The 2026 edition of the Summit will take place on 20-21 October at the Convention Centre Dublin, Ireland. The Irish Government (Departments of Climate, Energy, and the Environment and Agriculture, Food, and the Marine) and the International Advisory Council of the Global Bioeconomy (IACGB) will jointly organise the summit.
After two years of negotiations, the Council of the EU and the Parliament have reached a political agreement on the proposal concerning forest reproductive material (FRM), the seeds and seedlings used to establish new forests. The new rules will ensure the quality and availability of forest reproductive materials, which are crucial for conserving and restoring.
The CBE JU 2025 call invited project proposals across 13 different topics, with the objective to scale up Europe’s bio-based sector, as well as develop new circular and sustainable solutions for the market. Out of 248 project proposals for this call, 24 of them have been selected for a total CBE JU funding of €172 million. The successful applicants and the CBE JU Programme Office will now start preparing the grant agreements to be signed by mid-May 2026.
The European Commission adopted the Horizon Europe Work Programme for 2026–2027, setting out the upcoming funding opportunities available under the Programme. Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment) allocates EUR 778 million to climate-relevant activities, including supporting climate mitigation and adaptation projects across land- and water-based sectors. It promotes sustainable agriculture and food system transformation, and fosters a circular, low-emission economy that protects ecosystems and strengthens resilience.
This report summarises the main findings resulting from the assessment of the potential to enhance the circularity of bio-based waste in the EU. By mapping major bio-based waste streams, it identifies substantial untapped circularity potential. This includes over 58 Mt of food, garden and vegetable waste and 26 Mt of wood waste (wet weight), as well as 75 Mt of crop residues (dry weight), that could be used for new bio-based materials or other products, excluding bioenergy.
This article explores market sales data to investigate and compare current dietary trends in the EU Member States over 14 years, with a focus on their implications for environmental sustainability and health. The analysis of consumption trends of major food product categories, including animal-based and plant-based foods, reveals two distinct clusters of countries with diverging dietary patterns. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders aiming to promote the uptake of healthy and sustainable diets and informs the development of targeted strategies to support the transition towards more environmentally friendly and healthy food systems.
This outlook report presents the EU agricultural markets, income and environment medium-term prospects, relying on market intelligence available until the end of October 2025. It depicts a continued productivity growth, albeit at a slower rate amidst challenges from climate change and availability and affordability of inputs, while EU agriculture transforms towards more sustainable production systems. Structural changes in the EU farming sector are expected to continue shaping the economic and environmental performance of the sector.
The article examines biomass's role in European Green Deal policies through qualitative content analysis of 18 key documents. Findings reveal conflicting expectations: biomass must simultaneously support carbon capture, biodiversity, and economic growth. However, repeated biomass usage creates circular logic, challenging policy coherence. The study identifies latent social dimensions and quantifiable limits requiring integrated policy approaches for sustainable transition.
EU research and innovation funding makes it possible to investigate, design and manufacture innovative solutions in all fields of the bioeconomy. This booklet showcases 18 examples of such solutions, fostering circularity, contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and decreasing pollutants. Bioeconomy innovations create jobs and income opportunities both for primary producers and industrial stakeholders, and support a greener, more resilient future.
This JRC scenario study on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) builds on the Agricultural Outlook, and the current national CAP Strategic Plans. It defines two hypothetical scenarios on the EU agricultural sector and its broader environment: in the first, support is directed towards CAP measures enhancing productivity and competitiveness, whereas the second scenario shifts support towards more environmental and climate-focused interventions. The results highlight the CAP’s critical role, the complexity involved in balancing competing objectives, and confirm market fundamentals as primary drivers of production, although policy can significantly modulate outcomes.
Global leaders announced at COP30 in Belém the Bioeconomy Challenge, a global platform designed to translate the 10 High-Level Principles of the Bioeconomy into concrete action and scalable solutions by 2028. The initiative positions the bioeconomy at the core of the global response to the climate crisis. Building on the legacy of the G20 Bioeconomy Initiative, the Bioeconomy Challenge aims to expand bioeconomy markets to protect nature, accelerate decarbonization, and place people and communities at the center of decision-making.
This FAO report shows long-term trends in forest resources and how they relate to global goals and targets, including those on biodiversity, climate and sustainable land use. Based on official national data and transparent methodology, it represents an authoritative source of knowledge for policymakers, foresters, researchers.
This EEA report offers a comprehensive overview of GHG emissions, providing time series data for all countries and anthropogenic sectors from 1970 to 2024. The report, based on the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), includes emissions and removals from land use and forestry. The analysis of such data shows how, despite a 1.3% increase over the previous year, in 2024 all major emitters reduced their GHG emissions per unit of GDP. Globally, when including wildfires, the LULUCF sector results in a source of 0.9 Gt CO2eq, mainly due to removals from managed forests and deforestation.
The European Commission has adopted the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan, setting out a roadmap to accelerate the energy transition of aviation and waterborne transports. The plan responds to the urgent need of Europe’s transport and fuels industry to unlock investments and scale up production of renewable and low-carbon fuels. The fuel targets set out in the ReFuelEU Aviation and FuelEU Maritime regulations require more than 20 million tonnes of renewable and low-carbon fuels, with an estimated €100 billion needed by 2035 to drive production.
This study by the European Investment Bank shows that scaling up bio-based industries can strengthen EU’s strategic autonomy as well as competitiveness, foster innovation and create growth and jobs, particularly in rural and coastal regions. The study provides a series of actionable recommendations, from creating a European bioeconomy booster programme to expanding venture debt options under InvestEU guarantee.
The European Investment Bank has published an in-depth assessments of the EU bioeconomy. It shows the significant contribution of the bioeconomy to the overall European economy, its importance as a cornerstone of the Union’s economic resilience, innovation, competitiveness and sustainability agenda. Nevertheless, investment in the bioeconomy falls short by an estimated €121.8 billion a year in Europe and as much as $777 billion a year globally.
The University of Copenhagen and the Danish Ministry for Green Transition, on behalf of the European Commission, will host two conferences. The first one, on 2 December, will mark a key moment for the launch of the new EU Bioeconomy Strategy, focusing on how to boost and mainstream the bioeconomy through science, innovation, and governance. The second conference on 3 December will focus on how transformative governance can drive a just green transition for the agriculture and food system – while delivering on climate and biodiversity goals.
This JRC report summarises the enhancements made with recognised (bioeconomy) economic modelling tools (MAGNET and AGMEMOD/BioMAT) to better capture the nuances of bio-based markets. It provides a plausible medium-term baseline that combines the strengths of the simulation models. The design of the modelling framework, which started in 2023, considers a range of modelling enhancements and alignments that are relevant to policy documents and topics.
This JRC report presents a patent-based indicator to measure the innovation output of the bioeconomy. The analysis covers the period 2008-2020, revealing that the share of bioeconomy patents in the EU patent portfolio is modest but significant, with a mixed growth trend over the observed period. The proposed indicator could be a useful tool for policymakers to monitor and promote the uptake of the bioeconomy in the EU.
This JRC study explores potential environmental impacts of replacing fossil-based materials with bioeconomy innovations in the EU. Using LCA approach at material, product and EU consumption levels across different sectors, it finds that bio-based materials perform better in climate change and fossil resource use impacts, while trade-offs can be observed on land use and eutrophication. Bio-based sectors emerge as characterised by continuous dynamic innovation, with data gaps and potential for scaling requiring further assessment. The study highlights the need for carefully designed sustainability criteria and development of circular solutions.
