The International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy has published a new statement, building upon previous communiqués of the Global Bioeconomy Summits held in the last decade. The statement puts forward the bioeconomy as a key solution enabling a transformed fossil-free, sustainable, regenerative and circular global economy, driven by technology and social innovations.
The Estonian Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture has developed a roadmap for the circular bioeconomy. It defines the main directions of activities for the development of the circular bioeconomy in Estonia in the short term (2023-2027) and in the long term (until 2035) and serves as the basis for compiling regional circular bioeconomy roadmaps. The latter are based on local bio-resources, the needs and opportunities of communities and municipalities, and formulate novel local initiatives and forms of cooperation supporting the growth of added value and the vitality of the regional bioeconomy.
The Irish government has recently published Ireland’s Forest Strategy towards 2030, including a Shared National Vision for the role of forests and trees in the country’s future. Based on a series of stakeholders' consultations, the new strategy aims to expand the national forest estate on both private and public land, to deliver benefits for environment, economy and society.
In July 2023, the Commission has published two new guidelines to incentivise and reward sustainable forest practices. The “closer to nature” guidelines aim to strengthen forest multifunctionality and resilience to climate change, while fostering long-term economic and other societal benefits. The guidance on payment schemes for forest ecosystem services presents a variety of ways in which land managers, including foresters, may derive monetary benefits from the provision of the different ecosystem services. The two guidelines are key deliverables of the EU Forest Strategy.
The European Commission has opened a call for proposals to create connected regional innovation valleys across the European Union, involving regions with lower innovation performances, by building on strategic areas of regional strength and specialisation in support of key EU priorities. The call closes on 17 October. The concept of Regional Innovation Valleys for Bioeconomy and Food systems will be launched in a public event in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on 13th October 2023.
This study focuses on the palm oil imports between 2000 and 2020 by four EU countries from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea. It links the demand for palm oil from the food, oleochemicals, and energy sectors, to the increased environmental impacts in South-East Asia. By adopting a biophysical accounting approach, the authors quantify the total embodied land footprint, the volume of deforestation and the emissions associated with land use change activities incorporated in the per-capita consumption of palm oil and its co-products in the leading European economies.
The United Nations General Assembly designated 29 September as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. The Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy has promoted the activities of the European Consumer Food Waste Forum during the past two years. The Forum’s work has resulted in the publication of a compendium of tools, best practices, and recommendations to help all key players prevent food waste. The document provides policymakers, researchers, businesses, and practitioners a set of recommendations to take action against consumer food waste. The compendium encourages cooperation with other stakeholders and promotes the establishment of sustainable food systems. The executive summary of the compendium is now available in all EU languages.
Starting from an accurate literature review, this report by the UN Environment Program investigates the potential climate benefits of the seaweed farming value chain, considering different use pathways. It assesses the feasibility of upscaling the global farmed seaweed production and it synthetises the findings in a situational analysis with a SWOT design. Finally, the report remarks the crucial role of coastal communities to maximise climate and environmental co-benefits, and the need to build global partnerships to advance science for the sustainable use of ocean resources.
This study evaluates to what extent the European forest sink is on track to meet our long-term climate targets. It demonstrates that at the EU level, the recent decrease in forest growth rate and the increase in harvest and mortality are causing a rapid drop in the forest sink. In addition, continuing the past forest management practices is projected to further decrease the sink. Finally, it considers options for enhancing the sinks through forest management while taking into account adaptation to climate change and resilience.
This article investigates over the impact of forest management practices on the global carbon budget. The authors apply machine learning to model the expected increase of global forests' aboveground biomass in absence of human intervention. According to their findings, the global forest carbon would only increase by 15% in this way, meaning that forest-based climate mitigation should not be mistaken as a way to compensate for present carbon emissions levels.
August 2023 available
The CGIAR Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems has contributed to a submission in response to a call for views from UNFCCC parties and non-party stakeholders on the elements for consideration of the outputs component of the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement.
Ahead of the 2023 SDG Summit, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its partners presented on Sunday the High Impact Initiative on Food Systems Transformation aimed at mobilizing commitments to ensure food security and healthy diets for all.
This report finds that several factors play a role in determining people’s willingness to show solidarity towards migrants in need of international protection. These include leadership legitimacy, institutional support and perceptions of fairness in several aspects of the refugee reception process. The report highlights that fighting disinformation and efficient communication are key for sustaining solidarity with displaced people.
The conditions and circumstances of people across the world cannot be boiled down to only national averages.
Across much of the world, water deficits are expected to become the new normal. With rising human populations and growing prosperity, water demand is growing exponentially.
The rain started two days ago and doesn’t seem to stop.
This report should be a stark reminder that we have no time to lose in the fight against poverty and inequality, and that children must be foremost in our efforts.
