A sustainable bioeconomy could contribute to replacing fossil-based resources and feeding a growing world population. Inherent to a transformation towards such an economy are economic, ecological and social opportunities as well as risks. This project for Germany’s Federal Environment Agency explores these opportunities and challenges. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are the guiding principles of the 2030 Agenda, serve as a basis for this evaluation.

In this project, Ecologic Institute analyses all relevant worldwide political bioeconomy strategies and actors. The work is based on the following questions:

• What are the differences between the different bioeconomy strategies (e.g. focus, essential characteristics, participatory character)?
• Which actors, interests and conflicts influence their development and implementation?
• What are the relevant societal initiatives and networks and who are the key actors in the Global South (e.g. Brazil and Indonesia)?
• What are the underlying concepts of bioeconomy strategies?

Apart from this, Ecologic Institute plays an advisory role in the other work packages of the project. Based on the analysis of bioeconomy strategies, actors and the ongoing societal debates on the topic, the project will select and analyse relevant technology paths. In doing so, it will identify development paths and evaluate them and their potential in the context of global megatrends.

In addition, the cross-references and interdependencies of the bioeconomy to individual SDGs will be evaluated in more detail. The aim is to identify contradictions and conflicting objectives as well as opportunities and potential synergies. For this purpose, the project will analyse the value chains of specific biomass product groups (e.g. soya, palm oil, sugar cane) and relevant sectoral trade policies based on three country examples in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This will then help pinpoint the requirements for a sustainable, resource-efficient bioeconomy for the implementation of the SDGs. The work will focus on SDG 2 ("No Hunger") and SDG 15 ("Life on Land"). The results will inform the design of policy measures for the implementation of SDGs in the context of bioeconomy strategies and contribute to the further development of national, European and international bioeconomy policies.