Forest bioeconomy and sustainable development goals

Abstract

The global society developed the idea a “bioeconomy” in which technological solutions are used to solve resource-based problems facing the world. Green biotechnology focused on agriculture and forestry is central to the idea of a bioeconomy and has garnered much attention. The purpose of this study was to analyze the global discourse on the role of forests within the bioeconomy. Content analysis was applied in this study for analyzing international academic articles on the subject. The research findings indicated the creation of scientific discourse on the forest bioeconomy. The dominant approach to and contribution of a forest bioeconomy to the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as part of a global vision, were analyzed. As a result, this research indicates the dominant keywords of the scientific discourse on the forest bioeconomy: biomass, bioenergy, sustainability, policy, and life cycle assessment. An examination of the links between the forest bioeconomy and the UNDP SDGs was also undertaken including analysis of the SDG goals of clean energy (SDG 7), sustainable industry and infrastructure (SDG 9), sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12), and climate change mitigation (SDG 13). [Key Words] Bioeconomy, Forest, Biotechnology, Sustainable Development Goals