Bioeconomy

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.

The Bioeconomy Changemakers Festival, jointly organised by the European Commission and the EU Bioeconomy Youth Ambassadors, aims to engage youth as drivers of the transformative change and boost the bioeconomy innovation ecosystem. It will take place between 11 and 17 March 2024 in various location across EU Member States, including a high-level main event in Brussels. Interested companies and institutions can now apply for organising satellite events.

The integrated process of information gathering, analysis, planning, decision making, allocation of resources and formulation and enforcement of fishery regulations by which the fisheries management authority controls the present and future behaviours of the interested parties in the fishery, in order to ensure the continued productivity of the living resources.

Following several stakeholder consultations, the European Commission adopted the delegated Regulation, pursuant to Article 28(5) of the Renewable Energy Directive. This delegated act defines a methodology allowing economic operators to calculate the contribution of biofuels and biogas in blended transport fuel. Calculations are done in the context of the EU renewable energy target in transport, in line with the sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria and low indirect land-use change-risk criteria.

On 29 June 2023, the EU Regulation on deforestation-free supply chains entered into force, stepping up EU’s engagement with producer and consumer countries to prevent deforestation and forest degradation in any part of the world while promoting sustainable consumption. Operators and traders will have 18 months to implement the new rules covering palm oil, cattle, soy, coffee, cocoa, timber and rubber as well as derived products. The list of commodities that are covered will be regularly updated taking into account the evolution of the deforestation.

With a joint Communication, the European Commission and the High Representative clarified how the EU will address the growing impact of new threats related to climate change and environmental degradation on our society and our security operations. The EU aims to better integrate the climate, peace and security nexus in the EU's external policies, with a set of concrete actions across the entire spectrum of data, policies, missions, defence, and cooperation with third partners. The concept of food security and the sustainable management of key natural resources are an integral part of this strategy.

On 5 July 2023, the Commission presented the 2023 Strategic Foresight Report, on how to put ‘sustainability and people's wellbeing at the heart of Europe's Open Strategic Autonomy', identifying six key social and economic challenges and ten concrete actions to achieve a successful transition. The Communication builds on the JRC Report "Towards a fair and sustainable Europe 2050: Social and economic choices in sustainability transitions", where the crucial role of the bioeconomy is highlighted in one of the scenarios of a sustainable EU 2050.

As part of the EU soil strategy for 2030, the EU proposed a new Soil Health Law to help achieve healthy soils by 2050. The proposal puts in place a solid and coherent monitoring framework, combining data from multiple sources to support innovative and evidence-based solutions in farming practices. In addition, it requires EU Member States to define positive and negative practices for soil management as well as regeneration measures based on national soil health assessments, useful to inform LULUCF, CAP and water management policies. Finally, the proposal requests that Member States address soil contamination issues, applying the ‘polluter pays’ principle.

The Group of Science Advisors from SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies) has released a report presenting the evidence for the main levers and actions to shape food consumption for the mutual benefit of environmental sustainability and public health, including health-related inequalities. The authors looked at food system impacts, food environment and consumer behaviour, as well as at policy and strategies to overcome the barriers that hinder sustainable and healthy food consumption.

Jointly produced by DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) and the Joint Research Centre, the 2023 edition of this report highlights the evolution of the blue economy sectors since 2010. It shows that despite the negative impact of the COVID19 pandemic and the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, most of the analysed sectors increased their economic performances.

This report by DG Research and Innovation (DG RTD) reflects on the future of sustainable food systems in line with the priorities of the Food 2030 initiative. It seeks to share good practices and to serve as inspiration for more urban areas wishing to transform their food systems. The report is based on a survey of 22 European urban food system transformation projects, in-depth interviews, and a workshop with representatives of some 25 European projects and networks.

In this paper, JRC scientists combine a large dataset of tree species occurrences, future climatic projections, and data on tree functional traits and tree-specific forest services with an innovative modelling approach, to tackle assess forest ecosystem services decline and explore alternative scenarios of assisted tree migration strategies. This research has contributed to the impact assessment of the Commission proposal on production and marketing of plant reproductive material in the Union.

The iMAP project (Integrated Modelling platform for Agro-economic and resource Policy analysis) aims to provide robust scientific evidence to support the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Common Agricultural Policy, within the framework of the EU environment and climate change objectives. Among the outcomes, the project has just released a wiki with a synthesis of a large amount of scientific evidences on the impacts of farming practices on the environment, climate and agricultural productivity.

JRC scientists have contributed to the European Commission proposal of legally binding food waste reduction targets to be achieved by the EU Member States by 2030, published on 5th July as part of the Farm to Fork Strategy. They have analysed the potential economic, social and environmental impacts of cutting EU food waste by 2030, assessed environmental benefits linked to food waste reduction and prepared a compendium of tools, best practices, and recommendations for policymakers, researchers, businesses, and practitioners, to take action against food waste at consumer level. In this context, the Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy has contributed to communicate and disseminate the work of the European Consumer Food Waste Forum.

The JRC has published the 2020 socio-economic data of the bioeconomy in the European Union. In 2020, the biomass producing and converting sectors in the EU provided 17.2 million jobs, which is about 8.3% of the total employment. The value added reached 665 billion EUR, corresponding to a share of 4.9% of the total value added. Compared to 4.75% in 2019, the bioeconomy has shown a higher resilience than the rest of the economy.