Chapter 07 · Materials & footprintsCircular Economy & Materials
Bioeconomy
Definition
An economic system based on the sustainable use of renewable biological resources to produce food, feed, materials, chemicals and energy — spanning agriculture, forestry, fisheries, biotechnology and bio-based industry. There is no single agreed international definition: the G20's ten voluntary High-Level Principles on Bioeconomy (agreed under Brazil's presidency in 2024) frame what sustainable bioeconomy should deliver — food security, inclusion, climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation, circular use of biological resources and responsible innovation.
References
G20 High-Level Principles (2024); no agreed international definition; Brazil's Bioeconomy Challenge at COP30.
Definition (renewable biological resources for food, materials, energy); 23 national strategies; metrics and standards gap.
Overview
What it means
The concept emerged in 1970s policy debate about ecological limits and became a strategy tool in the 2010s (EU, US, South Africa among the first). FAO counts 23 countries with dedicated bioeconomy strategies, plus regional approaches (EU, East African Community, Nordic Council).
Tensions run through the field: an insect farm recycling food waste and a biofuel plantation clearing forest both qualify as bioeconomy — which is why the G20 principles and metrics debates (continued by the Bioeconomy Challenge launched at COP30, targeting action by 2028) focus on distinguishing sustainable from unsustainable variants.
How it is used
Governments use bioeconomy strategies to coordinate research, industrial and rural policy; the concept links circular economy (biological loops), climate (bio-based substitution) and development (rural value chains, traditional knowledge).
Why it matters
As fossil feedstocks are phased down, the share of materials and energy sourced from biology will grow — making the governance of that growth (land competition, biodiversity, equity) one of this century's structural sustainability questions.