Across Europe, the primary goal of the bioeconomy is to reduce fossil resource consumption by transitioning to biological resources, integrating economic and ecological considerations to ensure sustainable resource use. This involves maintaining a balance between sustainable supply and responsible consumption, keeping production, exploitation, and use of biological resources within ecological limits. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) support this objective by aiming for climate neutrality by 2030. To achieve these goals, each European Union Member State must ensure sustainability across three dimensions: environmental, economic, and social. A systematic monitoring approach is essential to understand, manage, and overcome challenges related to climate and biodiversity changes while exploring renewable energy opportunities.
Monitoring the bioeconomy in the European Union
To help develop the bioeconomy across its member states, the European Union created a Biomonitoring system. This system uses indicators—measurable values or statistics—to track progress and performance in bioeconomy-related areas. Think of these indicators like a car’s dashboard: each gauge shows how different parts are working, helping you see if everything is running smoothly. For the EU, this means meeting five key objectives outlined in the European Bioeconomy Strategy:
- Ensuring food security.
- Managing natural resources sustainably.
- Reducing reliance on non-renewable resources.
- Addressing climate change.
- Boosting competitiveness and job creation.
Fig 1: EU Biomonitoring System: Levels for Choosing Indicators
The EU Biomonitoring System organizes its indicators into different levels to help select the right ones. Think of it like a hierarchy:
- Top Level: Overall goals and objectives for the bioeconomy.
- Middle Level: Specific areas to focus on, like food security or climate change.
- Bottom Level: Detailed indicators that measure progress in these areas.
This structure helps ensure that indicators are relevant and useful for tracking progress toward EU bioeconomy goals.
When choosing indicators, it’s important to ensure they fit the purpose of the monitoring tool. This means they should be relevant, cover the right topics, and provide data that is updated regularly and on time. Additionally, factors like how often the data is shared, the areas it covers, and whether the data is clear and easy to access should also be considered.
Germany SYMBIO 2.0 (consolidation of Systemic Monitoring and Modelling of the Bieconomy)
Germany is deeply committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through its bioeconomy strategy. The goal is to create a thriving and competitive market that is both socially accepted and economically viable, aligning with European and German policies. To achieve this, Germany is implementing a comprehensive monitoring system to understand and address economic challenges, aiming for climate neutrality and sustainable consumption.
This approach is supported by two key research projects: SYMOBIO2.0 and MoBi II. These projects provide an overview of the current state and performance of Germany’s bioeconomy using reliable data, trends, and scenarios. This helps Germany stay on track with its sustainability goals.
Figure 2 Bioeconomy Monitoring Report 2024 presented the 3rd of December in Berlin, German.
A recent presentation in Berlin showcased Germany’s progress and framework for monitoring its bioeconomy. The monitoring approach focuses on five key areas:
- Biomass use across food, materials, and energy: Examines how biological resources are used in producing food, creating materials, and generating energy.
- Biomass flows in agriculture, forestry, and aquatic sectors: Tracks the movement and utilization of biomass within farming, forestry, and water-based industries.
- Socio-economic performance and innovation: Measures how the bioeconomy contributes to jobs, economic growth, and technological advancements.
- Environmental impacts: Assesses the effects of bioeconomy activities on ecosystems, including emissions and resource depletion.
- Bioeconomy footprints: Evaluates the overall impact of bioeconomy activities on sustainability, including carbon footprints and resource efficiency.
This comprehensive approach helps Germany better understand and manage its bioeconomy to align with sustainability goals.
BioCircular Summit (Regulation, policies, innovation and impact)
Spain is actively working to develop its bioeconomy, focusing on sustainability and circularity. One key initiative is the StartBec program, which promotes the creation of technology startups to drive innovation in this area. Spain’s efforts target several priority areas:
Sustainable production of biological resources: Developing new sources of biomass for use in food, animal feed, materials, chemicals, and energy.
Sustainable use of by-products: Transforming agricultural by-products into valuable sub-products through processes like extraction and purification.
Food loss and waste: Reducing waste and losses throughout the food supply chain.
Bioproducts: Creating biomaterials for packaging and using bio-based chemicals as building blocks for producing other materials.
Biofertilizers and biopesticides: Developing sustainable alternatives for agriculture.
Biorefineries and bioindustries: Advancing facilities that convert biomass into fuels, chemicals, and other products.
Figure 3 Attendance to the BioCirucular Summit on the 11th of February in Madrid, Spain
A recent conference, the BioCircular Summit, organized by Biocirc and Bioplat, highlighted many new technology startups driving the development of the bioeconomy. Spain’s approach focuses on achieving strategic autonomy for its regions, where each ministry sets policies and regulations to promote biocircularity through innovation and industrialization.
While Spain plans to introduce a centralized monitoring platform in the future, for now, data on bioeconomy indicators is managed separately by individual ministries, such as those responsible for agriculture and energy. This decentralized system reflects Spain’s commitment to tailoring its bioeconomy strategy to the unique needs of each sector. By fostering innovation and preparing for more integrated monitoring, Spain is positioning itself as a key player in the global transition toward sustainability and circularity.
InformBio prototype monitoring dashboard for the bioeconomy
The development of a bioeconomy monitoring tool in Ireland can draw valuable insights from the approaches adopted by Spain and Germany. Both countries have emphasized strategic autonomy and stakeholder engagement in their monitoring frameworks. For instance, Spain’s focus on innovation and industrialization through programs like StartBec, which highlights the importance of supporting startups in driving bioeconomy growth. This could inspire Ireland to integrate similar initiatives into its monitoring framework, ensuring that innovation and entrepreneurship are key components of its bioeconomy strategy.
Germany’s comprehensive monitoring approach, which includes projects like SYMOBIO2.0 and MoBi II, demonstrates the value of using robust data and indicators to assess the bioeconomy’s performance. These projects provide detailed insights into biomass use, socio-economic impacts, and environmental effects, which are crucial for informed policy-making. Ireland can benefit from this structured approach by incorporating similar data-driven methodologies into its own monitoring system. By doing so, Ireland can ensure that its bioeconomy strategy is well-informed and aligned with broader sustainability goals.
The InformBio project’s prototype monitoring dashboard for Ireland’s bioeconomy offers a promising foundation for integrating these international best practices. By building on existing EU frameworks and engaging with stakeholders through thematic networks, Ireland can develop a monitoring system that is both comprehensive and tailored to its unique needs. Furthermore, the use of platforms like ArcGIS Hub for spatial data visualization, as envisioned in the InformBio project, can also enhance the system’s ability to track geographical aspects of the bioeconomy.
