A favourable global context
The bioeconomy is today becoming a priority at the regional, national, European and international level.
In 2017, the Grand Est region decided to make the bioeconomy one of the cornerstones of its economic development plans. In collaboration with operators in the sector, it developed a bioeconomy strategy which was adopted by the council in 2019, designed to promote growth and competitiveness among the region’s companies.
The objective of the strategy is to turn the Grand Est region into a European bioeconomy benchmark. It has been designed to provide sustainable responses to the most basic needs of its inhabitants (food, housing, heating and mobility), but also to combat climate change and create jobs in the region that cannot be offshored. Objective: to reconcile economic growth with ecological transition.
The 2019-2022 roadmap for development of the bioeconomy in the Grand Est region is based on 5 priorities:
To implement energy strategies at the local level
To develop regional biorefineries
To deploy sustainable agriculture able to produce more and better
To promote biobased materials in construction and renovation
To produce food with biobased ingredients and sustainable packaging covered by enhanced traceability
In 2017, France introduced a sustainable development framework for the bioeconomy which is consistent with the resources and needs of our region while avoiding overexploitation. This strategy was followed by an action plan in 2018 broken down into five main areas:
- Enhanced knowledge
- Promotion of the bioeconomy and its products to the general public
- Creation of the conditions for balanced supply and demand
- Sustainable production, exploitation and processing of bioresources
- Removing obstacles and mobilising financing
On 11 October 2018, the European Commission presented a revised action plan for a “sustainable and circular bioeconomy” serving society, the environment and the economy in Europe. Designed to promote a sector “able to create one million new green jobs by 2030” this strategy revises the one adopted in 2012 named “Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe”.
In order to guide this collective effort, in 2019 the Commission launched 14 concrete measures covering three key objectives:
- To strengthen and scale up the bio-based sectors, unlock investments and markets
- To deploy local bioeconomies rapidly across the whole of Europe
- To understand the ecological boundaries of the bioeconomy
The bioeconomy meets a number of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015:
- Improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture
- Use of renewable energies
- Promoting resilient infrastructure and sustainable industrialisation
- Tackling climate change
Bioeconomy For Change, partner of the Grand Est region
