Autor: SABio

Helena Varkkey (Universiti Malaya and Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore) and Karen Siegel presented a paper comparing soybean production in South America and palm oil production in Southeast Asia to examine how the extractive imperative shapes approaches to sustainability. The paper was part of the panel “The Extractive Imperative: a Global Phenomenon?” chaired by Lorenzo Pellegrini and Murat Arsel (both International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam).

More information about EADI ISS General Conference 2021.

To launch the book “The Politics of Bioeconomy and Sustainability: Lessons from Biofuel Governance, Policies and Production Strategies in the Emerging World” by Mairon Bastos Lima (Research Fellow SEI and scientific advisor of the SABio project), Stockholm Environment Institute hosted a virtual panel debate with the author and three international bioeconomy experts: Francis X. Johnson, Senior Research Fellow and Leader of the Initiative on Governing Bioeconomy Pathways, Stockholm Environment Institute; Karen Siegel, Head of the research group “Transformation and Sustainability Governance in South American Bioeconomies”, Institute of Political Science, University of Münster; and Wahida Maghraby, Researcher, Indonesian Center for Agricultural Socio Economic and Policy Studies (ICASEPS), Ministry of Agriculture Indonesia. With an audience from several countries and continents including South Africa, Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, Germany and Ireland the Q+A was lively and insightful.

For those who missed the event, a recording is available on SEI’s YouTube channel:

O 31 de maio de 2021, a convite do Conselho Nacional de Inovação, Ciência e Tecnologia (CONICYT) do Uruguai, Karen Siegel e Daniel Kefeli fizeram uma apresentação sobre “Governança agroalimentar, desenvolvimento sustentável e bioeconomia no Uruguai”. Nesta instância, participaram cerca de 30 participantes de diferentes instituições, incluindo o Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agropecuária (INIA), a Universidad de la República (UdelaR), o Ministério da Pecuária, Agricultura e Pesca (MGAP), a FAO, o Instituto SARAS (South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies), a Secretaria Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia e o Programa de Desenvolvimento de Ciências Básicas (PEDECIBA).

Karen Siegel apresentou os principais resultados do Policy Brief “Promovendo bioeconomias inclusivas? Lições da governança agroalimentar e da política dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável na América do Sul”, onde destacou como Uruguai e Paraguai conseguiram cumprir os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS), enfatizando o nível de inclusão e participação dos diferentes atores envolvidos. Ela também falou sobre o Projeto SABio e suas principais linhas de pesquisa. Daniel Kefeli descreveu os diferentes conceitos e visões existentes da bioeconomia, bem como as características das estratégias implementadas a nível internacional para promover este paradigma e contemplar os riscos nele implícitos. Finalmente, informou sobre o processo ocorrido no Uruguai para incorporar a bioeconomia às políticas públicas do país e comentou alguns projetos em andamento que trabalham nesta matéria.

Durante a sessão, houve uma discussão enriquecedora e ativa entre os participantes, onde foram levantadas questões e comentários sobre os desafios na implementação dos ODS, a participação da agroecologia no conceito de bioeconomia, o papel e a aprendizagem da participação pública na formulação de políticas públicas, entre outras questões. A instância foi finalizada promovendo intercâmbio para futuros trabalhos em temas relacionados à bioeconomia.

Projetos e instituições que realizam projetos relacionados à bioeconomia no Uruguai:

• Grupo de pesquisa em bioeconomia. Instituto de Economía – Área de Economía agropecuaria, ambiental, y de los recursos naturales. FCEA – Udelar. http://www.iecon.ccee.edu.uy/economia-agropecuaria-ambiental-y-de-los-recursos-naturales/area/24/es/

• Projeto ANII: Desenho e avaliação de alternativas tecnológicas para o desenvolvimento de biorrefinarias. https://www.anii.org.uy/proyectos/FSE_1_2018_1_152900/diseno-y-evaluacion-de-alternativas-tecnologicas-para-el-desarrollo-de-biorefinerias/

• – CSIC – Projeto Udelar: A bioeconomia é uma estratégia plausível de desenvolvimento humano sustentável para o nordeste do Uruguai? Discussão teórico-conceitual e bases empíricas para sua implementação. Instituto de Desarrollo Sostenible, Innovación e Inclusión Social (IDIIS) – Centro Universitario de Tacuarembó – Udelar. http://www.idiis.edu.uy/

Melisa Deciancio participated in the panel “Inequalities in Bodies, Land and the Biosphere” at the British International Studies Association Conference, addressing core-periphery dynamics on bioeconomy projects in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and, in a broader sense, the impacts of bioeconomy on creating new forms of dependency for South American countries. The other panellists included Nicola Smith (University of Birmingham), Amelia Morris (University of Law); and Sulagna Basu (University of Sydney).

The papers were commented on by Ben Richardson from University of Warwick.

The bioeconomy offers a way to transition away from fossil fuels and transform our economies. But, like any profound change, this transition won’t be without challenges. Who will benefit and who may be left behind? How are the new institutions and policies being shaped, and by whom? And how can the development of the bioeconomy be steered to addressing socio-economic and environmental issues without perpetuating the inequalities of the fossil economy (or creating new ones)?

These questions will be discussed at the book launch event: “The politics of bioeconomy and sustainability: Lessons from biofuel governance, policies and production strategies in the emerging world” by Mairon G. Bastos Lima.

Speakers:

• Mairon G. Bastos Lima, author of the book. Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute
• Francis X. Johnson, Senior Research Fellow and Leader of the Initiative on Governing Bioeconomy Pathways, Stockholm Environment Institute
• Karen Siegel, Head of the research group “Transformation and Sustainability Governance in South American Bioeconomies”, Institute of Political Science, University of Münster
• Wahida Maghraby, Researcher, Indonesian Center for Agricultural Socio Economic and Policy Studies (ICASEPS), Ministry of Agriculture Indonesia

Zoom meeting 14:00-15:00 CEST online, register here to receive the link. More information at https://www.sei.org/events/the-politics-of-biofuels-and-bioeconomy-who-wins-and-who-loses/

Karen Siegel, Thomas Dietz e Melisa Deciancio participaram do painel “Governando as Agendas de Desenvolvimento Sustentável no Sul Global: “Governing Sustainable Development Agendas in the Global South: Global, Regional and Local Governance of Bioeconomy Agendas”, analisando os desafios e potencialidades da implementação de estratégias de bioeconomia sustentável nos países do Sul Global em várias escalas.

Karen Siegel apresentou uma discussão sobre até que ponto o conceito de bioeconomia consegue promover ou restringir as transições inclusivas na América do Sul.

Com foco no caso argentino, Melisa Deciancio abordou a forma como a implementação de estratégias políticas em bioeconomia influencia o delineamento de um novo modelo de desenvolvimento e os riscos que pode levar à reprodução de novas formas de dependência na América Latina.

Rocío Díaz Chávez do Stockholm Environment Institute Africa Centre e do Imperial College of London fizeram parte do painel, que enfocou os objetivos de igualdade de gênero e redução da pobreza, abordando a necessidade de ter indicadores de sustentabilidade para monitorar o desenvolvimento da bioeconomia na África ; e Mairon Bastos Lima, da Chalmers University of Technology, que apresentou uma apresentação sobre cómo o agronegócio pode ameaçar a sustentabilidade da transição para a bioeconomia no Brasil.

A comentarista do painel foi Carole-Anne Sénit, da Universidade de Utrecht.

Prof. Eduardo Brondizio, Indiana University-Bloomington

This presentation reflects on the opportunities and challenges of place-based sustainability initiatives in the Amazon in light of development inequalities, global markets, and climate change. The context is set with an overview of the findings of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). It then introduces the AGENTS project (Amazonian Governance to Enable Transformation to Sustainability), which has been documenting local-level initiatives across the Brazilian Amazon. These are place-based initiatives in rural areas pursuing changes in productive systems, governance arrangements, value-aggregation and access to markets with the goals of improving living standards and environmental sustainability. The presentation examines challenges and opportunities for local initiatives at the intersection with historical and current trends in economic development and policies in the region.

​Zoom meeting 16:00-17:00 CEST online, register here to receive the link.

More information at https://www.cedla.nl/30421

The Bioeconomy Science Centre of North Rhine Westphalia held its 5^th Symposium on 5 March which also celebrated the centre’s 10-year anniversary. The symposium was opened by Christine Lang, Co-Chair of the International Advisory Council for Global Bioeconomy and former Co-Chair of the German Bioeconomy Council. She outlined the growing importance of the bioeconomy in the global context. 49 countries already have bioeconomy-related policy strategies, 16 of them dedicated bioeconomy strategies.

Karen Siegel presented the SABio project in the section “Bioeconomy and Society”. Her presentation focussed on bioeconomy and the SDGs in South America and highlighted both, potential opportunities and important challenges in international cooperation on bioeconomy.

On March 19, Jorge Sellare spoke at the FAO Geneva’s webcast series Agriculture Trade Talks. The series started in 2018 and it aims to be a platform for dialogue where member countries can discuss about trade policies and agreements that are conducive to improved food security.

This latest iteration of the webcast was titled “Agri-food Value Chains (GVCs) & Sustainability Certification.” It counted with the participation from members of the academia, the private sector, development organizations, and representatives of three FAO member states. The panelists spoke about how standards can contribute to sustainable development, emerging trends in sustainably-certified products, and the potential of new technologies that can facilitate traceability across value chains.

Jorge Sellare presented a brief overview of the latest research on the impacts of certification under sustainability standards on smallholder farmers in developing countries. He presented some evidence that sustainability standards can have positive impacts on all three dimensions of sustainability, but highlighted that the average effects tend to be rather heterogeneous. He emphasized the importance of distinguishing between different standards and noted that we still have a significant knowledge gap regarding how value chain structures might affect whether and how smallholder farmers benefit from certification.

More information about this event can be found at the FAO Geneva’s website (http://www.fao.org/geneva/news/detail/en/c/1379083/) and the full recording can be seen below.