Biotechnology research for innovation and sustainability in agriculture in the European Union

Abstract

By 2050 the global population is estimated to reach 9 billion. The demand for food, feed, fibre and fuel is expanding while the available land and natural resources are evidently finite. The fast economic growth of recent decades has led to overexploitation of the Earth’s ecosystems and it is becoming ever more evident that, if we are to provide future generations with access to the same resources as we benefit from today, we urgently need to switch to a much more sustainable approach to global economic growth. In response to this challenge the global political ‘sustainability’ agenda has emerged. The Rio Declaration ‘Agenda 21’ and the ‘Rio conventions’ (Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)) have paved the way for the concept of a ‘bio-based economy’ which emerged from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2002 (United Nations, 1992). In 2005 the concept was introduced to the European Union’s political framework as the European Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE). The bio-based economy links industrial development with sustainability and implies improving industrial performance in an economically viable, environmentally friendly and socially responsible manner (OECD, 2001; European Commission, 2002). However, in order to achieve eco-efficient growth Europe needs to invest significant funding in its knowledge base and fully realise the potential of the most advanced and innovative technologies. The bio-economy sectors of the European Union (EU) are worth €2 trillion in annual turnover and account for more than 22 million jobs, approximately 9% of the workforce. It is estimated that direct research funding associated with the bio-economy under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014–20) could generate about 130 000 jobs and €45 billion in value added in bio-economy sectors by 2025 (European Commission, 2012a).