How strategic collaboration on the bioeconomy can boost climate and nature action

Phasing out the use of fossil fuels in energy, food and material supply chains is an essential step in the climate transition. An increased role for circular and sustainable bio-based products (made from biological resources such as plants, animals and microorganisms) and services (such as carbon sequestration or water cycle regulation) in the global economy could provide an opportunity to address multiple environmental and socio-economic challenges. However, good social and environmental outcomes of these national and regional transitions to ‘bioeconomies’ are not guaranteed and require the establishment of robust regulatory guardrails. Policies for the protection, restoration and management of both ecosystems and bioresources are necessary to ensure that these transitions also boost the broader nature-positive development agenda, particularly in nature-rich tropical countries. Consensus is building among public and private sector actors on the important role of bio-based sectors to address environmental and economic development challenges. There has been an abundance of new country and regional bioeconomy strategies, and new bio-based innovations are emerging. At the same time, increasing volatility and geopolitical tension continue to impede effective governance of global issues. There are interdependencies between core bioeconomy innovations, which mean that their implementation must be carefully timed to achieve key environmental and social goals across value chains. For example, ‘land-sparing’ innovations – like alternative proteins that can reduce the amount of land required for crops – can help to enable other opportunities like bioplastics or cross-laminated timber (used in construction) at scale. To demonstrate this, the paper includes an exploratory analysis that assesses how these innovations are reliant on each other to be deployable at scale, how they compete for key resources (including land) and the importance of sequencing their roll-out. Despite the political, research and commercial energy being put into bioeconomy transitions, rapid progress in switching to bio-based value chains remains hampered by fragmentation between sectors, as well as differences both in governance and how innovations get to market. Transitioning towards national and regional bioeconomies is likely to create a shift in geopolitical dynamics and could give rise to dominant global leaders with rich natural resource endowments, established investments in R&D and processing capacities, such as Brazil and China. Three pragmatic steps to improve collaboration and coordination on the bioeconomy include: Fostering clubs of countries with complementary roles across bioeconomies to drive a sustainable transition. These could be strengthened by platforms for international collaboration in a similar way to how the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) supports the energy transition; Facilitating pre-competitive initiatives and peer-led collaborations between large private sector organizations that shape supply chains across bioeconomy sectors, lessons could be drawn from initiatives such as RE100 or SteelZero; and Creating decision-making frameworks that combine policy and technology evidence, potentially through existing groups like the International Resource Panel. Collaboration on national and regional bioeconomies is more difficult in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical environment. But there are opportunities to make progress, such as at the G20 – which agreed the High-level Principles on the Bioeconomy in 2024 – as well as at the COP30 climate summit, where host Brazil is uniquely placed to shape these discussions.