G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy meeting charts path to a sustainable bioeconomy

G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy meeting charts path to a sustainable bioeconomy

• Print
• Email

The third G20 Initiative on Bioeconomy (GIB) meeting under South Africa's Presidency wrapped up on 20 September 2025. The meeting, hosted by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation in Pretoria, was attended by policymakers, researchers and private sector leaders from G20 nations, guest nations and institutions from across the world.

The need to harness Africa's biodiversity through a sustainable, inclusive bioeconomy for the continent's future prosperity was emphasised.

The three-day meeting was held from 18 to 20 September, ahead of the third G20 Research and Innovation Working Group and Ministerial Meetings, which take place from 21 to 23 September.

During the discussions, the need for sustainable economic activities was highlighted. The meeting's Programme Director, Ms Dorothy Maseke, Head of Africa's Natural Capital Alliance, stressed the urgency of linking economic growth to conservation. "Biodiversity is not just about preservation," she said, "it's about livelihoods, equity, and long-term sustainability."

Delivering the key address during a breakfast dialogue, Ms Doreen Robinson, Deputy Director for the Ecosystems Division at the United Nations Environment Programme, noted that the bioeconomy was both a climate solution and a developmental imperative. She added that the wealth of Africa's biodiversity is at risk, "unless investments are scaled and policies aligned." She cautioned that Africa could lose both its natural capital and an opportunity to lead in sustainable innovation.

Government representatives who participated were clear about the need for action. Mr Khorommbi Matibe, Chief Director: Biodiversity Economy and Sustainable Use at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, spoke about soil health and land restoration as the foundations for a bioeconomy that could serve future generations, warning that the contamination of land equated to the contamination of life itself.

Mr Ben Durham, Chief Director: Bioinnovation at the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, urged closer ties and collaboration between countries of the Global South, noting that Africa could not afford fragmented strategies. Shared challenges like climate change demand shared solutions, said Durham. "If the climate is changing, we all are affected, so it is part of the global commons. If only a few countries become net-zero carbon emitters, that is unlikely to dramatically affect our movement towards lower carbon emissions and efforts to stave off climate change," he explained.

Mr Rik Kutsch Lojenga, Executive Director of the non-profit Union for Ethical BioTrade, argued the need for the private sector to come to the table, noting that sustainability standards were only as strong as the accountability mechanisms behind them. The participation of private sector and multi-party organisations was vital for the bioeconomy to be realised, transformed and sustained in Africa.

For companies to embrace the bioeconomy, he argued, clear global metrics, and frameworks that created value chains communities could trust were needed. This was already happening, with African small and medium enterprises innovating with indigenous products like honeybush, rooibos and buchu.

Dr Sue Snyman, Research Director for the School of Wildlife Conservation at the African Leadership University, told the gathering that success hinged on keeping communities at the centre of initiatives. She urged policymakers to abandon the notion that conservation and development were mutually exclusive. "If people don't see tangible gains, they will have no incentive to protect ecosystems," said Snyman, pointing to community-based natural resource management models in southern Africa that aligned conservation with livelihoods.

She also called for a regional approach to de-risk investment, aligned policy processes to boost intra-African trade, and a shared glossary of bioeconomy terms to facilitate coordination.

Key themes running through the gathering were coordinated policy at all levels, clearer finance mechanisms to unlock investment, stronger capacity-building and robust data systems to track progress.

The G20 Bioeconomy Initiative was proposed by Brazil's G20 Presidency in 2024 to boost the development of an innovative and productive paradigm based on the combination of knowledge and nature. It is underpinned by 10 non-binding and voluntary High-Level Principles on the Bioeconomy. They include inclusion and equity, defending the rights of all people (including indigenous peoples and members of local communities), promoting gender equality, and advancing efforts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of global climate change in accordance with multilateral climate agreements.

The principles also include contributing to the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of resources, and the just and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, subject to national laws and in line with international agreements and instruments.

Africa's biodiversity is globally unique, but the window to leverage it for inclusive growth is narrowing fast.

"Bioeconomy is not an abstract concept," Robinson reminded the gathering. "It is about food security, climate resilience and economic justice. Africa has the chance to lead if it chooses to act boldly now."

• tweet