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Towards sustainable bioeconomy guidelines

Brief

Year of publication 2019

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 4p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Bioeconomy is the production, utilization and conservation of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation, to provide information, products, processes and services across all economic sectors aiming toward a sustainable economy’. Its cross-cutting nature offers a unique opportunity to comprehensively address interconnected societal challenges such as food and nutrition security, fossil-resource dependence, natural resource scarcity and climate change, while achieving sustainable economic development. However, developing bioeconomy as such is not sustainable per se. The development of an economy that is based on biomass resources faces several trade-offs. It is crucial that bioeconomy development does not hamper but rather strengthens food security as a basic human need and right, while also helping to achieve several other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Taking this into account, in January 2015, on the occasion of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture summit in Berlin, 62 Ministers of Agriculture recommended that FAO coordinates international work on sustainable bioeconomy. To that end, the German Ministry for Food and Agriculture has provided support to FAO to develop Sustainable Bioeconomy Guidelines. The project aims to develop sustainable bioeconomy guidelines to assist countries as well as producers and users of biomass and bioproducts in developing and implementing sustainable bioeconomy strategies, policies and programmes.

Language English

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    The Sustainable Bioeconomy Guidelines (SBG) project aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve food security, growth must be decoupled from fossil fuel dependence. This can be achieved through sustainable consumption and improved resource use efficiency, with bioeconomy playing a key role. Bioeconomy involves producing goods and services from biomass, such as food, feed, fibre, biomaterials and bioenergy, and is gaining global interest with various countries developing holistic bioeconomy strategies. However, sustainable development of the bioeconomy is essential and requires guidelines to ensure environmental, economic, and social benefits, as well as good governance principles. In response, FAO supports countries in developing sustainable bioeconomy policies and strategies, focusing on agrifood systems transformation. FAO’s "Bioeconomy that works for People, Food Security and Climate" (BTW) programme includes analysing existing bioeconomy strategies, creating best-practice guidelines, and developing tools for sustainable bioeconomy development. The project had two phases: Phase 1 focused on stock-taking and gap analysis of sustainable bioeconomy worldwide, while Phase 2 aimed to implement sustainable bioeconomy principles. In July 2016, the German Ministry for Food and Agriculture (BMEL) reiterated its proposal to continue funding the development of sustainable bioeconomy guidelines as part of the BTW Programme. This second phase, entitled “Towards Sustainable Bioeconomy Guidelines”, focused on improving guidance on sustainable bioeconomy at a global, national and local levels to support FAO Member States and other stakeholders in sustainable bioeconomy operations.
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    Document
    Towards sustainable bioeconomy guidelines - GCP/GLO/724/GER 2017
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    Bioeconomycomprises the parts of the economy that use renewable biological resources (plants, animals, micro-organisms, etc.) to replace fossil fuels, and produce food, animal feed, and other biobasedproducts. Its cross-cutting nature offers a unique opportunity to comprehensively address interconnected societal challenges such as food security, natural resource scarcity, fossil-resource dependence and climate change, while achieving sustainable economic development. As bioeconomyplays an increa singly important role in many countries and regions, it is crucial to establish guidelines that enable it to be developed in a sustainable way.
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    Book (series)
    Towards sustainable bioeconomy - Lessons learned from case studies 2019
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    In 2015, at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture meeting in Berlin, 62 ministers of agriculture recommended that FAO coordinate international work on sustainable bioeconomy. The German Ministry for Food and Agriculture has provided support to FAO to assist countries in the development of sustainable bioeconomy strategies and programmes. Bioeconomy activities are not necessarily sustainable. The use of biological resources and the production of biomass for food, feed, fuel and bio-based products can have both positive and negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts. The debates and experience related to bioenergy attest to this. Of paramount concern is that the development of the bioeconomy does not undermine food security, especially in areas with high levels of malnutrition. This includes the impact of environmental microbial resources on the composition of the human microbiome, which plays a role in preventing or contributing to malnourishment, including obesity, and other non-communicable diseases. Moreover, the combination of bioeconomy and digitalization and often seen as major drivers of the transformation of productive sectors. Almost fifty countries have placed the promotion of the bioeconomy on their political agendas, including the creation of dedicated visions, strategies and action plans. In 2016, FAO published the study ‘How sustainability is addressed in official bioeconomy strategies at international, national and regional levels. An overview’. As a continuation of this sustainability overview, the present report reviews how sustainability is addressed in real case studies of bioeconomy implementation around the world and from a range of different sectors. The overall aim of the report is to use these case studies to expand the general understanding of sustainability in the context of the development of the bioeconomy. To this end, this report offers lessons learned from 26 case studies, based on a review of their objectives and how they relate to broader sustainability goals (Principles and criteria for sustainable bioeconomy and the Sustainability Development Goals). The lessons clearly show that sustainability is not something that happens automatically. This document provides policy makers and people working directly in bioeconomy initiatives with examples of the sustainability elements that need to be considered when implementing bioeconomy activities.
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