The year 2016 was a turning point: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted, and the Paris Agreement on climate change came into effect. These sent out a global political message of the need to transform our economic system to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure wellbeing for all. The critical question now is how to reach the ambitious targets they set. A necessary part of the answer will be the move to a circular bioeconomy to increase the use of renewable non-fossil raw materials and products in sustainable, resource-efficient way. The new From Science to Policy study from the European Forest Institute analyses what a circular bioeconomy strategy would require, particularly in a European context. Foreword: Why circular bioeconomy now?; Executive summary; Introduction: The need for a circular bioeconomy; Background; Context; What is the bioeconomy?Towards a new paradigm: a circular bioeconomy; Bioeconomy strategies; Existing strategies; The main messages from the strategies; What are the gaps and needs for new insights?Policies to maximize synergies and minimize trade-offs; Requirements for successful circular bioeconomy development; Background; The importance of narrative and social inclusiveness; Environmental sustainability; R&D, technological change and skills; Risk-taking capacity; Regulatory environment and public-private sector collaboration; Bioeconomy contribution potential: examples; Background; Economic and environmental impacts; Construction market; Textile market; Plastics market; The role of services; Conclusions and policy In 2016, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement gave global, overarching societal objectives for future decades. The critical question now is how to reach the targets they set. We argue that a necessary part of the answer will be the move to a circular bioeconomy. It is widely agreed that in order to reach these ambitious global targets, a business-as-usual model will not work. Policies and production and consumption
habits will need to change. These global agreements give a mandate to change our existing economic model to one which includes natural capital in the way we advance societal wellbeing. One necessary element in this change is the move to a circular bioeconomy, which increases the use of renewable non-fossil raw materials and products in sustainable, resource-efficient and circular way.
