By Marina Grossi*
The bioeconomy is booming and has just gained its first nationwide public policy dedicated to boosting this agenda in Brazil — an agenda that cuts across different sectors of the economy and is gaining increasing strategic relevance.
Brazil has launched the National Bioeconomy Development Plan (PNDBio), a milestone for this segment of the economy to gain traction and consolidate itself as a driver of development, wealth generation, and environmental conservation. In this context, Brazil has unique conditions to lead a new trajectory based on valuing our natural assets and promoting a low-carbon economy that is positive for nature.
But what exactly is the bioeconomy? In everyday life, it already manifests itself in different business models: from the development of bioproducts and biomaterials to the production of food, medicines and cosmetics, including bioenergy, renewable-based chemistry and socio-biodiversity chains. In Brazil, this set of opportunities takes on its own contours by combining biodiversity, science, innovation and traditional knowledge. This opens up space for a new generation of productive solutions based on nature — with the potential to generate economic value, social inclusion and environmental conservation at the same time.
In general, industrialized nations focus on biotechnology, incorporating science-intensive technologies into production processes. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union rely on the bioeconomy as a tool for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and for energy transition; a similar path has been adopted in the United States, whose bioeconomy policy, dating from 2012, is based on economic activities driven by innovation in the life sciences – centered on research into new medicines, high-yield agricultural varieties, biofuels, and green chemistry.
In Brazil, rather than adopting a single definition, the construction of the National Bioeconomy Development Strategy and Plan consolidated a common understanding: that the bioeconomy should be based on the sustainable use, conservation, and restoration of biodiversity, connecting different sectors, territories, and knowledge systems.
This understanding directly aligns with the High-Level Principles of Bioeconomy, agreed upon within the G20 under Brazilian leadership, which point towards a bioeconomy driven by innovation, the responsible use of biodiversity, social inclusion, and the generation of economic value based on nature.
As a result of a broad participatory process, this convergence allows the Brazilian bioeconomy to assert itself not as a specific sector, but as a cross-cutting agenda capable of connecting different economic activities based on a common purpose.
The creation of the PNDBio (National Biodiversity Plan) is a clear example. The plan itself represents the convergence between government, businesses, civil society, and traditional peoples and communities around a new development model. The PNDBio is the result of an unprecedented participatory process that lasted months and gathered more than 1,000 contributions from society. The Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) led a consortium formed by TNC Brazil, Instituto Arapyaú, and the Brazil Climate, Forests and Agriculture Coalition, which was selected by the UK Pact, an international cooperation program of the UK Government focused on the transition to resilient and low-carbon economies, to provide technical support to the National Secretariat of Economy, linked to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA). The governance of the Plan also deserves highlighting, supported by a National Bioeconomy Commission with representatives from 18 ministries, in addition to 18 seats allocated to civil society.
The bioeconomy is already happening in these territories. Our role was to connect it, structure it, and bring it to the center of the national agenda, and to mobilize the private sector to promote the development of this sector. Companies can contribute, for example, by structuring sustainable production chains, investing in innovation and developing new bioproducts, as well as establishing partnerships with territories and communities that possess knowledge and assets essential to this emerging new economy.
Brazil spearheaded the international discussion on bioeconomy within the G20 in 2024, when it held the group's presidency. South Africa, which succeeded Brazil as G20 president in 2025, decided to continue the initiative and indicated that it will prioritize, within this theme, the objectives of combating poverty and promoting equity, in addition to convergence with the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the sector already has significant economic weight: the value of the bioeconomy reaches approximately US$4 trillion to US$5 trillion, with the potential to reach US$30 trillion by 2050.
In Brazil, it is still small compared to what it could become: 13 socio-biodiversity products contribute R$ 12 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The PNDBio seeks to advance precisely on key points that were recommendations from the private sector, through the consortium led by CEBDS: hybrid financing, risk mitigation, and encouragement of innovation. These elements are essential for scaling up: without structured financing and risk reduction, the bioeconomy does not advance at the necessary speed.
The bioeconomy can be as robust and representative of Brazil's GDP as sectors like agribusiness, automotive, oil and gas, and aviation – all of which grew thanks to strategic decisions, public policies, and incentives. Now, we have a modern, participatory public policy aligned with the fight against the climate crisis. With it, Brazil takes an important step towards building a new global consensus: development based on the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of biodiversity, with inclusion.
* Marina Grossi is the president of CEBDS (Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development), an organization with 29 years of experience and more than 110 large member companies, and Special Envoy of the COP30 Presidency for the Business Sector.
