Scaling the circular bioeconomy can support sustainable development by creating value from sustainably sourced biological resources, encouraging innovation and livelihoods, and reducing reliance on finite and resource-intensive materials. However, bio-based production is not automatically sustainable and can affect land-use change, ecosystem degradation, resource competition and unequal outcomes.

This session explores how circular economy principles, context-specific approaches and effective safeguards, combined with robust data, monitoring, evaluation and local knowledge can guide the conversion of biomass, by-products and organic residues into higher-value products while prioritising prevention, reuse and cascading use over lower-value recovery—enabling resource-efficient, nature-positive and socially just results.