“Circular Economy is Key to Europe’s Resilience and Sovereignty”

Prof. Dr. Stefan Bayer is Head of Research at the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies and Professor of Economics at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg, Germany. In this interview, he explains why the circular economy is key to Europe’s resilience and sovereignty.

With geopolitical tensions rising, sustainability objectives are sometimes portrayed as competing with security priorities. How can we overcome this perceived trade-off?

Sustainability is often perceived and discussed in a way that reduces it to the consideration of ecological aspects alone. In doing so, systematic interrelationships—which arise from the interdependencies between ecology, economy, and social factors—are overlooked. In our work on the topic of sustainable defence, we analyse precisely these systemic interrelationships and try to integrate them into strategic defence debates. For example, to many NATO member states, it is currently almost inconceivable to successfully manage defence without fossil fuels. A sustainable energy supply would thus offer the potential to defend effectively, contribute to greater climate protection, and reduce economic dependence on energy imports.

You have pointed to a lack of dialogue between sustainability actors and defence and security institutions. Why do these communities often speak past each other?

The protagonists often believe that their goals have little in common with those of the others. This is a major fallacy! For example, in addition to its benefits for climate protection and the preservation of biodiversity, peatland conservation (or peatland rewetting) also offers significant defence advantages.

If Europe wanted to launch this conversation at scale, which actors would need to be at the table, and how should such a dialogue be structured to build trust rather than deepen divisions?

This dialogue should be established as a comprehensive threat analysis that works towards solutions prioritising human security. This also includes threats arising from, climate change, declining access to drinking water, and health impacts. In such a setting, it quickly becomes clear that the issues at hand are not one-dimensional “either/or” questions, but rather, in many cases, “both/and” scenarios.

As Europe seeks to strengthen its strategic autonomy and overall resilience, what role can the circular economy play in these efforts?

The situation regarding circular economy is very similar to issues related to energy use in Europe: both aspects will play a central role in the reducing Europe’s strategic dependencies. Unfortunately, market prices have so far failed to reflect these dependencies. On the contrary, imports of critical materials or energy are usually cheaper than developing and using alternatives here at home.

If Europe wants to strengthen its sovereignty and resilience, the costs of dependencies and potential import shortages need to be reflected in market prices. One could also say that in the future we would have to factor resilience costs into prices to avoid becoming (or remaining) subject to dependencies. This would be a central task of government policy, ideally at the European level. However, we should not lose sight of the social aspects of sustainability in the process.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Bayer is a panellist in the mind-opening session of the Resilience & Infrastructure track of the Circular Week 2026 – register now to join him at the event!

Learn more about the Resilience & Infrastructure track here and check out the full Circular Week 2026 programme here.

For further questions, please contact Dr. Flandra Syla-Beqiri.