COP31 Estonian Pavilion

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.

How Tallinn Reinvented District Heating: From Fossil Dependency to a Resilient Renewable Energy System

Less than two decades ago, Tallinn’s district heating system was almost entirely dependent on imported natural gas. Today, 90% of the city's district heating is already produced from renewable and recovered energy sources. By replacing imported fossil fuels with local energy sources, Tallinn has made decarbonisation and energy security part of the same strategy. This case study explores how Tallinn has transformed its existing district heating infrastructure into a modern and flexible urban energy system, integrating innovative solutions such as large-scale heat pumps, thermal storage and sector coupling. The result is a cleaner and more resilient system, less exposed to imported fuel dependency and price volatility, while ensuring reliable and affordable heat for the city. Tallinn’s experience demonstrates how cities can move towards fully fossil-free heating while strengthening their energy independence.

Robert Kitt · Priit Koit · Additional speakers(TBC)

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)

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 Lies Beneath? How AI and 3D Technology Are Transforming Urban Greenery

How can cities turn complex sustainability challenges into smarter, greener urban environments? The FinEst Smart City Challenge connects real urban challenges with research-driven solutions, from energy efficiency and bathing water quality to building reuse, nature-based solutions and citizen well-being. This session highlights how digital innovation is transforming urban greenery planning. Discover Herbarium.ai, a digital platform that uses vegetation data and 3D models to help cities plan and manage green spaces, and TreeCity, which models underground tree roots to prevent construction damage and support healthier urban trees. Explore how smart technologies can help cities become greener, more resilient and more liveable.

Külle Tärnov · Kristiina Kupper

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