The 17th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), under the theme ‘Farming a Sustainable Bioeconomy’, was held from 15 to 18 January 2025 in Berlin, Germany, organized by the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture of Germany (BMEL). The FAO Bioeconomy team, led by Kaveh Zahedi, Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB, FAO), organized a dedicated Expert Panel on Enhancing global bioeconomy coordination and monitoring, with a focus on food security and nutrition. The team also coordinated FAO's engagement in several GFFA events, including the Opening Event, the FAO High-Level Panel and the Ministerial Conference, as well as an innovation forum.   

Expert Panel

The Expert Panel, held on Friday, 17 January, discussed how to advance the global bioeconomy through international cooperation and was co-organized with Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy (IACGB).

Insightful conversation took place among representatives from Brazil, USA, Canada, Germany and South Africa on what it takes to make bioeconomy operational. Also, FAO and IACGB provided an overview of the current international momentum and the advancements on bioeconomy in G20 countries and worldwide.

Experts identified several challenges hindering bioeconomy advancement, including food insecurity; uneven access to resources, science, technologies, and innovation; differing institutional capacities; lack of data and global monitoring frameworks; and diversity of bioeconomy strategies. These obstacles present significant hurdles to furthering sustainable investments and action on the ground. Tilman Schachtsiek, Responsible of implementation of the German National Bioeconomy Strategy at BMEL, also stressed the importance of learning from successful national experiences, promoting knowledge and technology transfer, ensuring policy coherence, and enhancing access to finance.

OCB Director Zahedi highlighted that “the bioeconomy has a transformative potential for advancing the sustainable development agenda, particularly in the Global South, if agrifood systems sustainability is placed at the center of conversations”. His insights underscored the importance of leveraging bioeconomy strategies to address pressing global challenges, and the implementation of FAO's 10 Aspirational Principles and 24 Criteria on the ground.

Carina Pimenta, National Secretary for Bioeconomy at Brazil's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, shared experiences from countries participating in the G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy and the High Level Principles on Bioeconomy approved in 2024. The importance of global coordination on bioeconomy to ensure an integrated approach for food security, climate action and sustainable development goals was further elaborated by Ben Durham, Chief Director of Bio-innovation at the National Department of Science, Technology and Innovation of South Africa, the current G20 host government.

Amongst other benefits, improved global coordination will advance the participation of vulnerable groups, including Indigenous Peoples, young people women as well as small-holder farmers, in the bioeconomy. It is crucial that bioeconomy ensures fair market access for biobased products, and promotes equitable distribution of benefits, as well as education programs that match technology advancement.

The role that common metrics and standards have to play in levelling the playing field was highlighted. Monitoring systems that balance economic growth with social equity and environmental sustainability in the transition to a bioeconomy are urgently needed. Data gaps and lack of comprehensive bioeconomy frameworks at global, national and product or value chain level need to be addressed in tandem.

Four main recommendations were drawn from the event:

1. Countries should work together on bioeconomy as it supports the advancement of climate, biodiversity and sustainable development global goals.
2. The role that bioeconomy plays for ensuring food security and nutrition includes higher and diversified incomes, healthier environment, and sustainable consumption and production, which contribute to countries’ sustainability aspirations.
3. Knowledge sharing, including indicators and global data, can be a driving force to implement policies and technologies.
4. A multistakeholder global partnership on bioeconomy is needed to create cross-sectoral innovation and bring holistic bioeconomy solutions on the ground.

Global Partnership Inception Meeting

Themes raised in the Expert Panel were revisited by international bioeconomy experts at the inception meeting of the German-funded “Towards Establishing the Global Partnership on Bioeconomy for Sustainable Food and Agriculture (GP-BSFA)" project, held on Saturday, 18 January. The GP-BSFA project acts upon the decision of FAO Members in 2024 to “initiate a multistakeholder global partnership on bioeconomy to serve as a catalyst for the development of policies, strategies, and plans, building capacities, knowledge systems, and incentives at global, regional, national, subnational and local levels”. Furthermore, the GFFA Ministerial Communiqué spotlighted the project’s important work ahead: “We welcome the FAO project funded by Germany on a Global Bioeconomy Partnership that will define and support preparation of the terms of reference and governance framework of such a partnership. Recognising the need for such an initiative, we call for its active consideration once completed.”

At GP-BSFA inception meeting, members of the International Sustainable Bioeconomy Working Group (ISBWG) and other bioeconomy experts shared their insights and initial recommendations for how a new multistakeholder global partnership could address knowledge and governance gaps by improving coordination, policy coherence, and collaboration among stakeholders. It could also enhance data availability, assess sustainability indicators, facilitate knowledge exchange and reduce socio-economic inequalities. With its expertise in sustainable agrifood systems and its strategic programme on bioeconomy, FAO is well-positioned to facilitate global coordination while also continuing to contribute to the data and evidence base and scaling up technical support through its own portfolio and technical expertise. As an intergovernmental, Member-led UN institution and through long-standing partnerships with other UN entities, civil society, academia, financial institutions, private sector actors and other relevant stakeholders, FAO can leverage its convening power to foster stronger partnerships and invigorate global cooperation on bioeconomy.Between February and April 2025, FAO will facilitate inclusive and geographically representative consultations with a wide range of stakeholders. This wide consultation process aims to define the objectives, and potential activities for a multistakeholder global partnership and to map the stakeholders in the global bioeconomy landscape.

Event page: Enhancing global bioeconomy coordination and monitoring, with a focus on food security and nutrition | GFFA

Event Video: GFFA 2025 - Expert Panel 12 - English

05/02/2025