“We need more Finlands in the Bioeconomy”. This is what John Bell, director Bioeconomy at the EU Commission said yesterday in Helsinki at the European Bioeconomy Scene 2019, organized with the objective to achieve an inclusive and sustainable bioeconomy for Europe.
Helsinki is the European capital of bioeconomy. A Bioeconomy Conference is being organised to contribute to achieving an inclusive and sustainable bioeconomy for Europe. Finland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the European Commission are jointly organising the conference, and it is one of the events to be held in Helsinki under Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Investors from around the globe are urging world government leaders to step up ambition on climate change and enact strong policies by 2020 to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, including phasing out thermal coal power and pricing carbon. 477 investors with $34 trillion (USD) in assets, a record number of signatories, are behind the urgent call-to-action to limit average global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Last Wednesday Theresa May announced a statutory instrument to amend the UK Climate Change Act of 2008. The law currently prescribes an emissions cut of 80% by 2050, from a 1990 baseline. The new law will aim for net zero emissions by 2050, making the U.K. the first G7 nation to pass such legislation.
In the same day, against a backdrop of growing global awareness of the importance of environmental protection, the Embassy of Italy in London launched “Zero-Waste Embassy”, aiming to reduce significantly the environmental impact of the mission’s energy supply, waste management and consumption.
The initiative falls under the umbrella of Farnesina Verde (Green Foreign Ministry), a plan for the Italian diplomatic network worldwide, overseen by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Continue reading
The final event of the European project FIRST2RUN will take place at the Square Convention centre in Brussels on June 20. Co-ordinated by Italian biochemical company Novamont and funded by the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, FIRST2RUN is a flagship project involving four companies and universities from Italy, UK and The Netherlands.
Canada has its own bioeconomy strategy. Canada’s first national Bioeconomy Strategy released yesterday by Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, reflects the views of more than 400 industry representatives from across the country.
Italy has an updated national bioeconomy strategy: “Bioeconomy in Italy: A Unique Opportunity to reconnect Economy, Society and the Environment”. It has been officially presented this morning in Rome, at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, by the Italian government, with the presence of Waldemar Kütt representing the European Commission and Philippe Mengal, Executive Director at BBI JU.
Climate change, population growth, soil degradation, biodiversity loss. These are the main challenges that humanity is called to face at the beginning of the millennium. The bioeconomy is one of the keys to tackling them and overcoming them, reconciling the economy, the environment and society. Based on the use of renewable biological resources as raw materials for industrial, energy, food and feed production, according to the European Union it has the potential to create at least one million jobs by 2030. The book that I wrote together with Irene Baños Ruiz aims at drawing a precise and up-to-date picture of the concept of bioeconomy, its origins, connections with sustainability and the circular economy and the multiple applications that we find in different products of our daily life.
I would like to thank particularly Philippe Mengal, executive director at BBI JU, and Marc Palahì, director at the European Forest Institute, who have written in a truly passionate way the foreword and the introduction of the book. Now “Che cosa è la bioeconomia” (What is the bioeconomy) is available only in Italian, soon also in English.
I would also like to thank all those who have accepted to be interviewed (Fabio Fava, Chris Patermann, Catia Bastioli, Massimo Centemero, Sandy Marshall, Mathieu Flamini, Jennifer Holmgren, Michael Carus and Frank Rijsberman) and in general all those who are making the sustainable and circular bioeconomy possible worldwide.
Mario Bonaccorso
Renewable diesel fuel is soon to be much more accessible to fleet drivers looking to fuel up in northern and central California, thanks to cardlock locations that will be offering Neste MY Renewable Diesel™. This is the very first time vehicles can be fueled with this high performance low-carbon fuel directly at a station.
Sweden has an ambitious target of being fossil-free by 2045. As a part of the initiative, a proposal for decarbonizing aviation in Sweden was announced ten days ago. The proposal suggests that Sweden would introduce a greenhouse gas reduction mandate for aviation fuel sold in Sweden. The reduction level would be 0.8% in 2021, and gradually increase to 27% in 2030. The reduction levels are estimated to be equivalent of 1% (11.000 tons) sustainable aviation fuel in 2021, 5% (56.000 tons) in 2025 and 30% (340 000 tons) in 2030. This makes Sweden an undisputed leader in decarbonizing aviation.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 