Abstract

This report describes the concepts of bioeconomy, sustainability, and circularity, as well as how they relate to each other. Using forests and forestry sectors as illustration, this report also discusses how a sustainable circular bioeconomy may be conceptualized. Bioeconomy is a concept permanently evolving due to its major role in political and economic debates, in particular in the EU. In recent times, the bioeconomy concept has been connected to circularity to further enhance sustainability and promote development of a bio-based economy. Forests have a key role in the development of the bioeconomy as they provide biomass that can replace fossil fuel–based materials. However, a forest-based bioeconomy is dependent on a balance between biomass production and sustainable ecosystem management. Thus implementation of a forest-based bioeconomy should take into account the environmental limits of new biotechnologies and value chains that require massive amounts of bioresources, and it must follow a sustainable development path that recognizes the innovative processes that can drive the bioeconomy forward.

Keywords

bioeconomy; circular economy; sustainability; forest sector

Published in

CERE Working Paper
2022, number: 2022:3
Publisher: Department of Economics, Umeå University

SLU Authors

• Widmark, Camilla

  • Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Persichina, Marco

  • Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Umeå University

• Martinez Cruz, Adan

  • Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • ETH Zurich

Sustainable Development Goals

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable


UKÄ Subject classification

Economics


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4112706

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/118668