23/04/2026
Resilience.
The term was mentioned at least 40 times throughout the Conference. By the end of the day, it started to feel both everywhere and, at times, slightly undefined.
So what does mean for environmental policy that contributes to a just transition? And what role does play?
🔷 Teresa Ribera opened by highlighting the choice between short-term benefits and long-term prosperity. She positioned resilience as central to the political narrative and referred to Janez Potočnik’s work on the circular economy. Potočnik stressed that we are at a crossroads. His message is that we must manage scarcity through governance grounded in hope and a clear compass.
🔷 Combining the insights from Séverine Hermand and Martin Špolc, resilience requires a deep understanding of risks and building capacity to absorb impacts when they occur. But resilience is not only about absorbing shocks, it is also about defining who is expected to absorb them and how.
🔷A Just Transition toward a resilient model then requires a particular view on trade. The EU should not view trade as selectively collecting or extracting what it needs from other parts of the world. Instead, as highlighted by Virginia Enssle, we need to move toward partnerships. Fair Trade does precisely that. By centering relationships with people and the environment, and making decisions based on dialogue and data, it supports building the capacity of producers and communities to respond to change.
Trade can build capacity and thereby contribute toward resilience. Practically, this means that in times of crisis, there are reserves to build on. And that when shocks occur, we have already taken measures to deal with this in the direct environment. 💡
What I take away from this is that resilience is not a neutral concept. Improving resilience in a meaningful way requires that risks are distributed fairly across trade systems and that measures are devised to target risks.
Thank you to the speakers for their contributions and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and the Cyprus Presidency for hosting this inspiring event! 🪴
