2025/03/01 by Livia Cabernard, Clemens Schwingshackl, Stephan Pfister +1 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Bioeconomy and Sustainability Development #Environmental Impact and Sustainability #Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02144-0
openalex publication_date 2025/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/03/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Abstract The bioeconomy is key to meeting climate targets. Here, we examine greenhouse gas emissions in the global bioeconomy supply chain (1995–2022) using advanced multi-regional input-output analysis and a global land-use change model. Considering agriculture, forestry, land use, and energy, we assess the carbon footprint of biomass production and examine its end-use by provisioning systems. The footprint increased by 3.3 Gt CO 2 -eq, with 80% driven by international trade, mainly beef and biochemicals (biofuels, bioplastics, rubber). Biochemicals showed the largest relative increase, doubling due to tropical land-use change (feedstock cultivation) and China’s energy-intensive processing. Food from retail contributes most to the total biomass carbon footprint, while food from restaurants and canteens account for >50% of carbon-footprint growth, with three times higher carbon intensity than retail. Our findings emphasize the need for sustainable sourcing strategies and that adopting renewables and halting land-use change could reduce the bioeconomy carbon footprint by almost 60%.