{"id":62657,"date":"2019-04-30T07:32:42","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T05:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=62657"},"modified":"2019-04-25T14:38:52","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T12:38:52","slug":"bioeconomy-in-cap-the-economy-of-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/bioeconomy-in-cap-the-economy-of-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Bioeconomy in CAP \u2013 the economy of tomorrow?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"14646194301-6e24318fc4-k-1\"
The bioeconomy strategy could save between 1.2 and 1.5 billion tons of CO2 every year. [Susanne Nilsson\/Flickr]<\/figcaption><\/figure>In view of the threat of environmental damage caused by climate change, experts are placing a lot of hope in bioeconomy as a model for the future of agriculture. But the question is \u2013 what kind of bioeconomy do we need? EURACTIV Germany reports<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBioeconomy should be the basis for a new model for our agricultural sector,\u201d said Angelique Delahaye, member of the European Parliament\u2019s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.<\/p>\n

The MEP debated bioeconomy with other experts during a EURACTIV panel on 10 April. Delahaye mentioned an example: the protein strategy could not only offer European farmers an additional income but would also help the EU address the current protein deficit and allow it to avoid dependence on genetically modified or imported foodstuffs.<\/p>\n

It is very important to include farmers and farming regions into the bioeconomy but also to secure sustainability on a social, ecological and economic level, said Mindaugas Maciulevicius, a rapporteur of the European Economic and Social Committee\u2019s Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Section.<\/p>\n

Local and regional levels are key<\/h3>\n

Maciulevicius clearly associated the terms \u2018inclusivity\u2019 and \u2018sustainability\u2019 with bioeconomy. As it is a modern concept, he expressed the wish for \u201cincreased cooperation between regional governments, farmers and scientists as well as an increase of investments in rural regions.\u201d To achieve this \u201csustainability is the key word.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the EU to fully exploit bioeconomy\u2019s potential in the long term, \u201cknowledge sharing [between member states] is key\u201d for the debate on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). According to Maciulevicius, the EU is currently investing too much time, effort and money into fighting climate change at the global level.<\/p>\n

Bioeconomy could be the solution, to earn money that way and meet the EU\u2019s priorities and strategies at the same time. \u201cWe should imitate the success of the EU, instead of looking for new solutions,\u201d Maciulevicius said.<\/p>\n

Especially on a local and regional level, an innovative bioeconomy could be the source of new environmentally friendly jobs and substantial investments.<\/p>\n

Combining the use of resources<\/h3>\n

Waldemar K\u00fctt, head of unit for the bioeconomy strategy of the European Commission, seemed convinced that the actual question is to analyse how bioeconomy should be defined. According to him, bioeconomy is \u201cnot synonym for bio-based economy.<\/p>\n

The bioeconomy strategy is not a new CAP or alternative climate strategy.\u201d Instead, it reinforces the CAP in many agricultural sectors and aims to combine the use of resources.<\/p>\n

The driving force to reach a functioning economy in the future should consist of a renewed bioeconomic strategy, which supports a sustainable and circular bioeconomy, explained K\u00fctt.<\/p>\n

Three main elements that need to be considered in the debate about the role of bioeconomy in the CAP are, according to K\u00fctt: biodegradable waste that would transform waste into products and offer farmers new assets; the inclusion of rural regions through the use of bioeconomy at a regional level; and a bioeconomy framed by planetary boundaries and opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to work on what is possible and keep an eye on consumption (such as our daily food intake) as well as our production,\u201d added K\u00fctt. As the entire system is very complex and the bioeconomy has an overarching character, K\u00fctt also pointed out that different policy areas needed to be connected.
\nIndustry calls on EU member states to show \u2018clear commitment\u2019 in smart farming
\nThe EU manufacturers of agricultural machinery (CEMA) have called on member states to indicate a \u201cclear commitment\u201d to the digitisation of European agriculture as the only way to face the environmental and economic challenges. This message has also been acknowledged by the European Commission.<\/p>\n

Solutions for the future<\/h3>\n

Joanna Dupont-Inglis, director of EuropaBio, Europe\u2019s largest and most influential biotech industry group, stressed the importance of the bio-economy in light of climate change.\u00a0 The bioeconomy strategy could save between 1.2 and 1.5 billion tons of CO2 every year, said Dupont-Inglis.<\/p>\n

According to her, \u201cEurope could be the leader in this very transformative sector, [\u2026] but ultimately we will be buying [foodstuffs and technologies] from China instead of allowing biotechnology to make progress in the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem is that the European biotech community loses talent to countries that allow for greater innovation. \u201cWe live in a bioeconomy and could not survive without it,\u201d according to Dupont-Ingles.<\/p>\n

Will we miss the boat?<\/h3>\n

Pekka Pesonen, secretary-general of Copa-Cogeca, the strongest interest group for European farmers, offered a perspective from farmers themselves:<\/p>\n

\u201cFarmers and associations never want to lose part of their production if they can exploit it in any way. The development of bioeconomy has great potential to support farmers in better valuing their production and help the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

While this is an opportunity for the younger generation to continue the food policy that currently enables over 10 million European farmers, Pesonen also pointed out that \u201cthe unstable legal framework for biotechnologies confuses everyone in the EU\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pesonen pointed out that this situation has geopolitical implications when European companies are bought by Chinese companies and non-EU countries can use the technology that has been banned in the EU. The main question is therefore whether there is enough space for innovation in the bioeconomy plan. \u201cNew plant breeding techniques are an example of how we will probably miss the train,\u201d according to Pesonen.<\/p>\n

Pesonen is calling for a reform package and additional EU investments into research and support for farmers who suffer economically from cuts in public spending. On the European level, forestry and agriculture are of strategic importance, and research policies could also promote sustainability.<\/p>\n

Global overconsumption<\/h3>\n

Harriet Bradley, EU agriculture and bioenergy policy officer at Birdlife International, cautioned that \u201cwe need to be very careful with the use of biomass. Bioeconomy needs to be sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradley explained that our current bioeconomy is \u201clargely unsustainable\u201d and added that \u201cwe currently massively over-exploit resources, which is something we need to take into account when discussing the future of bioeconomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

All in all, \u201cproduction needs to be more intelligent\u201d than it currently is, highlighted Bradley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In view of the threat of environmental damage caused by climate change, experts are placing a lot of hope in bioeconomy as a model for the future of agriculture. But the question is \u2013 what kind of bioeconomy do we need? EURACTIV Germany reports. \u201cBioeconomy should be the basis for a new model for our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,5528],"supplier":[4572,2619,2317,4514,5585],"class_list":["post-62657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-sustainability","supplier-birdlife","supplier-copa-cogeca","supplier-european-commission","supplier-european-parliament","supplier-european-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62657"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=62657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}