Rethinking bioeconomy policy: for a future that protects people and the planet

The European Union aims to adopt its new bioeconomy strategy by the end of the year. The goal is to maintain the EU’s leadership in the bioeconomy.

But what does this mean for the rainforest?

Bioeconomy means that not only our food, but also the energy and materials we produce and use, come from biological sources—that is, from plants and animals.

The EU seeks to promote “green” economic growth with a strategy focused on strengthening the circular economy and sustainability, while contributing to the decarbonization of the European economy. It hopes to create the conditions for startups, entrepreneurs, and new business models to thrive in the bioeconomy.

However, the strong emphasis on economic growth and Europe’s enormous demand for raw materials pose significant risks: producing the biological raw materials needed for the bioeconomy requires large areas of land for agriculture. Expanding cultivated land threatens ecosystems, especially in tropical countries.

Forests are also at risk of even more intensive use. Millions of hectares of rainforest have already been cleared, and their inhabitants displaced, to obtain raw materials such as palm oil, soy, and wood for paper and packaging.

Nature is already under enormous pressure. The limits of what ecosystems can provide sustainably have long been exceeded.

Simply substituting fossil resources with biological ones will worsen injustices, undermine human rights, and accelerate environmental destruction. It will intensify the biodiversity crisis and global warming.

We need an economy that secures the future of our planet!

That is why Rainforest Rescue, along with many other organizations, is urging the European Union to develop a bioeconomy that truly respects the ecological limits of ecosystems and thus protects people, nature, and the climate.