Financing a Sustainable Global Bioeconomy

This report outlines the potential and challenges of the global bioeconomy, emphasizing the need for an integrated, equitable, and sustainable approach to financing and governance to support a low-carbon, nature-positive economy.

• The global bioeconomy is currently valued between US$4 trillion and US$5 trillion, with the potential to grow to US$30 trillion by 2050. Growth is driven by regulatory developments and market preferences related to health, environmental, and climate concerns.
• Financing the bioeconomy faces several hurdles: private investment in socio-bioeconomies is limited by scale and traditional knowledge rights; nature-intensive enterprises are hindered by perverse fossil fuel and environmental subsidies; and high-tech early-stage businesses in the Global South lack access to necessary risk and blended public funding.
• A variety of existing sustainable finance instruments can be used to fund the bioeconomy. These include nature credits (carbon and biodiversity credits) to secure long-term income and de-risk capital, sustainability-linked financing in sovereign and corporate debt markets, and blended public-private instruments, particularly via development finance institutions for low to middle-income countries.
• To scale the bioeconomy, the report identifies seven critical priorities for international cooperation: establishing high-level principles, creating common measurement standards based on natural capital accounting, developing integrated strategies and land tenure rights, utilizing diverse financing instruments, increasing the global price of nature, establishing enabling trade rules, and overcoming data shortfalls to improve knowledge and capabilities.
• The G20 is identified as the primary platform for international coordination of the bioeconomy, with Brazil initiating this through its Presidency. The report suggests extending these efforts into the 2025 South African and 2026 US Presidencies, while also integrating the topic into the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2024). Financing a Sustainable Global Bioeconomy. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/financing-a-sustainable-global-bioeconomy/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Financing a Sustainable Global Bioeconomy. 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/financing-a-sustainable-global-bioeconomy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Financing a Sustainable Global Bioeconomy |date=12 September 2024 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/financing-a-sustainable-global-bioeconomy/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2024financing, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Financing a Sustainable Global Bioeconomy}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/financing-a-sustainable-global-bioeconomy/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }