Multistakeholder global bioeconomy partnership for sustainable agrifood systems

 

Addressing the interlinked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and food security while enhancing sustainable economic development requires a strategic and systems-based approach. In Europe and Central Asia, bioeconomy approaches are increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance resource efficiency, promote circularity, support rural development and strengthen the resilience of agrifood systems – particularly through the improved management of natural resources, including land, water and forests.

Several countries in the region already have adopted or are developing national bioeconomy strategies, with concrete applications across agriculture, forestry, fisheries, bioenergy, biomaterials and waste valorisation. At the same time, progress remains uneven, and collaboration across countries, sectors and stakeholders is still fragmented, limiting the replication and scaling up of successful practices and investments.

At the global level, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) received a mandate from its Governing Bodies in 2024 to advance the establishment of a global, multistakeholder Bioeconomy for Sustainable Transformation (BEST) Partnership, aimed at accelerating sustainable agrifood systems transformation through inclusive dialogue, policy support, knowledge exchange, capacity development and investment facilitation. As a deliverable of the 2025 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, Germany generously supported a wide-reaching consultation process in 2025, which reached more than 700 stakeholders from over 70 countries, gathering inputs towards the development of a proposal for consideration by the FAO Council in June 2026. The Regional Conferences in 2026 provide another critical opportunity to engage Members in shaping this partnership and ensuring that regional priorities and experiences inform its design.

Within this context, this ERC side event will offer a focused platform to highlight the relevance of bioeconomy for agrifood systems in Europe and Central Asia, showcase concrete country experiences and discuss how enhanced regional and global collaboration – under FAO’s emerging bioeconomy partnership framework – can support countries in advancing sustainable, inclusive and people-centred bioeconomy pathways.

Agenda

Webcast