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The great hopes in Brussels that a circular bioeconomy will help bridge the growing divide between urban and rural areas and allow the hinterlands to prosper from 'green growth' are addressed in this article, which reflects on insights from three Nordic case studies of brown, green and blue biomass use at different levels of technology readiness. A closer examination of the forward, backward, fiscal and final demand linkages at regional level from increased biomass utilization, from eastern Finland and northern Sweden to Jutland and North Atlantic islands, suggests that linkages are and will remain relatively weak, predominantly dashing the expectations. As suppliers and exporters of natural resources, disadvantaged regions may all too easily get locked into a 'staples trap', where the value

The green transition requires a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels, and new innovations suggest that refined biomass can replace fossils within many different industries. In recent years, policy‐makers have therefore framed the bioeconomy as a stepping‐stone for realizing social, economic and environmental objectives in the green transition. However, the policy coherence literature faces a key challenge for analyzing whether these policy goals are indeed compatible: few methods offer a systematic approach for detecting interdependencies and interactions among three (or more) policy goals. The present paper addresses this methodological challenge by proposing a novel set‐theoretic approach, the Alternating Necessity Test, for identifying whether policies are incoherent, weakly coherent, or strongly coherent. The present paper applies this approach to the Nordic bioeconomy context, findings the Nordic bioeconomy strategy to be weakly coherent. This suggests that the Nordic countries can replace fossil fuels with refined biomass without encountering trade‐offs among social, economic and environmental policy goals, but also without experiencing any synergies. Demonstrating how policy coherence and goal compatibility can be conceptualized in set‐theoretic terms, this paper offers a novel tool for identifying those situations in which policy‐makers should focus not only on overcoming incoherence, but on progressing from weak to strong policy coherence.

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Our current consumption patterns cause high levels of CO2 emissions. Encouraging sustainable lifestyle changes is one tool among many to reduce emissions. Looking towards the public health literature, we identify three strategies for dealing with excess consumption: redeem, replace and reduce. We highlight the benefits and challenges that individuals face when employing these strategies. Finally, we present a promising approach to moving beyond individual-level strategies and their challenges.