The UNEP released a technical report “Global Bioeconomy Assessment: Coordinated Efforts of Policy, Innovation, and Sustainability for a Greener Future”
In the context of climate change, comprehensive exploitation and utilization of biomass resources and the development of the bioeconomy have become important avenues for the global community to address the challenges of climate change and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
On April 22, the World Earth Day, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the technical report “Global Bioeconomy Assessment: Coordinated Efforts of Policy, Innovation, and Sustainability for a Greener Future”. This report, led by Fudan University and the United Nations Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP), is the first technical report on the global bioeconomy assessment issued by UNEP. Professor WANG Yutao from the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Fudan University and the Shanghai Institute for Energy and Carbon Neutrality Strategy, Associate Professor SUN Mingxing from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Senior Researcher at UNEP-IEMP, along with Director ZHANG Linxiu of UNEP-IEMP, are the co-authors of the report.
On the same day, the launch event was held in Beijing. Jian Liu, the Director of the Division of Early Warning and Assessment, UNEP, attended the event and delivered a speech. Relevant leaders, experts and scholars, as well as research team members from institutions including the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, the Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University, Tongji University, Shandong University, the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences were present at the event.
Promoting the development of the global bioeconomy is crucial for achieving a green future
In response to the triple planetary crisis, including climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, the current research focuses on how to rationally develop biomass resources, develop the bioeconomy, and design a sustainability management mechanism for biomass resources that is adaptive to climate change. The so-called bioeconomy refers to economic activities that involve the use of biotechnology and biomass to produce goods, services, or energy, with the goal of reducing the dependence of the energy and industrial sectors on fossil fuels. Currently, more than 60 countries, regions and organizations around the world have developed strategies for the development of bioeconomy.
The technical report evaluates the current status and future trends of the global bioeconomy from three dimensions: policy, innovation, and sustainability. It summarizes the development policies and future trends of bioeconomy in different countries around the world, analyzes the technological innovation and application prospects of bio-based products, assesses the impact of the bio-based economy on land use, biodiversity, and livelihoods improvement, and systematically analyzes the potential for climate change mitigation, risk assessment, and adaptation strategies in the bio-based economy. The report emphasizes that promoting the development of the global bio-based economy through coordinated advancement of policies, innovation, and sustainable development is crucial for achieving a greener future.
Exploring the sustainability of the global bioeconomy from a system thinking perspective
Promoting the bioeconomy is crucial for achieving a greener future; however, its development may also lead to other issues that significantly impact its sustainability. For example, how should we assess the potential negative impacts of emerging products throughout their life-cycle during the development of the bioeconomy? Another question concerns how to coordinate the conflicting interests among the stakeholders in the bioeconomy chain, given that human destinies are closely intertwined in our “global village”. Additionally, how can we address the risks such as climate disasters that affect the supply chain of the bioeconomy? These are the key issues that the report writing team is focused on and committed to studying.
Since March 2021, with the support of the collaborative research project between the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the UNEP titled “Research on Global Biomass Resource Sustainability and Climate Change Adaptation Management Mechanisms”, a research team led by Fudan University, in collaboration with UNEP-IEMP, the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other institutions, officially launched the study. After more than three years of repeated revisions and careful reviews by international experts, they have completed a 100-page technical report.
In the report, the writing team, starting from a system thinking perspective, pays special attention to the life-cycle characteristics of bio-based products. Focusing on technological innovations in bio-energy, bio-based chemicals, bio-based plastics, and bio-based macro-molecular materials, the report evaluates the dominant technological paths, challenges, and development prospects of different products. It emphasizes the potential impacts of the development of the bioeconomy on multiple dimensions such as land use, biodiversity, and livelihoods improvement. The report points out that the demand for bio-based products and bio-fuels has altered land use patterns and agricultural production methods, potentially leading to issues such as competition with food production and impacts on natural ecosystems. This underscores the importance of adopting sustainable practices and meticulous land use planning to ensure the sustainable development of the bioeconomy.
They also found that although bio-based products and bio-energy provide climate mitigation benefits by replacing non-renewable materials and fossil fuels, the supply chain of biomass resources is also affected by both extreme and slow-onset climate risks. Enhancing the climate mitigation benefits of biomass utilization and improving the resilience of the supply chain for bio-based products against climate change are crucial for achieving sustainable development of bioeconomy.
“The sustainable development of the bioeconomy requires the participation of different stakeholders, and this report provides encouraging and valuable information for different interest groups involved in the development of the bioeconomy,” said ZHANG Linxiu, the senior official of the UNEP and the director of UNEP-IEMP.
The participating experts spoke highly of the content of the report and unanimously agreed that its systematic, objective, and professional nature was commendable. The report has important reference value for scientific research and applied practices in related fields and can provide support for “Science for Policy”. The experts pointed out that the report not only covers the mitigating effect of the bioeconomy on climate change but also delves into the impacts of its development on biodiversity, land use, and livelihoods. It further considers the feedback effects of climate change risks on bioeconomy. The report encompasses multiple dimensions such as policy, technological innovation, and sustainability, providing scientific references for the global response to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
Scholars from Fudan University are actively engaged in providing scientific support for the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
According to statistics from the UNEP, about 11 million tons of plastic waste flows into the ocean every year, which may double by 2040. More than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by plastic pollution, while the main raw materials for plastics, such as oil and natural gas, are fossil fuels.
The theme of this year’s 55th World Earth Day is “Global War on Plastics”. The development of a bioeconomy and the substitution of fossil-based materials with bio-based materials are important paths to achieving this goal. The technical report led by Fudan scholars is expected to help stakeholders more accurately grasp the development trends of bioeconomy, providing scientific references for the UNEP to formulate relevant environmental agendas and for member states to formulate bioeconomy policies, and making contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
As the lead author of the technical report, Professor WANG Yutao has been leading his team in conducting long-term research on environmental systems engineering and carbon neutrality. He said, “The goal of developing a sustainable bioeconomy is to reduce our dependence on fossil resources and truly achieve SDGs. I hope that this technical report can help countries and regions around the world better address climate change and achieve green development and green transformation in a coordinated manner.”
Currently, the report is available for free download on the UNEP website (Download link: https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/45332).
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Presented by Fudan University Media Center
