In Ireland Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, along with Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Martin Heydon TD, launched the National Bioeconomy Forum to promote, support and advocate for the sustainable development of the bioeconomy in Ireland.
The Eni of Enrico Mattei, the great vision of Adriano Olivetti: in the industrial history of Italy we too often find ourselves, in retrospect, regretting the enormous opportunities lost due to the resistance to change by the “country system”. The intertwining of interests between politics, economics and finance has often played a key role in marginalizing and failing the most innovative industrial projects, those that could redesign the face of the Italian economy and society. Today we sadly pay the price and for this very reason it is important to rewrite the history of another great innovator, perhaps the only one who has not been hypocritically “beatified” after his death, and after the destruction of his project: Raul Gardini.
Last Thursday the European Parliament gave a “go” to the Com Agri Report prepared by MEP Petri Sarvamaa on the “European Forest Strategy – the way forward”. This plenary vote sent a positive signal for forest owners and managers and the 4 million workers involved in the forestry value chains.
The European Commission announced last Thursday, during the International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy which was held in Rome, the first closing at €82m of the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF), the first equity fund focused on the bioeconomy and on circularity in the EU and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries under management of the ECBF Management GmbH. The European Investment Bank (EIB), which committed to invest a total of €100m to the target size of the ECBF of €250m, raised €65m in the first closing, the rest came from private investors.
Bioeconomy worth 2.4 trillion EUR to the European economy as bio-based industries mark sizeable jump in turnover and bio-based share of chemicals reaches record high of 15%. The bio-based industries continue their ascent marking a total contribution of 750 billion EUR to the European economy in 2017, a notable increase of 50 billion EUR (+>7%) compared to 2016.
Rome is the world capital of the bioeconomy. The International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy (IFIB) will be held in the Eternal City this year at the WeGil Congress Center. And in this Covid-19 era, it will be both physical and digital.
With more than 300 delegates in attendance from approximately 25 different countries from all around the world (only 100 will be hosted at the Congress Center, the other attendants could follow the forum through Webex Cisco), the conference truly succeeds one more time in its ambitions aim to be one of the leading bioeconomy event at global level. Continue reading
In response to the growing importance of bio-based renewable raw materials, manufacturers of biomass-derived chemicals created a new sector group within the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic): Biomass-derived Chemicals Europe (BioChem Europe). The group represents companies using feedstocks based on biomass as their raw materials to produce chemicals.
In 2018, bioeconomy in Italy has shown a production potential amounting to 345 billion euro, equal to approximately 10% of the total value of national production, employing approximately 2 million people. Italy is in third position at EU level. Germany is first with a production worth €414 billion and France second with €359 billion. Spain is fourth (€237 billion) followed by the UK (€223 billion). In these five countries, the bioeconomy is worth €1.568 trillion. Continue reading
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I must say how grateful I am to have been invited to be with you here today as we bring together the United Nations and the Commonwealth to discuss what we are calling The Great Reset. I would also like to thank the Permanent Representatives of Canada and Jamaica for convening this meeting and Prime Minister Trudeau for his inspiring leadership on the Green Recovery.
The need to react to the COVID-19 crisis is a unique opportunity to transform our economy and put forward the change that our society needs to create a sustainable and desirable future. A Circular Bioeconomy Roundtable convened by HRH The Prince of Wales last week discussed how this should be done: not just by designing recovery packages, but by transformative action to trigger mission-oriented innovation, attract investments and rethink business models and markets. Leading figures from science, the investment community and industry discussed how a circular bioeconomy offers game-changing solutions and is a crucial concept to move towards a carbon-neutral, renewable and inclusive economy that prospers in harmony with nature.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 