SOME ISSUES REGARDING FOREST-BASED BIOECONOMY AND GREEN JOBS

ANNEMARIE BASTRUP-BIRK

EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

• Policies and financing instruments

• Contribution of forests and forest-based sector to bioeconomy in brief

• Developing new forest value chains – integrating beyond wood

• Challenges and new approaches

• Messages

OUTLINE

BIOECONOMY: MAIN EC INITIATIVES 2018

• Former European Commission priority 1: new boost for

jobs, growth and investment

• Communication of the investment plan for Europe stock

taking and next steps

• Communication updating the EU bioeconomy Strategy 2012

• A new EU bioeconomy strategy 2018

DELIVERING ACROSS EU POLICIES

• Forest not a competence of the EU

• Increasing number of EU policies recognize the relevance and importance of the forest based sector to reach the EU targets: Tight links forest & forest-based sector with other areas strong involvement of the EU on forest-related policies, through a range of regulatory frameworks based on its shared and exclusive competencies in other sectors

• This is expected to continue after 2020

EU BIOECONOMY ACTION PLAN

• Job creation: already 8-9% of EU’s

workforce: 1million more by 2030

• Strengthen and scale up the biobased

sectors, unlock investments and markets

• Deploy local bioeconomies rapidly across

Europe

• Understand the ecological limits of the

bioeconomy

ALL SECTORS THAT RELY ON BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES

• Terrestrial and marine ecosystems

• Primary production systems: forestry, agriculture,

fisheries

• Industries using biological resources: food, feed,

fibres, bio-based industry, biofuels, bio-energy

FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO IMPLEMENTATION

• Eight specific forest measures of the Rural Development

Funds (Pillar 2 of the CAP)

• European Investment Bank

• Sustainable Finance

• Forest based platform funding opportunities for research

and innovation: Unlocking the sector's innovation potential

EXAMPLES FOR FINANCING

•European Investment Bank 2014-2018 more than 6 billion EUR

•Afforestation

•Restoration of degarded forests

• Job creation

•Within Forestry, forest based sector, bioenergy and ressource

protection

CURRENT STATE OF BIOECONOMY IN EUROPE

•One of Europe’s largest and most important sector

embracing agriculture, forestry, bioenergy, biobased

products, food and fisheries

•Annual turnover estimate 2 trillion EURO

•Employment estimate 18 million

FORESTS, THE FOREST-BASED SECTOR AND BIOECONOMY

New ways of production and consumption;

modernization and innovation

Forests are both a source of natural capital,

a commodity and non commodity

Forests are

• Multifunctional, renewable of its raw material, low waste

Forests deliver a wide range of ecosystem

services

184,000 1.0 million 122 billion

€

130,000 1.0

million

96 billion €21,000 0.6 million 180 billion

€ 120,000 0.8

million

88 billion €

Companies Employees Turnover

450,000 3.4 million 486 billion €

CURRENT IMPORTANCE OF FOREST BASED SECTOR IN EUROPE

Bioenergy: 44% of overall renewable energy

CURRENT FOREST VALUE CHAINS

Wolfslehner et al. 2016

Wolfslehner et al. 2017)

INCREASED PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION

• Economic growth

• Increase interest in forest based products

• Needs for more biomass: wood for energy – still the single most

important source of renewable energy

• Increased use of wood for housing and construction and wood

products

• Quality sawn logs’ prices are increasing more than 10% in 2018

CURRENT CONTRIBUTION FROM FORESTS AND THE FOREST BASED SECTOR – AN INCOMPLETE PICTURE

•Turnover: 411 billion EUR (21%)

•Employment: 2,5 million (14% )

•Value-added: 117 billion EUR

MORE BIOECONOMY COULD MEAN

• Increased use of wood and wood products (substitution)

• Increased use of wood in constructionconstruction

• Increased use of innovative wood derivative products (textile,

bioplastics etc)

• More CO2 bound in forests

• Increased use of biomass for energy (cascading and residuals)

• Safeguarding /inclusion of natural capital in CE to minimise the

damages to our resource base

WOOD RAW MATERIAL

Source Lena Ek Södra – Our forests our future

• Lignin products (carbon fibre, fuels, binders)

• Bark (chemicals, food additives)

• Hemi products (birch sugar, plastics, chemicals)

• Energy (fuel, electricity, heat)

• Composites (bio and hybrids)

• Paper (tissue, pampers)

• Textiles (lyocell, viscose, etc)

INCREASED USE OF WOOD AS THE MATERIAL FOR BIOECONOMY

•Natural

•Renewable, re-usable, re-

cyclable

•Minimal harmful waste, low

energy use, long life time

• Innovationable

Creativity and innovation not only from direct use of forest resources but use of waste e.g.

DEMAND DRIVEN INNOVATION

SUBSTITUTION

• Production and processing of wood is highly energy-

efficient (very low-carbon footprint)

• Wood substitute for materials like steel, aluminium,

concrete or plastics, which require large amounts of

energy to produce

• Every cubic metre of wood used as a substitute for other

building materials reduces CO2 emissions to the

atmosphere by an average of 1 to 2.5t CO2

DEVELOPING NEW FOREST VALUE CHAINS –BEYOND WOOD?

• Non-Wood-Forest-Products: cork, resins, mushrooms, nuts, game or berries

and ecosystem services

• Strong economic incentive for integrated forest management

schemes, (Multifunctionality, Sustainable Forest Management, Rural

Development)

• better understanding of the business opportunities and innovative business

models/examples is needed

• better understanding of the role of the different actors along the value chain

WHAT ABOUT FOREST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES?

Source: Maes et al., (2014)

DEVELOPING NEW FOREST VALUE CHAINS (PROPOSAL BY THE EUROPEAN NETWORK ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT)

• Identifying opportunities for a new bioeconomy value chain in a territory:

• Gathering the key players and making connections.

• Supporting investments when setting up the value chain.

• Ensuring environmental sustainability such as through sustainable resource

management

• Supporting and advising actors involved in the value chain

• Promotion and dissemination of the value chain to increase its use

• Monitoring and improving the value chain. Learning from existing initiatives,

monitoring results, and disseminating good practice

CHALLENGES AHEAD

• How to mobilise the needed amount of wood for the new value

chains? Option of increase forest productivity and/or mobilisation?

• How to get skilled workforce to catalyse innovation, new

approaches, realizing sustainable and multi-functional forestry

• How to balance increased use of forests and protecting forests

species, habitats and ecosystems: how to manage for diversity,

adaptability, resilience, responding to increased and changing

demands

ECOSYSTEM ACCOUNTING SUPPORTS BIOECONOMY

• Accounting for land use changes

• Accounting for management practice changes

Biophysical model

Monetary value

Ecosystem service

accounting

BenefitsEcosystem service use

Service demand

Service potential

SUPPLY

Work by Delanotte, JRC for the EU Bioeconomy Knowlede Centre)

USE TABLE

Work by Delanotte, JRC for the EU Bioeconomy Knowlede Centre)

NEW WAYS OF PRODUCINGAND CONSUMING ?

Wood (raw material)

Extraction, production

Consumption (products)

Waste

Mabee (2011)From linear economy to nested, series, cascading

TO CIRCULAR BIO-ECONOMY....

RURAL AREAS IN EUROPE

• Large regional differences in

distribution and

characteristics

SOME MESSAGES

• Increase the focus on new forest areas, build new forest value

chains that includes textiles, construction, bioplastics, chemicals,

eco-tourism as a new forest business as an alternative to the

traditional, wood-based value chains to diversify the income

opportunities in the rural areas and increase the role of the

forest based sector in creating a strong bioeconomy

SOME MESSAGES (2)

• Make use of funding opportunities, forest measures, engaging the finance

sector

• Get support for bio-based innovation from long term policies to guide major

and sustainable investments (R&D, innovation, developing new skills to support

new work force)

• Increase and make easier access to funding to forest owners providing

ecosystem services from their forests

• Safeguard the delivery of forest ecosystem services: bioeconomy not

necessarily sustainable ! Understand the ecological limits of bioeconomy –

need for monitoring and build up a knowledge base – apply SFM

LAST WORDS

• Need for monitoring progress and value – need to

develop bioeconomy data, statistics and indicators –

• Concentrate on the work force and the land owners: in

the end it’s in the hands of the forest land

owner/manager

THANK YOU (ANNEMARIE.BASTRUP-BIRK@EEA.EUROPA.EU)