Author: jana

Bioeconomy exhibition “On the wrong track” officially opened

Published by jana

Cover photo: Ana Rodríguez On Wednesday, December 8th, 2021 the photo exhibition “On the wrong track – Overexploitation of Humans and Nature for the Bioeconomy” was opened at the Institut français Bremen. At the beginning of the evening, the audience had the opportunity to take a first look at the exhibition. Afterwards, the program began in the large hall of the Institut français. denkhausbremen project manager Jana Otten gave an introduction to the topic of bioeconomy and explained the background of the exhibition to the audience. According to this, the production of renewable natural resources is not sustainable per se and often linked to human rights violations and environmental destruction in the Global South. In a video message, the tropical forest activist Sylvain Angerand from the French organization Canopée, reported on a French success story: In France, palm oil in so-called biofuels has been legally banned since 2020. Fenna Otten, tropical forest officer of Robin Wood, then gave insights into her research trips to Sumatra and highlighted, among other things, the devastating environmental impacts of …

European Green Deal – no landing on the moon

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The European Green Deal and the EU bioeconomy strategy avoid necessary system changes By Jana Otten and Peter Gerhardt At times of aggravating global crises, new answers are required. The international community is increasingly divided into rich and poor, environmental degradation – including the loss of biodiversity – is accelerating and the earth is heating up further. The so-called “European Green Deal” provides an answer to the climate crisis – at least as far as the pompous promise of the EU Commission can be trusted. However, does this European Green Deal really give us reason to heave a sigh of relief? Are the vociferous calls of the climate movement and climate science for a  reduction in emissions finally being translated into political concepts? And what role does the bioeconomy play, which envisions an ecological-social transformation of the economy, too? About nine months ago, on December 11, 2019, the European Green Deal was presented in big words in Brussels. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was bursting with superlatives and spoke of a historic moment …

Photo exhibition shows Environmental Destruction and Human Rights Violations for the Bioeconomy

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Cover photo: Peter Steudtner / Mozambique Coordination Group The bioeconomy has so far been a niche debate that essentially has its place in scientific and political circles. To the general public, however, the term is largely unknown. That is why a photo exhibition by denkhausbremen clarifies what the bioeconomy is about and shows possible consequences for the countries of the Global South. The stakes are high: the bioeconomy involves nothing less than the transformation of our economy. Coal, natural gas and oil are to be left in the ground. Accordingly, the economic system of the future is to be based solely on biomass, which means renewable resources. Ultimately, the great promise of the bioeconomy is to counteract climate change and the extinction of species. As nice as the bioeconomy sounds in theory, it has not yet been clarified, for example, how the high demand for biomass is to be met, especially since the land area for the additional cultivation of renewable resources is limited worldwide. Politicians and researchers are mainly looking in the direction of …