation and sustainable resource management. Through concrete examples and policy perspectives, participants will discuss how resource recovery approaches can reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions while improving food security, energy resilience and circularity.

Pär Larshans · Representative of UNEP(TBC) · Jonas Hagman · Representative of Havbruk(TBC) · Representative of Stockholm Environment Institute(TBC)

The Missing Trillion: Financing Energy Efficiency at Scale from Europe to Emerging Markets

Energy efficiency remains the world's largest untapped clean energy resource, yet investment levels remain far below what is needed to achieve climate and energy security objectives. The European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition was created precisely to mobilize private capital, improve access to finance, de-risk projects, develop blended finance solutions, and build investment pipelines. COP Turkey provides an opportunity to move the discussion beyond policy commitments and toward a practical question: How do we mobilize trillions of dollars for efficiency investments that are already technically viable but remain financially underserved?

Katre Suvi(TBC) · Dr. Basma Majerbi · Stéphanie Nour · Sulev Alajõe

Powering the Digital Future: Building Climate-Smart Data Centers

Our digital future needs clean power - and climate-smart infrastructure. Estonia's message is that digital development and climate action do not have to be competing objectives. With the right conditions, data centres can become part of a smarter energy system - where growing electricity demand goes hand in hand with renewable energy, flexibility, innovation and resource efficiency.

Closing the Loop: A Real-Life Case of Wind Turbine Decommissioning

The clean energy transition is about more than building new renewable capacity - it is also about taking responsibility for what happens at the end of an asset’s life. As the global wind fleet grows and matures, responsible decommissioning, material recovery and land restoration are becoming an increasingly important part of the sustainability conversation. Using the decommissioning of a turbine at Latvia’s Grobiņa Wind Park as a real-life case, this session will follow what happens to a wind turbine after its operational life ends - from dismantling and recycling to finding new uses for blade materials and restoring the land. The case demonstrates how circularity can be built into the full lifecycle of renewable energy infrastructure and, just as importantly, how making this process visible can strengthen public confidence in the energy transition.

Rene Tammist

From Waste Treatment to Resource Plants: Unlocking Secondary Resources for Resilient and Competitive Economies

Resource security is not only about finding new places to extract virgin materials. It is also about recognising and recovering the resources already flowing through and stored in our societies. By transforming waste treatment infrastructure into Resource Plants, cities and industries can become producers of critical raw materials, nutrients, clean water and energy, while safely removing substances that should not remain in circulation.

Pär Larshans · Karin Forsberg(TBC) · Representative of EY(TBC) · Representative of UNEP(TBC) · Representative from Canada(TBC) · Representative of Stockholm Environment Institute(TBC)

Smart circular solutions driving the transition towards climate neutrality

The event will discuss the role of different circular solutions to make the necessary change of reducing the impact to the climate, environment and human health. The market for secondary raw materials is still not functioning well and necessary policy initiatives are needed. If successful, theses solutions can have a significant impact on reducing GHG emissions.

From Shower Water to Food: Estonia´s Circular Aquaponics Testbed

How can water used in our homes become a resource for growing fish and plants? Mait Kriipsalu and Merrit Shanskiy present lessons from two indoor aquaponics systems developed at the Estonian University of Life Sciences, both using reclaimed water. Combining fish farming with soil-free plant cultivation, these systems explore how nutrients from fish can support plant growth while water circulates through the system. The session considers their potential for local food production and more efficient resource use in a changing climate. It also looks beyond food: could homes, offices and community spaces host living labs that reconnect people with nature? Drawing on collaboration across the university’s disciplines, the speakers explore the knowledge and practical skills needed to balance fish, plants, water and energy - and make circular systems part of everyday life.

Prof. Mait Kriipsalu · Prof. Merrit Shanskiy

Solutions to cover the critical materials in the EU

Critical raw materials are essential for the industries and technologies needed in the global transition, including automotive manufacturing, defence, renewable energy, electronics, infrastructure and clean technologies. At the same time, nutrients such as phosphorus are indispensable for agricultural production and global food security. Many countries and industrial value chains remain dependent on imported virgin resources from a limited number of suppliers, creating vulnerabilities linked to geopolitics, price volatility, supply disruptions and increasing global competition for finite resources. This session will focus on enabling the transition to a circular economy.

Kai Realo · Representative of the European Lime Association (ELA) - Pre-recorded video message · Alar Saluste · Tobias Eriksson · Representative of the European People's Party(TBC)

What Can Historic Buildings Teach Us About a Climate-Resilient Future?

Historic buildings have survived centuries of changing climates, evolving societies and shifting needs. What can we learn from their design, materials, craftsmanship and adaptability as we face the challenges of climate change today? Preserving and adapting our historic buildings is not a question of whether, but how. Beyond their cultural and historical value, these buildings hold valuable lessons in resource efficiency, durability, passive climate adaptation and long-term resilience. This panel explores how traditional knowledge and modern innovation can work together to make historic buildings more energy-efficient and climate-resilient while preserving their unique character. Drawing on European and international research, policies and practical experience, the discussion will examine how heritage can contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation - and what it takes to turn these insights into practical solutions.

Ave Paulus · Riin Alatalu · Lori Ferriss · Philipp Hesse · Gráinne Shaffrey · Filippo Calcerano

Living Soils, Resilient Food: Algae Biotechnology from Estonia to Climate-Vulnerable Farms

Healthy soil is the foundation of food security and one of the largest land-based carbon stores, yet it is degrading worldwide. In the EU alone, 60 - 70% of soils are in an unhealthy state, and the EU's first law on soil monitoring and resilience entered into force in December 2025. Climate-vulnerable regions face the same problem with fewer resources: salinity, erosion, flood damage and rising fertiliser costs. This panel asks how affordable biological inputs can restore soil at scale. Soyl Food, an Estonia-registered start-up developing algae-based biostimulants, will join soil scientists, farmers and policymakers to discuss what it takes to move soil-restoring biotechnology from European labs to farms in South Asia and the Gulf. The panel will cover evidence, field trials, data, regulation and finance, and close with practical commitments for linking Estonian innovation to global soil restoration.

Hira Wajahat Malik · Entrepreneur(TBC) · Soil Scientist(TBC) · Agriculturalist(TBC) · Policy and Finance Expert(TBC)

Carbon - a resource, not nuisance

Around the world, large volumes of industrial residues and mineral-rich waste streams contain valuable raw materials that could be recovered while simultaneously providing opportunities for permanent carbon storage through mineralisation. However, the absence of clear and internationally aligned frameworks for carbon dioxide management, accounting methodologies, certification systems, and transport infrastructure continues to limit investment in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) solutions. In this session, we will explore the opportunities of using CO₂ as a resource.

Alar Saluste · Representative of CO₂ Value Europe(TBC) · Laura Remmelgas(TBC) · Cris-Tiina Pärn · Representative of Bioforce(TBC) · Emma Wiesner(TBC) · +1 more