On 9 July, the European Bioeconomy Alliance (EUBA) invited EU policy makers and relevant stakeholders to join a discussion forum on the ‘Benefits of the Bioeconomy‘ in Brussels. Guided by two keynote presentations by Céline Charveriat, Executive Director of the Institute for European Environmental Policy and Dirk Carrez, Executive Director of the Bio-based Industries Consortium and speaking on behalf of EUBA, the forum discussed how a strong EU bioeconomy can contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The forum took place at a critical time — in between discussions on the future of the CAP post 2020 and the update of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy — and aimed to develop recommendations on how the SDGs can be integrated into EU policies and legislative initiatives, with a particular focus on the priorities from 2019 onwards.

For a detailed overview of the contributions of the bioeconomy to the SDGs, have a look at the recently published paper by the Bio-based Industries Consortium.

EUBA is a unique cross-sector alliance dedicated to mainstreaming and realizing the potential of the bioeconomy in Europe. Its members are the organizations BIC, CEFS, CEPF, CEPI, COPA-COGECA, ePURE, EuropaBio, EUBP, FEDIOL, FTP, PFP and Starch Europe. Together, the EUBA sectors represent about 4,700 companies as well as 12 million farm holdings and 16 million forest owners. All these entities together employ 29 million people across the EU. Find out more on www.bioeconomyalliance.eu