Transition to a Sustainable Bioeconomy

Sebastian Hinderer, Leif Brändle and Andreas Kuckertz
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Sebastian Hinderer: Faculty of Business, Economics, and Social Sciences, University of Hohenheim, Wollgrasweg 49, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Leif Brändle: Faculty of Business, Economics, and Social Sciences, University of Hohenheim, Wollgrasweg 49, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-16

Abstract: Exceeding planetary boundaries, and especially climate change, requires economies worldwide to decarbonize and to incorporate principles of sustainable development. Transforming a traditional economy into a sustainable bioeconomy by replacing fossil resources through renewable biogenic resources offers a solution to this end. However, seemingly opposing transition perspectives (i.e., technology-based vs. socio-ecological) lead to fragmented efforts, and the exact form of the transition pathway to the goal of a bioeconomy remains unclear. We examine the issue by involving an international expert sample in a Delphi survey and subsequent cross-impact analysis. Based on the experts’ views, we present a list of events necessary to achieve the transformation ranked by the experts to reflect their urgency. The cross-impact analysis facilitates combining the eight most urgent events to create an integrated model of the transition to a sustainable bioeconomy. Our findings suggest that, rather than bioeconomy strategies, investment in the relevant sectors currently constitutes the main bottleneck hindering such a transition.

Keywords: bioeconomy; biobased economy; transition; transformation; sustainability; Delphi (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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