The development of the bioeconomy is closely linked to national and international sustainability goals. As a major importer of agricultural and forestry products, the EU must also take into account the global impact of its own actions in policy-making. Conflicts of interest are foreseeable if expected developments in different areas are superimposed. Data sets and models that can capture these conflicting objectives still have various weaknesses. BEST uses two global macro models based on different data sets and theoretical backgrounds. They are supplemented by a detailed partial model that records production, trade and demand of individual product groups of the bioeconomy. Global land-use change and the effectiveness of land-use governance are also considered.
On this basis, the following questions are examined in detail:
1. What potential development paths are there for the bioeconomy in the EU in the medium term (2030) with regard to the regional and global achievement of SDGs and expectations in different areas of use and
in the long term (2050/60) against the background of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and climate objectives?
2. What contributions and what conflicts of objectives for the achievement of the socio-economic and environmental SDGs (2, 6–9 and 12–15) in Europe and worldwide result from these development paths?
3. What are the impacts of individual isolated national policies (including the EU) on the promotion and regulation of bioeconomy versus coordinated global mechanisms? What are the opportunities and
limitations to steer the development of a sustainable bioeconomy that ensures the highest possible degree of target achievement? The project is divided into 5 work packages. Two workshops are planned for the
exchange with national and international experts.