The G20 Bioeconomy Initiative met in Pretoria, South Africa, in September 2025 under South Africa’s presidency, following Brazil’s work on the Ten High-Level Principles for the Bioeconomy in 2024. With the theme Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability, discussions focused on turning principles into practice. Delegates underlined that the bioeconomy already represents four trillion US dollars globally, with potential to grow to thirty trillion by 2050.
The World Bioeconomy Association (WBA) contributed a global perspective. In our presentation, we underlined that the bioeconomy must be understood in its full breadth — linking climate, biodiversity, land use, and human rights, as recognised under the Rio Conventions. We highlighted the diversity of regional pathways: Africa’s opportunity to drive sustainable biomanufacturing and trade through regional cooperation, Asia’s varied models from Japan’s biotech traditions and China’s industrial investments to Thailand’s BCG model and India’s advances in biofuels, Latin America’s strength in agro-biodiversity and bio-based trade, North America’s leadership in biotechnology and bio-based materials, and Europe’s updated Bioeconomy Strategy to scale up markets and ensure sustainable biomass supply.
A central part of our intervention was the call to build a joint global voice for the bioeconomy. One-off events cannot deliver lasting impact; a permanent and inclusive mechanism is needed to align policies, mobilise investment, and accelerate development. In this regard, COP30 in Belém, Brazil, offers a historic opportunity to embed the bioeconomy as a permanent element of the global climate agenda. For the first time, the bioeconomy has been chosen as one of the official key priorities of a Climate COP. The opening two days of COP30 will be dedicated to bioeconomy — a milestone recognition of its importance.
Brazil also announced the Bioeconomy Challenge, a new flagship initiative for COP30. Its goal is to translate the High-Level Principles (HPL) into concrete actions that support countries’ climate commitments (NDCs) and the broader Rio Conventions. Part of the Action Agenda’s Solution Acceleration Plan, the Challenge will run for three years with international and multi-stakeholder governance. It will target three critical gaps: the absence of clear metrics, the lack of financial mechanisms reaching local and community-level initiatives, and insufficient public policies and regulatory frameworks. The platform will be launched officially at COP30, with preparatory workshops already planned.
Shared terminology and a common language were another key message in WBA presentation. Without globally agreed definitions, fragmentation slows cooperation, investment, and policy alignment. A Global Bioeconomy Terminology Framework could unlock trade, research, and innovation across regions.
We also emphasised financing. The bioeconomy cannot scale without reforming financial instruments: risk-sharing frameworks, blended finance, and standardised metrics are needed to unlock capital flows. Embedding the bioeconomy into climate finance, trade, and investment mechanisms will enable transformation at scale.
The Chair’s Summary of the meetings reflected many of these same themes. It confirmed the urgency of standards and metrics, the promise of regional hubs, the need to reform finance, and the case for a permanent global platform.
Looking ahead, the path is clear: anchor bioeconomy in the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, secure its place in COP30 outcomes, and prepare momentum in upcoming bioeconomy events 2026. For the World Bioeconomy Association, this is both an opportunity and a responsibility — to help ensure that bioeconomy moves from vision to implementation as one of the defining pillars of sustainable global development.
G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy meeting charts path to a sustainable bioeconomy (www.dsti.gov.za)
