Bioeconomy is a new perspective for fighting climate change. Africa is warming faster than the global average, and climate change remains a major threat on the continent for coming decades. The development of sustainable bioeconomy is extremely important in Africa to accelerate mitigation and adaptation to climate change. However, this concept is not well diffused on the continent. The objective of this chapter is to present the current state of bioeconomy in Africa and the readiness of the member countries to adopt bioeconomy as climate action, with particular attention to the state of production determinants of a bioeconomy. The main factors and trends (both positive and negative), relating to building strategic capacity towards employing bioeconomy for climate action on the continent, are outlined. The findings and recommendations will assist both the academia and policymakers in Africa to integrate bioeconomy into their national and regional climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and action plans.

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Introduction: Bioeconomy has gained significant attention in recent years, with countries adopting it to drive their developmental efforts. However, the concept has not been adequately examined and integrated into policy making in Nigeria. Aim: This paper provided an overview of the bioeconomy in terms of motivation, policy framework, and application as a concept for achieving sustainable development. It drew from international experiences in implementing bioeconomy to provide lessons that Nigerian stakeholders can use to develop and implement a comprehensive bioeconomy policy framework to solve environmental and societal challenges. Method: The study was essentially based on a desk review of relevant academic papers with reference to publicly accessible documents from governments and their agencies. Result: My review showed that there is no clear cut definition for bioeconomy, the definitions are evolving and vary depending on the actors, motivation and objectives. However, bioeconomy has become the center of sustainable economic strategies in numerous countries but Nigeria lacks a cohesive bioeconomy policy. The chief motivation for bioeconomy adoption in these countries is to address societal challenges while achieving sustainable economic development. The policies focused on research and innovation, education and training, stakeholders’ engagement, technology transfer, commercialization, and market development support. Conclusion: In order to achieve sustainable development, Nigeria must develop and implement a holistic bioeconomy policy cutting across all relevant economic sectors.

Climate change is one of the greatest global challenges, posing an unprecedented challenge to the governance of global socioeconomic and financial systems. This chapter examines the climate change science and uncertainties associated with climate change, while identifying and explaining climate-related risks, the financial aspect of climate change, credit implications of climate change, integration of climate-related risks into credit risk assessment, and climate risk management. The chapter pays special attention to the triangular relationship between the three notions of climate-related risks, credit risk, and financial stability by enumerating the channels through which climate risks can cause credit risks and affect the stability of the financial system. Approaches to incorporate climate change into corporate risk management are also discussed.

The potential of academic entrepreneurship towards achieving sustainable development has been established. Likewise, sustainability is an inherent characteristic of the bioeconomy. Academics are expected to play significant roles in the successful implementation of bioeconomy through scientific research and entrepreneurship. This chapter takes academic entrepreneurship as a process that creates value from research and technology commercialisation in a bioeconomy towards achieving sustainable development in the society. The chapter employs a systematic literature review approach to identify the opportunities at the intersection of academic entrepreneurship, bioeconomy, and sustainable development. The framework of technological innovation systems (TIS) will guide this study. The chapter will conclude that the future of sustainable development in our resources-constrained planet lies in plethora of academic entrepreneurial opportunities and embracing such in the implementation of bioeconomy, an economic system that is viable for the future.