As part of the G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy (GIB), NatureFinance and Getúlio Vargas Foundation have released a global stocktake of how G20 members are advancing the bioeconomy.
The Global Stocktake is a response to the highly significant growth potential of the bioeconomy. In its annual ‘State of the Global Bioeconomy’ report, the World Bioeconomy Forum estimates the total value of the bioeconomy at US$4 trillion, and according to a study by Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute (BHI), its value could rise to US$30 trillion by 2050.
Currently, there is a wide range of views on the definition of the bioeconomy existing. This is due to G20 members having diverse priorities and strategies, contexts and drivers. The approaches to the bioeconomy show however some underlying commonalities.
The preliminary analysis indicates that the approaches are closely aligned across three themes:
(a) biotechnology (research, development and innovation),
(b) bioresources (sustainable use of biodiversity); and
(c) bio-ecology (sustainable development more broadly).
Additionally, the stocktake has identified five themes, which could serve as the foundation for a G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy programme supporting future collaborative work:
- Bioeconomy integration into economic, industrial and green growth plans: Exploring how G20 members have integrated bioeconomy elements into national, regional and sector plans would enable learnings as to how the bioeconomy fits into wider development planning and policies.
- Livelihoods and equity outcomes and opportunities: Deepening shared understanding of the livelihoods and equity dimensions and opportunities of bioeconomy development experiences and associated policy options, particularly for the most vulnerable populations such as small-scale farmers, indigenous peoples and local communities and others, would help ensure the long-term sustainability and resilience of bioeconomy strategies.
- Bioeconomy-enabling finance: Understanding how developments in sustainable finance could broadly or specifically support bioeconomy developments would enable learnings as to how to fund growth, drawing from and informing the work of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group.
- Facilitating biotrade: Better understanding of the evolving importance of ‘biotrade’ arising from the development of a global bioeconomy would facilitate consideration of enabling policies, regulation and incentives.
- Bioeconomy measurement: Sharing experience on the methodologies, indicators and data sources for measuring the bioeconomy would enable a greater understanding of the dynamics of the bioeconomy, its potential and also its usefulness in different contexts.
The report can be downloaded here.