High Level Panel

From Diversity to Action: Global Collaboration to Achieve a Sustainable Bioeconomy in Agriculture

Manuel OteroPedro NetoJohn SteenhuisenLuis Planas PuchadesFernando Mattos Costa Christopher V. Morales
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  • More and more countries are betting on the bioeconomy as a strategy to solve their main environmental, economic and social challenges, and to fully capitalize on their biological, scientific and industrial capabilities. Strategies, policies, scientific/technological developments, and private investments in the bioeconomy have seen sustained growth and their results are becoming increasingly evident. At present, more than 70 countries around the world have national strategies dedicated to or related to the bioeconomy .
  • A sustainable bioeconomy originates in agriculture and natural ecosystems and also serves as a strategy for their strengthening and transformation. On the one hand, crops, livestock, fisheries, forests, etc., provide biomass and biodiversity, which, thanks to the new frontier of science, technology and innovation, and coupled with local and ancestral knowledge, allow for reindustrializing our economy. It offers new value-added bioproducts and bioservices for food, energy, cosmetics, chemical, pharmaceutical, tourism and other industries. On the other hand, the bioeconomy represents a means for strengthening agriculture and agrifood systems. It allows for increasing the efficiency and sustainability of biomass production; sustainably adding value to local biodiversity; promoting the circularity of agroindustrial waste and residues to develop new, highly sophisticated products; and contributing to the environmental sustainability and resilience of agriculture by incorporating nature-based services. The bioeconomy also makes it possible to build a more competitive, environmentally sustainable and inclusive agriculture sector.
  • In light of current environmental and climate challenges, it is crucial to highlight the fact that the bioeconomy increases agriculture’s natural capacity to serve as a carbon sink. New biological value chains that replace traditional fossil economy chains can contribute to harnessing this potential in other parts of the economy.
  • The bioeconomy is a strategy for fostering economic, social and environmental growth that can be capitalized by any type of agriculture and agrifood system, from large-scale agriculture, which takes advantage of biomass for high value-added industrial purposes, to small-scale agriculture that incorporates bioeconomy practices to take advantage of waste through circularity and add value to local biodiversity products.
  • There is no single definition of bioeconomy. In keeping with its own development objectives, each region, country and territory has developed bioeconomy approaches based on the availability of and access to biological resources (biodiversity and biomass), productive and industrial structures, R&D capabilities, etc.
  • As has become evident in various global forums (G20, Global Bioeconomy Summit, COP16, COP29, etc.), bioeconomies around the world have many similarities. Many countries are promoting bioeconomies that foster the sustainable development of their inhabitants by improving food and nutrition security, poverty reduction, climate change mitigation and adaptation, opportunities in rural territories and biodiversity conservation and restoration (positive nature).
  • While there are indeed significant similarities, bioeconomies around the world also exhibit important particularities. Most differences are primarily related to the methods and technologies used for biomass cultivation and production, as well as to their potential alternative uses (circularity and value addition).
  • Although no two bioeconomies are the same, countries do face common challenges in promoting them, especially in agriculture and rural areas. These are considerable challenges that cannot be solved by a single institution on its own, which therefore requires joint, collaborative work.
  • Considering the complementarities that exist between the bioeconomies of different continents, it is crucial that countries with greater experience and capabilities (political, scientific, technological, market and financial, among others) lead cooperative efforts in this regard.
  • The objectives of this high-level panel discussion are to: 1) discuss how the bioeconomy contributes to the economic, social and environmental development of agriculture in 4 countries of different continents and what is done to foster bioeconomy; 2) identify similarities and differences between the bioeconomies of each of these countries and continents; and 3) identify opportunities for joint actions (partnerships, synergies and collaboration) to promote the global bioeconomy.

Organizer

Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

Panelists

Moderators & panelists

Manuel Otero

Manuel Otero

Director General

Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA)

Pedro Neto

Pedro Neto

Secretary of Innovation, Sustainable Development, Irrigation and Cooperativism, former G20 Chair and COP30 Chair

Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock

John Steenhuisen

John Steenhuisen

Minister of Agriculture, G20 Chair

South Africa

Luis Planas Puchades

Luis Planas Puchades

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food

Spain

Fernando Mattos Costa

Fernando Mattos Costa

Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries

Uruguay (JIA)

 Christopher V. Morales

Christopher V. Morales

Deputy Minister of Agriculture

Philippines