Bio+

On my second day in Stockholm, I attended the Bio+ conference organized by the Swedish Energy Agency. Since our research project is funded through the Bio+ programme, showing up was expected, though I knew from the outset that survival required a very low profile.

My promise to remain silent – limiting myself to polite small talk – held for most of the day as I listened to visions of intensified forestry, shorter rotation cycles, and, in essence, the end of nature in the name of an ever-expanding “bioeconomy”. For an ecomodernist who dreams of rewilding and liberating nature, this demanded a fair measure of self-discipline, but I felt confident I would make it through.

That was until Maria Wolrath Söderberg took the stage to “shatter four myths” supposedly holding back the transition. Having seen first-hand the realities of global energy poverty, I could hardly stay still as she tangled herself up in climate guilt and the most unexamined forms of privilege. At that point, my silence cracked. I had to respond after her talk – though predictably, it did not land well. After ten minutes of awkward mingling, I called it a day and retreated to Nordic Wellness for some Frustpumpen, a much better outlet for my energy.