Bioeconomy is a competitive advantage in ecological transformation

Government highlights great market potential for socio-biodiversity

The urgency for change in the way human beings relate to the resources necessary for their survival has mobilized the planet in search of lasting solutions. With this objective, the Brazilian government created, in 2023, an ecological transformation plan that proposes to lead the country to an economy strengthened by new relationships between people, in the way of producing, and with the environment.

The strategy brings together public policies in six axes, among which are bioeconomy initiatives, such as the measures that the government has been adopting to control deforestation in different biomes, the Bolsa Verde, the Sustainable Harvest Plan, the recovery and concession of forests and the proposal to create an international megafund to preserve them.

The proposal also points out challenges and advantages that Brazil presents in the face of the inevitable transition to a low-carbon economy and, throughout the period in which Brazil presides over the G20, the ministerial team has presented this plan to other nations, with the aim of join forces to implement measures that benefit everyone. The G20 is made up of the 19 richest countries in the world, plus the African Union and the European Union.

“Our country is megadiverse, it is at the top of the megadiverse countries, and we have somewhere around 17% to 20% of the planet’s biodiversity. Therefore, we have many possibilities to create value chains, new products, new materials. However, for this to happen, we need the correct investments”, stated the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, when presenting a decarbonized economy agenda to international investors.

The topic is so relevant to the federal government that, in an unprecedented way, Brazil created a bioeconomy initiative within the G20 structure and soon defined the concept it is dealing with: “an economic system that uses renewable biological resources to produce goods, services and energy, in a sustainable and efficient way”, and complemented by presenting a market potential for socio-biodiversity, in the Amazon alone, of US$ 2.5 billion per year, with the possibility of reaching US$ 8.1 billion by 2050.

In addition to debating with economic agents the opportunities that the bioeconomy can generate, considering the different biomes, macro and micro territories in Brazil, the G20 initiative has also worked on a constructive process based on this model, advances in science, technology and innovation for the sector and the participation of this economic system in sustainable development.

“It is a very strong attempt to join efforts to align this concept, to understand how it relates to biodiversity, to see what types of technological contributions and cooperation are possible, based on the bioeconomy and to discuss the initiatives, programs and actions that they already have an impact on countries”, explains the Undersecretary for Sustainable Development of the Economic Policy Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance, Cristina Fróes Reis.

The form of production structured by the bioeconomy system represents a change in relation to the traditional linear model, based on fossil fuels and finite raw materials. One of the necessary paths is the creation of a larger structure, which is the circular economy, complemented by changes in behavior, which minimize waste and make production chains more efficient.

The circular economy is another axis that makes up the ecological transformation plan with public policies aimed at behavioral change regarding consumption and disposal. Public policies such as the Pró-Catador Program, the universalization and modernization of the basic sanitation system, production of biomethane through urban solid waste and regulation of recycling credit.

A study carried out by organized civil society, through a task force that brought together more than 200 organizations for seven months, points out in the final report “Pathways for Brazil’s Ecological Transformation Plan”, a potential for GDP growth of between US$ 10 and 20 billion annually for the sector, in addition to the capacity to generate up to 1.2 million jobs and other income opportunities by 2030.

The energy transition is another competitive advantage in relation to other countries in the shift to a low-carbon economy.

With an energy matrix that is more renewable than the world average and an electrical matrix made up 84.25% of renewable sources such as hydro (55%), wind (14.8%) and biomass (8.4%), Brazil has the potential to add to its GDP (Gross Domestic Product, the sum of all goods and services produced in the country) up to US$75 billion per year until 2030, in this sector, according to data presented to the government by civil society organizations.

The bills that create a regulatory framework for green hydrogen and encourage the use of sustainable fuels in various sectors, in addition to establishing rules for capturing and storing carbon dioxide, are some of the public policies designed within the ecological transformation plan for This is a giant sector with potential for expansion, according to minister Marina Silva. “Brazil is the country that can help other countries make their transition.”