The bioeconomy is the production, utilization, conservation, and regeneration of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation, to provide sustainable solutions (information, products, processes and services) within and across all economic sectors and enable a transformation to a sustainable economy. (Global Bioeconomy Summit Communiqué, 2020).

Among the biological resources contributing to the bioeconomy are forest-based resources, including ligneous resources, i.e. wood products and non-ligneous resources, also known as non-wood forest products (NWFP):

• The wood-based bioeconomy consists of a wide range of wood products contributing to the sustainable circular bioeconomy and the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The main wood products include industrial roundwood such as pulpwood, sawlogs and veneer logs, as well as wood fuel, including charcoal and pellets. Global industrial roundwood removals amounted to 2 028 million m³ in 2018, representing an increase of 5.2 percent compared to 2017 and 8.9 percent compared to the level in 2014. Global wood fuel removals reached 1 943 million m³ in 2018, an increase of 2 percent from 2014.
  
• Most of the time, the wood initially comes from forests. But it can also come from non-forest trees and increasingly from wood products collected after use, whose material can be recycled many times in a variety of new products. Although the wood initially comes from the forest, the use and processing of co-products is essential to valorize the entire natural material. It is already possible for the industry to process by-products, for example by manufacturing chipboard or pulp and paper from sawmill residues.
  
• NWFP contribute to the bioeconomy by providing a wealth of plant and animal-based products such as wild edible plants and meat, raw material used for medicine and utensils, honey and beeswax exudates and ornamentals. NWFP generated approximately USD 88 billion in 2011 (FAO, 2014).

The wood-growing stock on Earth is estimated by FAO (2020) at 557 billion m3. This increment may also differ from year to year:

• in a negative way due to various events of a biotic (insect attacks, diseases) or abiotic (storm, drought, heat, fire, flood, frost) nature; or
  
• in a positive way due to favourable climatic conditions for wood growth without biotic damage.

Most forest carbon is found in living biomass (45%) and soil organic matter (45%), with the remainder in litter (6%) and dead wood (4%). The total carbon stock in forests in 2020 is of 662 gigatonnes. Forests sequester atmospheric carbon and store it particularly in the form of wood.

• SDG target 8.2 stresses the urgent need to achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrade and innovation. The forest sector, from restoration to transformation, can contribute to employment while diversifying the economy in a sustainable way.
• SDG-target 8.4 calls for “global resource efficiency (in production and in consumption)”, also contributing to SDG 15 as the more efficient use of sustainably harvested wood “promotes sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems” and facilitates sustainable forest management;
• SDG target 9.2 aims to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise the industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries. Sustainable industrialization gives priority to renewable material and energy resources such as wood and the whole diversity of possible products derived from solid wood and its compounds such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, resin, terpens and polyphenols;
• SDG target 11.1 aims to ensure by 2030 access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums. Construction material made of wood can contribute to increasing adequate, safe and affordable housing;
• SDG target 11.c calls for support for least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in constructing sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials. Local and sustainable wood value chains can strongly contribute to this target;
• SDG target 12.2 seeks to achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources and to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. Sustainable and efficient wood transformation and use can contribute to this objective;
• SDG target 12.5 aims at substantially reducing waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. The cascading use of forest products, applied by the wood processing industries, in particular paper industries, already made a significant contribution to this target;
  
• SDG target 15.1 aims to ensure conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements. Enhancing the value of the forest and its products can provide incentives for sustainable forest management practices,
• SDG target 15.2 promotes the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.

Positive impacts of deploying cascading use and circularity in the wood sector include:

• decoupling economic growth from quantitative resource use, by promoting waste prevention, ecodesign, reuse and recycling;
• extracting and generating more added-value from wood through resource and energy efficiency;
• identifying new uses in wood resource and capitalize on them;
• converting more forest biomass “waste” into bioproducts contributing to the circular bioeconomy;
• improving environmental footprint as much as product quality;
• taking into consideration expectations from citizens and consumers towards sustainable wood value chains and develop “progress strategies”;
• giving evidence to consumers that sustainable practices are used at every stage of a product’s pre-purchase life, from forest management, wood harvesting, milling, manufacturing to packaging and shipping.

As the specialized UN organization for food, agriculture, fishery, forestry and wood products since 1945, FAO received a mandate to coordinate international work on a sustainable bioeconomy from 62 Ministers at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture meeting in Berlin in 2015.

As a follow-up action, FAO has been coordinating an international working group on sustainable bioeconomy, formed by 13 countries, focused on the development of guidelines on sustainable bioeconomy, funded by the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

This work was completed by a specific work programme on forest-based bioeconomy led by FAO Forestry Division, in the framework of the Sustainable Wood for a Sustainable World Initiative (SW4SW).

One of the aims of this programme of work deals with strengthening sustainable wood products contributions to the bioeconomy and circularity approach in both developed and developing countries through improved awareness and knowledge.

To highlight this work, FAO organized a workshop on wood products in the sustainable bioeconomy, in Rome on 10 & 11 December 2019.

FAO also organized three regional and subregional SW4SW dialogues in 2019, in Douala (Cameroon), Johannesburg (South-Africa) and Nanning (China):

Partnership and dialogue between FAO and forest industries is organized through the  Advisory Committee on Sustainable Forest-based Industries (ACSFI). This statutory body is composed of senior executives from the private industry sector worldwide. It meets yearly with the main objective of providing guidance on the activities and programmes of the FAO Forestry Department on issues relevant to the paper and forest products industry, in support of member countries’ efforts to progress towards sustainable development. The membership of FAO-ACSFI includes heads of forest industry and forest growers’ associations, as well as company executives from approximately 20 countries.

The ACSFI regularly organizes thematic webinars on forest-based industries, such as on “ Fostering sustainable wood use in the building sector for greener cities: Lessons-learned from wood encouragement policies” or “ The climate change mitigation potential of wood products”:

Furthermore, background studies related to the forest-based bioeconomy have been issued, including:

• Global review of the influences of bioeconomy strategies on forest industries
• Bio based food packaging in sustainable development
• Potential implications of corporate zero-net deforestation commitments for the forest industry
• Carbon storage and climate change mitigation potential of harvested wood products
• Status of public policies encouraging wood use in construction – an overview
• The role of forest products in the global bioeconomy: possible actions for substitution to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (forthcoming)
• State of the global forest bioeconomy (forthcoming)

Facts and figures on the wood-based bioeconomy

FAO estimates that:

• At the global level, the (formal) forest sector employed 13.2 million people, generated USD 606 billion in value-added and exported products with a total value of USD 421 billion in 2011 (FAO, 2014).
  In terms of main global trends during 2000-2011 period, employment in the sector decreased by about 6% but value-added and the value of forest products exports respectively increased by 3% and 10% (in real terms). Overall, the forest sector grew slower than other sectors in employment, value-added and trade, though there are strong differences between regions and subregions in the world.
• Global wood consumption at 3,966 million m3 in 2019 (FAOSTAT, 2020).
  51% of this amount (2,021 million m3) was used as industrial roundwood in first use and 49% (1 945 million m3) as wood fuel in first and only use. In order to build a sustainable and circular wood-based bioeconomy, a major challenge will involve developing many possible uses and re-uses of wood as a material, before burning it.
• Global sawnwood production reached 488 million m3 in 2019 as planks, sleepers, beams, joists, boards, rafters, scantlings, laths, boxboards, and lumber (FAOSTAT, 2020), …
• Global wood-based panel production reached  357 million m3 in 2019 as plywood (including block-board, laminated veneer lumber, cross-laminated timber), particle board, oriented strand board, fibre-board (hardboard, medium/high density fibreboard, other fibreboard) (FAOSTAT, 2020), …
• Wood processed into pulp, mixed or not with recovered paper, becomes paper and paperboard products, production reached 404 million tonnes in 2019 as graphic papers (newsprint, printing and writing paper), packaging paper and paperboard, household and sanitary paper (FAOSTAT, 2020), …
• 56% of global paper consumption was recovered in 2019 for recycling by pulp and paper industries (FAOSTAT, 2020).

Major wood products: producer and consumer countries

Major wood products: export and import countries

Wood fuel removals amounted to an estimated 1,945 million m3 in 2019. It must be stressed that it is still very important in Asia-Pacific (37% of global production) and in Africa (36%). In Africa, 90% of roundwood removals in 2019 were directly used as wood fuel (FAOSTAT, 2020).

More detailed information at country level is available in the FAO Yearbook of Forest Products and FAOSTAT:

The FAO Yearbook of Forest Products is a compilation of statistical data on basic forest products for all countries and territories of the world. It contains series of annual data on the volume of production and the volume and value of trade in forest products since 1947. It includes tables showing the direction of trade and average unit values of trade for certain products. Statistical information in the yearbook is based primarily on data provided to the FAO Forestry Division by countries through questionnaires or official publications. In the absence of official data, FAO makes an estimate based on the best infor-mation available.

Global statistical accuracy through harmonized data: “Forest product conversion factors”
Because of the great diversity between units in common use for the measurement of forest products, FAO, International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) regularly update and use conversion factors for their reporting and analysis of trade and production data on forest products.

Bioeconomy: the production, transformation, use and conservation of biological resources (bioresources). It usually includes agriculture, fisheries, agro-food industries, the forestry and wood industry, and all other processing of bio-based materials, for example for construction and housing, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, energy.

More accurately, the Global Bioeconomy Summit held in Berlin, Germany, defined the bioeconomy as follows:

The bioeconomy is the production, utilization, conservation, and regeneration of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation, to provide sustainable solutions (information, products, processes and services) within and across all economic sectors and enable a transformation to a sustainable economy. (Global Bioeconomy Summit Communiqué, 2020).

Sustainability: the Brundtland Commission from the United Nations defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Sustainable development combines economic, social and environmental development.

Sustainable bioeconomy is the sustainable production, transformation, use and conservation of bioresources without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainable bioeconomy is part of an inclusive green economy defined as improving human well-being and building social equity while reducing environmental risks and scarcities (UNEP)

Forest-based bioeconomy is the production, transformation, use and conservation of bioresources from forests.

FAO definition of forest (FAO, 2020):

• land spanning more than 0.5 hectares;
• with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ;

It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use.

Wood-based bioeconomy or wood bioeconomy is the production, transformation, use and conservation of wood resources (including wood that doesn’t come from forests and recycling of wood products).

Circular economy promotes the retention of value and the reduction of environmental impacts while simultaneously reducing costs and creating economic opportunities. Policy considerations include establishing effective infrastructure for waste management and recycling, incentivizing extended product life cycles and intelligent product design, and ensuring that current regulations create no barriers to development or adoption of value-retention processes.
International Resource Panel, 2018: Redefining Value.

Circular economy systems retain the added value in products for as long as possible and transform waste into resource. They keep resources within the economy to generate a cycle based on resource recycling. When a product has reached end-of-life and of possible re-use, it becomes a new raw material to be used again and again and hence create further value. Transition to a more circular economy requires changes throughout value chains, from product design to new business and market models, from new ways of turning waste into resource to new modes of consumer behaviour.
European Commission communication COM(2014) 398 final.

Cascading use of wood is the efficient utilization of resources by using residues and recycled materials for material use to extend total biomass availability within a given system. Cascading at the market level (sectors and products) can be quantified through wood flow analysis. (Vis M., U. Mantau, B. Allen (Eds.) (2016) Study on the optimised cascading use of wood. No 394/PP/ENT/RCH/14/7689. Final report. Brussels 2016. 337 pages)

A wood biorefinery is a place where wood is chemically fractioned and sustainably processed into a variety of wood-based intermediate materials, to be further processed into diverse material and energy products. (based on International Energy Agency Task 42 Biorefining report)