What’s the bioeconomy?
What even is the bioeconomy? If you’ve never heard of it before, watch the video above for a short explainer and see why the bioeconomy it’s so important to a sustainable Ireland.
Explore Ireland’s bioeconomy.
How does the bioeconomy work in Ireland? And what can we as citizens do to help it be circular and sustainable? Explore our interactive and narrated map to find out more.
Your ideas for the bioeconomy.
We need to combine everyone’s ideas and expertise to really make a sustainable, circular bioeconomy. What do you think we should be working on?
THE BIOECONOMY
The bioeconomy is the part of the economy which uses renewable resources from agriculture, forestry and the marine to produce food, feed, materials and energy, while reducing waste, in support of achieving a sustainable and climate neutral society.
Many of the products and services we use today such as food and energy are produced using unsustainable fossil resources that harm our climate, nature & society. Our world is searching for alternative approaches that provide a fair and prosperous future for us all.
The bioeconomy offers society a path to apply knowledge, science, technology and innovation to how we use and consume resources from our soils, fields, forests and seas that respects nature and increases social equality by reducing our use of fossil resources and developing green practices, products and local jobs in places where we wish to live.
The bioeconomy will value and support us to farm for carbon and nature and be less wasteful as a society. It will allow us to produce sustainable fertilizers for our fields and nutritious food for our healthy and active lives. It will also offer us sustainable packaging for the goods we buy and innovative materials to both build our homes and support our industries to re-use its waste and reduce its energy use.
WITHIN THE EU
The bioeconomy is one of the EU’s largest and most important sectors
encompassing agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food, bio-energy and bio-based products with an annual turnover of around €2 trillion and employing around 18 million people. The bioeconomy is needed as the world has limited resources and face global challenges like climate change, land and ecosystem degradation, coupled with a growing demand for food, feed, biobased materials and energy. This is forcing countries, industries and people to seek new ways of producing and consuming. A sustainable and circular bioeconomy contributes to addressing these challenges.
Find out more via the informative links below:
EU BIOECONOMY STRATEGY
BIOECONOMY KNOWLEDGE CENTRE
EU BIOECONOMY POLICY DEVELOPMENT
