Sustainability Transition towards a Biobased Economy: Defining, Measuring and Assessing

Abstract

This Special Issue proposes an array of 11 key papers aimed at investigating the complex and multifaceted nature of the biobased economy, focusing both on a conceptual understanding of the transition and on the measurement issues associated to it. More specifically, collected papers can be broadly divided in two groups: (1) those aiming at adding to our understanding of the transition process towards a sustainable biobased economy; and (2) those aiming at adding to the definition and measurement of the emerging sustainable biobased economy. In the guest editor view, papers collected in this Special Issue offer valuable and complementary insights to our understanding of the ongoing transition towards a biobased economy, providing a logical framework to understand the transitions, as well as an overview of existing tools to assess and measure it. Ideally, policy makers will benefit from the papers included in this Special Issue and, hopefully, it will contribute to make a further step to the much-needed transition towards sustainability.

Transitioning towards the bio‐economy: Assessing the social dimension through a stakeholder lens

“…It is worth noting that social assessment, relative to environmental assessment (which is based on highly technical criteria), may involve a broader spectrum of aspects that directly affect stakeholders, ranging from human rights, working conditions, health and safety issues, equity, social responsibility, job creation, and social participation to social capital, access to basic resources, and happiness (Colantonio & Lane, 2007). Therefore, it is central to consider stakeholder perspectives when formulating the most relevant aspects for inclusion in a social sustainability assessment for bio-based products (Morone, 2018).…”

Bio-Based Products in the Automotive Industry: The Need for Ecolabels, Standards, and Regulations

“…The market for bio-based products is emerging. More specifically, it is embedded in a transition process in the sociotechnical regime, aimed at reaching a paradigm shift away from the traditional fossil-based economy towards a more sustainable economy with products of biological origin (see, e.g., [25,26]). The current low level of stability in the market is also linked with a low level of certainty (see, e.g., [25]).…”

Combining Environmental Footprint Models, Remote Sensing Data, and Certification Data towards an Integrated Sustainability Risk Analysis for Certification in the Case of Palm Oil

“…The concept of sustainability certification originates from the management of forestry resources [19]. It was first applied with the aim of ensuring that the extraction of timber resources does not surpass the regenerative capacity of forest ecosystems so that future generations can equally benefit from forests [4]. After the initial certification of forest management, additional initiatives could be observed in the early 1990s for the certification of agricultural production systems cultivating crops e.g., for the food production.…”

“…The intended transformation is characterized by economic, environmental, and social challenges and opportunities and is understood as a social transition process towards a sustainable, bio-based, and nature-oriented economy [4]. Management and control of this transition need appropriate instruments, indicators, and assessment tools to cover not only the BE as a whole, but also specific dimensions of BE development.…”

“…Biofuels are covered by sustainability and GHG saving requirements that must be fulfilled and verified by recognized third party sustainability certification systems [6,7]. At the same time, the RED and the respective sustainability certification systems also serve as a guide for other sectors that process biomass, waste, and residual materials, also beyond the EU, and have become part of the development of a global BE [4].…”