Autor: SABio

Coloquio «Bioeconomy and Sustainability Policies and Politics in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay»

On March 23rd, 2022, the SABio Interdisciplinary Colloquium “Bioeconomy and Sustainability Policies and Politics in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay” was held virtually, organized by Karen Siegel at the Institute of Political Science of the University of Münster. The two research groups of the SABio Project at the University of Münster and the University of Bonn as well as different members of the steering committee and scientific advisors of the project and some external guests from South America and Europe participated.

With the aim of discussing the policies and politics of bioeconomy and sustainability in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, the members of the research group in Political Science at the University of Münster gave a presentation of their research in each of the countries followed by a discussion and Q+A with the audience.

 

Guilherme de Queiroz-Stein presented part of his ongoing research on a bioeconomy based on biodiversity in Brazil. His research objective is to identify the economic potential of Brazilian biodiversity, the different conceptions regarding the development of this bioeconomy, and the possible associated risks. The analysis identified that governmental actors, civil society, academia, and national industry had presented different concepts on how to develop the Brazilian bioeconomy, converging in the search for alternatives to the hegemonic bioeconomy, based on soybean, corn, and sugarcane monocultures. In fact, he identified significant developments in sectors such as food, cosmetics, and medicines and future potentials linked to bioenergy, payment for environmental services, and ecotourism.

Daniel Kefeli presented his co-authored paper with Karen Siegel, Lucía Pittaluga and Thomas Dietz. They examine the main drivers and dynamics of environmental policy integration in Uruguay during three periods of the recent Uruguayan history between 1990 and 2020, reflecting the most significant changes in the level of policy integration. Following the framework developed by Candel and Biesbroek, they demonstrate the continuous progress in policy integration over the 30 years in the Uruguayan forestry sector.

Melisa Deciancio presented her paper on the role of the state in promoting the Argentine bioeconomy, focusing on the extent to which the state, through the promotion of various initiatives, contributed to the development of bioeconomy projects in Argentina. To answer this question, the paper examines two cases of the bioeconomy in Argentina: biorefineries and GM crops technologies. From the analysis of policies and actors involved in both projects, she states that the state has played an active role in accompanying the private sector in promoting the bioeconomy and that, despite ideological divergences, the policies designed demonstrate the continuity between the different governments.

 

For more information, please see the colloquium programme.

Conceptos, Mercados y Regulaciones: obstáculos y oportunidades para una Bioeconomía sostenible en Brasil

by Guilherme de Queiroz Stein, Trevor Tisler, and Renan Magalhães

On December 14th, 2021, the SABio project held a workshop on the Brazilian Bioeconomy. SABio researchers Guilherme de Queiroz Stein and Trevor Tisler organized and facilitated the event which saw the gathering of 45 participants from various governmental, academic, non-profit, and private sector organizations who are committed to the development of a sustainable bioeconomy in Brazil. The main objective of the event was to promote an open debate and an exchange of experiences related to how the addition of new laws related to biodiversity, conservation and ecological restauration to Brazil’s environmental legal framework may shape the development of Brazil’s bioeconomy.

«Gerardo Germano da Silva harvesting agroecological cotton in Ceará, Brazil» by farmingmatters. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

At the onset of the debate among workshop attendees, the existence of different understandings and perspectives on what the bioeconomy is (and what it is not) were discussed, and moreover, how these differences guide separate and distinctive promotion and regulatory strategies for various bioeconomic activities throughout Brazil. The conceptual heterogeneity surrounding the bioeconomy poses methodological challenges to research projects and policy formulation. However, as this reflects the inherent complex and diverse characteristics of the bioeconomy, heterogeneous understandings cannot be ignored. For this reason, the conceptual development of the bioeconomy is still a hurdle to overcome, especially in the context of Latin America, where realities are much different than those in which the European and North American concepts of the bioeconomy were formed. In Europe and North America, the bioeconomy is repeatedly defined by the traditional boundaries of the economic sectors in which it is considered to cover and by the products these sectors develop. These sectors include agriculture, bioenergy, food production, biomass processing, high value-added biotech products, and biodegradable waste. Albeit important components of Brazil’s economy, such a limiting focus on traditional sectors and products overshadows Brazil’s potential for broader bioeconomic development especially if focus is placed upon processes of production rather than on the products produced.

Photo by Guilherme de Queiroz Stein

Workshop participants overwhelmingly emphasized that the concept of the Brazilian Bioeconomy needs to be formed in face of the country’s unique realities and potentials, which include placing the country’s biodiversity, immense natural capital, and socio-cultural diversity as central elements of the bioeconomy. The employment of these potentials must translate into the development of new activities, sectors, and industries capable of increasing aggregate value while simultaneously fostering endogenous development dynamics that break Brazil’s dependency on commodity and biomass export-oriented development. To this end, the economic dynamics in which these new processes operate must be monitored and their contribution to sustainable development must be quantified. Sustainability depends less on what is produced, but rather more on how and to what extent adopted business models, constructed values chains, and developed governance arrangements ensure environmental preservation, promote pro-social development, and respect human rights. In this light, the promotion of a new bioeconomy is necessary, one capable of valuing the immense diversity-based potentials and which can be attained via payments for ecosystem services, industrialization of natural products, and ecological recovery of degraded landscapes and lands. Furthermore, there is a place for the promotion of low-carbon agriculture, agroforestry systems, as well as innovations coming from bioprospecting, molecular biology, biomimicry and the use of micro-organisms for industrial solutions.

«Quebradeira de Côco Babaçu – Brasil – Tocantins – Pequizeiro » by JcPietro. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The legal frameworks that regulate the development of the aforementioned sectors will be important in the structuring of their future markets and for setting boundaries to the expansion of the bioeconomy, the parameters of which should focus on guaranteeing the bioeconomy’s socio-environmental sustainability. Nonetheless, these parameters by and of themselves, will not suffice to lock down on a guaranteed sustainable development trajectory. The commitment of actors involved in ensuring the sustainability of the processes and products of Brazil’s bioeconomy is of utmost necessity, arising from investment in new business models for both profitability and generating well-being. Furthermore, the implementation of policies to tackle bottlenecks is essential, and may involve remedying the lack of professional training in strategic geographic regions, ending the scarcity of venture capital and start-up support services, as well as bring stabilized and sustained levels of public investment in scientific research and innovation to avoid sudden budget cuts.

It must be emphasized that the creation of new markets, such as those linked to carbon emissions markets and ecosystem services, will only find stable footing and consumer confidence through verifiable environmental compliance and tangible progress toward meeting Brazil’s internationally assumed environmental commitments. This hinges on the reestablishment of the Brazilian state’s command and control capacities, especially in the environmental area, with an emphasis on achieving zero deforestation in Brazil as quickly as possible. The current political trajectory guiding Brazil’s federal administrative apparatus likely poses the largest current hurdle to achieving the aforementioned goals, as it has -beyond deprioritizing the goals- moved to deliberately reduce the capacity of state agencies to ensure and maintain environmental protections as well as promoted predatory activities such as, but not limited to, illegal and unregulated mining in the Amazon.

Photo by Guilherme de Queiroz Stein

Both regulatory policies in combination with active promotion of the bioeconomy will only be capable of achieving social inclusion if the active participation of civil society is guaranteed through adequate mechanisms in the formulation, implementation, and monitoring stages of the public policy process. Appropriate valuation (beyond the scope of monetary value) of the country’s ecosystems and their immense biodiversity should only occur with active engagement and dialog with indigenous peoples and their knowledge systems, traditional communities (including but not limited to Brazil’s maroon communities), and smallholder farmers, segments of which have developed and maintained knowledge systems and management practices for the sustainable use of biodiversity. A pre-condition for such a dialogue requires that the basic human rights of these peoples are guaranteed, which includes secure tenure and free unhampered access to their lands. This condition can only be achieved in a democratic state, in which the defense of democratic values becomes a fundamental factor for the promotion of a new bioeconomy that genuinely promotes sustainable development.

Below you will find the links shared by workshop participants, which include scientific publications related to the bioeconomy in Brazil and around the world as well as websites for Brazilian projects and research groups working on bioeconomy topics.

Links

A sustainable bioeconomy for Europe: https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/publication/sustainable-bioeconomy-europe-strengthening-connection-between-economy-society_en

Bioeconomia da Sociobiodiversidade no estado do Pará: https://www.tnc.org.br/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/brasil/projeto_amazonia_bioeconomia.pdf

Coalizão Brasil Clima, Florestas e Agricultura: https://www.coalizaobr.com.br/home/index.php/o-que-propomos/posicionamentos-coalizao/2206-forca-tarefa-de-bioeconomia-da-coalizao-define-posicao-e-propostas-de-acoes-sobre-o-tema 

Diálogo Florestal: https://dialogoflorestal.org.br/foruns-regionais/forum-florestal-da-amazonia/

Financing mechanisms to bridge the resource gap to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services in Brazil: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041621000796

Fórum Florestal da Amazônia – Plano Estratégico: https://dialogoflorestal.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ff-amazonia-planejamento-estrategico.pdf

Grupo de Economia do Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável (GEMA) – UFRJ: www.ie.ufrj.br/gema

Grupo de Pesquisa SABio: https://sabio-project.org/pt/portugues/ 

Portal de Bioeconomia: https://portaldebioeconomia.com/

Science Panel for the Amazon – Amazon Assessment Report 2021: https://www.theamazonwewant.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/211112-Amazon-Assessment-Report-2021-Part-III-reduced.pdf 

Onde Estamos na Implementação do Código Florestal? Radiografia do CAR e do PRA nos Estados Brasileiros – Edição 2020: https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/pt-br/publication/onde-estamos-na-implementacao-do-codigo-florestal-radiografia-do-car-e-do-pra-nos-estados-brasileiros/

Lei nº 13.123/2015 (Acesso ao Patrimônio Genético e Conhecimento Tradicional Associado): http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2015-2018/2015/lei/l13123.htm

Decreto nº 8.772/2016 (regulamenta Lei nº 13.123/2015): http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2015-2018/2016/decreto/d8772.htm

Decreto nº 10.844/2021 (altera Decreto nº 8.772/2016): http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2019-2022/2021/Decreto/D10844.htm

Presentación en la Conferencia Internacional: «Bienes y servicios ambientales: Negociaciones internacionales y dilemas políticos»

Melisa Deciancio participó del panel “Bienes y servicios ambientales: Negociaciones internacionales y dilemas políticos” en la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), abordando el estado y desafíos de la bioeconomía en Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay. Los otros panelistas incluyeron a Pedro Da Motta Veiga (CINDES-Brasil), Manuel Rojas (PUCP); y Alan Fairlie (PUCP).

Taller Virtual «Investigación y políticas públicas para una Bioeconomía sostenible en Uruguay»

Taller Virtual «Investigación y políticas públicas para una Bioeconomía sostenible en Uruguay»

El 29 de noviembre de 2021 se llevó a cabo el taller virtual “Investigación y políticas públicas para una bioeconomía sostenible en Uruguay”. En el taller participaron más de 50 representantes de centros de investigación, universidades, ministerios y organizaciones internacionales.

Como resultado de un proceso participativo de cuatro años, el equipo técnico de un Grupo Interinstitucional de Trabajo elaboró ​​la Estrategia Nacional de Uruguay para una Bioeconomía Circular y Sostenible, cuya aprobación por parte de las autoridades nacionales aún está pendiente. El siguiente paso es continuar construyendo el Plan de Acción para implementar efectivamente dicha Estrategia.

En este marco, el Proyecto SABio con sus socios uruguayos – Universidad ORT y Universidad de la República – organizaron un taller con los siguientes objetivos:

– Mejorar y difundir el conocimiento científico que pueda alimentar los cuatro pilares del Plan de Acción de la Estrategia de Bioeconomía;

– Identificar las brechas y sentar las bases para la generación de conocimiento científico asociado al Plan de Acción para los años futuros;

– Construir una red de investigadores que trabajen en temas relacionados a la bioeconomía;

– Acercar a los investigadores y científicos con los “hacedores de política” de la Estrategia.

El taller se organizó en torno a los pilares estratégicos de la Estrategia de Bioeconomía. Primero, los representantes de los Ministerios de Agricultura e Industria presentaron los componentes clave de la Estrategia como marco de guía para las futuras políticas de bioeconomía y discutieron las necesidades de investigación para su implementación. Luego, se presentaron tres iniciativas y proyectos de investigación relacionados con los pilares de la Estrategia:

– En el pilar de Producción y consumo sostenible y circular, Alejandro Carbajales, del Centro Tecnológico del Agua, presentó los proyectos más relevantes del Centro;

– El pilar de Inserción internacional basada en valor agregado ambiental fue abordado por la presentación de Michael Carroll haciendo referencia a las iniciativas desplegadas por el Grupo de Productores del Sur y Alianza del Pastizal;

– Bajo el pilar de Desarrollo local inclusivo, Amalia Stuhldreher e Isabel Bortagaray presentaron el Proyecto Bioeconomía como modelo de desarrollo para la región Noreste uruguaya.

El propósito de estas presentaciones fue mostrar iniciativas basadas en investigaciones y proyectos de investigación que puedan contribuir a la implementación del plan de acción de la Estrategia.

Finalmente, luego de una sesión de preguntas y respuestas, hubo un debate entre la audiencia y los expositores para discutir cómo se debe articular la investigación, la ciencia y la tecnología para apoyar la implementación de políticas públicas.

Policy Brief

Los resultados del fructífero intercambio se utilizarán para producir un Policy Brief que contenga las principales conclusiones del taller. El Policy Brief destacará cómo la investigación puede contribuir a la implementación efectiva de las acciones enmarcadas en la Estrategia de Bioeconomía, las principales brechas en la investigación y los mecanismos sugeridos para una mejor articulación entre las políticas públicas y la ciencia y la investigación.

Download Policy Brief:

Kefeli, D., & Silva Carrazzone, M. E. (2023). Estrategia uruguaya para una bioeconomía circular y sostenible: desafíos en promover la ciencia, tecnología e innovación (Issue 47). ZEF – Center for Development Research. https://www.zef.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Policy_Brief_47_spanish.pdf

El potencial de la bioeconomía basada en la biodiversidad: SABIO en el taller de innovación en bioeconomía de la Fundación Fraunhofer, Brasil

El potencial de la bioeconomía basada en la biodiversidad: SABIO en el taller de innovación en bioeconomía de la Fundación Fraunhofer, Brasil

On December 2, 2021, researcher Guilherme de Queiroz-Stein participated as a representative of WWU-Münster in the workshop «Innovations in Bioeconomy,» promoted by Fraunhofer Liaison Office Brazil. His presentation focused on the potential of a bioeconomy based on biodiversity in Brazil, the subject of his current research. According to Queiroz-Stein, there is a need to advance in a bioeconomy that, while promoting economic development, is inclusive, adopting strategies to combat poverty, generate employment and income. A new bioeconomy that values ​​national biodiversity will also be essential to promoting environmental preservation and food and nutrition security. To exemplify the possibilities of fostering these strategies, he presented three cases. First, the «Plants for the Future» survey, promoted by the Ministry of the Environment, identified 674 plants with current and future economic value in the country’s five macro-regions. The second case was Natura S.A., which incorporates bioprospecting and benefit-sharing activities with traditional communities in its business model. Currently, Natura is one of the most prominent global players in the cosmetics market, with a significant impact on job creation in the country. Finally, he discussed the potential of Açaí from Juçara Palm (Euterpe edulis), a species from the Atlantic Forest, to combine food security strategies with environmental preservation.

It is possible to watch the presentation in the following link, at 2:51:40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4KA7bfm5dk&t=4s&ab_channel=AHKBrasil

Coloquio Interdisciplinario del Proyecto SABio

Coloquio Interdisciplinario del Proyecto SABio

On December 7, 2021 a SABio Interdisciplinary Colloquium took place in a hybrid format. Different members of the scientific staff from both Universities and the steering committee joined the event, part of them virtually from different parts of South America and Europe, and part of them in person at the Center for Development Research in Bonn.

In the Colloquium, Junior Researchers from the University of Bonn presented advances in their research.

Trevor Tisler presented his paper “Deforestation Contamination in Brazil’s Ethanol Supply Chains under the National Biofuels Policy”. The main research question focuses on identifying and quantifying direct and indirect deforestation and its linked carbon emissions that may be contaminating carbon offset credit sales in Brazil’s first regulated carbon marketplace, the CBIO marketplace.

Pablo Mac Clay presented his work “Value chains in the transition to a sustainable bioeconomy”. There, he analyzed which value chain features are associated with a process of intensified innovation in the bioeconomy and presented an overarching typology of bioeconomic value chains. Finally, he introduced a preliminary discussion on the potential implications for the social welfare for different actors from an increased rate of innovation in the bioeconomy.

Finally, María Eugenia Silva Carrazzone presented her paper “The role of the Reference point and Time inconsistencies in farmers’ compliance with sustainable soil policies”. The aim of her work is to assess how the reference point of the Prospect Theory -against which individuals define losses and gains- and their time inconsistencies can contribute to

farmers’ compliance to soil conservation policies that imply trade-offs. While most of the papers that model decision-making consider Expected Utility assumptions, the novelty of her work lies in the introduction of behavioral hints to the discussion.

Presentación en la mesa redonda: «Latin American knowledge contributions to International Relations»

Presentación en la mesa redonda: «Latin American knowledge contributions to International Relations»

Melisa Deciancio participó de la Mesa Redonda: “Latin American knowledge contributions to International Relations” invitada por el Centre for the International Politics of Knowledge (KNOWLEDGE Centre) de la Universidad de Aberystwyth el 1 de december de 2021. La mesa estuvo coordinada por Amaya Querejazu (University of Aberystwyth) y contó con la participación de Marcos Scauso (Quinnipiac University) y Kinti Pablo Orellana (Queen Mary University of London).

La presentación se enfocó en su agenda de investigación más reciente sobre una relectura y actual conceptualización de la Teoría de la Dependencia basada en el estudio de la bioeconomía como agenda de desarrollo en Sudamérica. En la mesa abordó las contribuciones de América Latina a las Relaciones Internacionales basada en su libro “Latin America in Global International Relations” editado junto a Amitav Acharya (American University) y Diana Tussie (FLACSO Argentina), recientemente publicado (Routledge, 2022).

Bioeconomía y sostenibilidad en Sudaéérica: primeros datos del proyecto SABio

La Dra. Karen M. Siegel ha publicado un texto en el blog del Centro de Investigación Interdisciplinaria de la Sostenibilidad (ZIN) en el que comparte algunos resultados preliminares del trabajo que el grupo de investigación de la Universidad de üünster ha estado llevando a cabo en Sudémérica.

El texto completo se puede encontrar en la página web del ZIN:

http://nach-haltig-gedacht.de/2021/08/24/biooekonomie-und-nachhaltigkeit-in-suedamerika-erste-einblicke-aus-dem-sabio-projekt/

Presentaciones en la 5ta. Conferencia Internacional en Políticas Públicas (ICPP5)

En la segunda semana del mes de julio de 2021 se llevó a cabo la 5ta. Conferencia Internacional en Políticas Públicas (ICPP5, por sus siglas en inglés) en Barcelona, España, bajo la organización de la Asociación Internacional de Políticas Públicas (IPPA) y el Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). En esta conferencia, dos de los estudiantes de Doctorado del Proyecto SABio, Daniel Kefeli y Guilherme Queiroz do Stein, realizaron presentaciones en dos de sus paneles.

Daniel Kefeli presentó en el Panel “Problemas de política y la integración de políticas. Diferencias y similitudes entre sectores”, moderado por Guillermo Cejudo y Philipp Trein. Este panel contribuyó a la literatura al analizar cómo los procesos de diseño de políticas y la integración de políticas difiere entre distintas disciplinas. La presentación de Daniel se desarrolló durante la 3er sesión donde se focalizó en la “Teoría, instituciones y métodos”. La presentación de Daniel se basó en el marco teórico de su tesis titulada “Evaluación de la interacción de políticas hacia una bioeconomía forestal sostenible en Uruguay”. En un futuro próximo se espera desarrollar un número especial para una revista basado en los trabajos presentados en el panel.

Guilherme de Queiroz Stein participó en el panel “Agenda 2030 y Cambio Institucional en el Sur Global”, coordinado por Paul Cisneros y Sofia Cordero del Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales (IAEN), Ecuador. En la ocasión, Guilherme presentó su investigación sobre la gobernanza de la bioeconomía en Brasil, centrándose en el papel de la biodiversidad en el desarrollo de la bioeconomía y en la implementación de la nueva ley de biodiversidad brasileña, que regula las actividades de bioprospección, el acceso a los conocimientos tradicionales y la distribución de beneficios. Como resultado del panel, los investigadores pretenden consolidar una red y producir publicaciones de manera conjunta, teniendo como tema común los desafíos institucionales para implementar los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sustentable (ODS) en el sur global.

ICPP5 tuvo 1233 participantes, 975 virtuales y 258 presenciales, provenientes de 78 distintos países. Asimismo, tuvo 155 paneles, de los cuales 64 fueron híbridos y 91 virtuales. Durante la conferencia hubo 281 sesiones divididas en 10 multi-sessions de 2 horas con 1527 trabajos presentados.

Más información disponible en: https://www.ippapublicpolicy.org/conference/icpp5-barcelona-2021/13

Taller de bioeconomía argentina

Taller de bioeconomía argentina

El día 28 de julio tuvo lugar el taller sobre bioeconomía en Argentina, que reunió a aproximadamente 40 profesionales de diferentes disciplinas y trayectorias profesionales. El principal objetivo de este taller fue discutir ideas y conceptos sobre el estado actual y las perspectivas futuras de la bioeconomía en Argentina. Fue moderado por los investigadores Melisa Deciancio (Uni Münster) y Pablo Mac Clay (Uni Bonn).

Entendiendo la bioeconomía como un concepto amplio, estructuramos la discusión en base a definiciones de la Comisión Europea y la CEPAL que consideran tanto las trayectorias biotecnológicas como las iniciativas locales en sistemas socio-ecológicos. La discusión se organizó en dos bloques principales: (1) conocimientos y capacidades para la bioeconomía y (2) sostenibilidad social y ambiental de la bioeconomía. Este taller significó una buena oportunidad para que todos los investigadores de SABio puedan interctuar con diferentes actores involucrados en la bioeconomía argentina y comprendan más sobre los desafíos y oportunidades que presenta el país en esta disciplina.