All posts filed under: Generally

Building a Better Bioeconomy

Published by jonas

Reframing the EU Bioeconomy Strategy: Towards an Ecologically and Socially Sustainable Future At the end of 2025, the European Union will present its revised Bioeconomy Strategy – a step with far-reaching implications for rural communities, businesses, climate action, and forests both in Europe and globally. While a public consultation on the topic is currently underway, denkhausbremen and its project partner Fern organized the high-level event “Building a Better Bioeconomy” at the European Parliament on June 12, 2025, as part of a project funded by the European Environment Initiative (EURENI). The event was hosted by Members of the European Parliament Maria Ohisalo (Greens/EFA) and Michal Wiezik (Renew), with support from BirdLife Europe, Oxfam, and the European Environmental Bureau. The gathering brought together over 50 participants from rural areas, the business sector, forestry, and civil society from across Europe, alongside representatives from the European Commission and the European Parliament. The objective: to ensure that the new strategy paves the way for an ecologically and socially sustainable bioeconomy. The discussions quickly made one thing clear: the amount of …

CSOs call for a future-proof EU Bioeconomy Strategy

Published by jonas

Bremen, Brussels – June 12, 2025 Download position paper as PDF here! In a position paper published today, 60 civil society organizations call for a fundamental reorientation of the EU bioeconomy strategy: The bioeconomy of the future must be ecologically sustainable and socially just. The organizations criticize the fact that the current bioeconomy policy perpetuates an outdated economic model based on overuse and waste (for example through energy production from biomass). Real change requires a consistent break with this logic. Large-scale biomass imports from the global South are not a responsible option. Residual and waste materials are also far from being able to cover the raw material requirements of future economic models. A sustainable bioeconomy must therefore above all drastically reduce the overall consumption of resources. The statement was initiated by denkhausbremen, Oxfam, Fern, EPN, Ecodes and many other organizations committed to a responsible bioeconomy in Europe. CSOs call for a future-proof EU Bioeconomy Strategy In light of the revision of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, civil society organizations are calling for a future bioeconomy that …

Harald Ginzky: The carbon footprint increases with the size of one’s wallet.

Published by jonas

Dr. Harald Ginzky works as an environmental lawyer and transformation scientist for the German Environment Agency, now for more than 20 years, and is in charge of inter alia negotiating international environmental treaties as member of German delegations. In 2019, he co-founded the working group (“Arbeitskreis”) of the SPD Bremen City – Climate Change, Environmental Protection and Sustainable Economy, which he has since led together with Bianca Wenke. In an interview with denkhausbremen – which he expressly did not conduct for the German Environment Agency, but as spokesman for the aforementioned AK – he discusses the challenges for the SPD with regard to global climate justice. (Photo: Ev. Academy Loccum) denkhausbremen: What does climate justice mean to you? What comes to your mind spontaneously? Harald Ginzky: We can only achieve justice if we understand what the real challenge of climate policy is. It is often pretended that the core objective of climate policy is just to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In my opinion, this is fundamentally wrong and in itself leads to an elitist and unjust approach. At …

The tides are flooding our roads, our houses – everything.

Published by jonas

Teresa Lifuka-Drecala in conversation with denkhausbremen about the rising sea level threatening her island state, the difficult decision of people from Tuvalu to leave their home country and the need to support vulnerable communities in the face of climate change. Teresa Lifuka-Drecala is a lawyer and an experienced Director and Board Member for various organizations, including the Tuvalu Association of NGOs and the Tuvalu National Youth Council. She is committed to promoting sustainable development in Tuvalu. denkhausbremen: What does climate justice mean to you?  Teresa Lifuka: For me, climate justice is a human centered approach. It’s about people in Tuvalu or in any country receiving the aid and assistance that they genuinely need, especially in the face of climate change. Equity is essential – the assistance needs to reach the grassroots level, the communities, which is the level that I work with. I think about climate justice as taking our concerns to court – which is very important – but also as money and funds to help grassroots communities adapt to the impacts of climate …

Hamira Kobusingye: Africa should forge its own path towards a sustainable future

Published by jonas

Hamira Kobusingye is a climate activist based in Uganda and the founder of the organisation Climate Justice Africa. In 2023, she received the Bremen Solidarity Prize for Climate Justice. In conversation with denkhausbremen Hamira Kobusingye talks about her climate activism in Uganda, the importance of climate education on grassroots-level and her fight against a new oil pipeline project (Photo: Bremen Senator Press Department). denkhausbremen: What does climate justice mean to you?  Hamira Kobusingye: When I envision climate justice, I see a world where no one’s life is valued more than another’s. Even today, African communities are exploited by the Global North, particularly regarding investments in oil fields. A glaring example is the long-lasting impact of an oil spill from a Shell pipeline in the Niger Delta, which has left residents with severe air, water, and soil pollution. Additionally, children in regions like the Congo are forced into labor to mine cobalt, which is then used to manufacture electric cars in Europe. This exploitation must end immediately; it is fundamentally unjust. Everyone deserves the right to …

Sunny Omwenyeke: Western countries must take responsibility!

Published by jonas

Dr. Sunny Omwenyeke in conversation with denkhausbremen about climate change as a reason for flight, his work to empower refugees to fight for their rights and the responsibility of Western countries to work on their colonial history and the damage they have created across Africa. Sunny Omwenyeke is a long-term activist of the refugee movement in Germany and founder of the Bremen Solidarity Center (BreSoC) e.V. (Foto: Ana Rodríguez). denkhausbremen: What does climate justice mean to you?  Sunny Omwenyeke: To me, climate justice would be a situation where countries that are most responsible for all the mess in our climate take more responsibility, where they are held accountable. Those are essentially the Western countries that have such a long record of exploiting and devastating many other countries – simply because they want to maintain their standard of living here. These countries are inconsiderate and greedy. If the Global North is serious about addressing climate justice, for me that would mean to pay something back to other countries they have destroyed. Even as we speak, this …

70 NGOs call for sustainable and socially just EU bioeconomy strategy

Published by jonas

70 NGOs call for sustainable and socially just EU bioeconomy strategy Bremen, Brussels – 12. March 2024 Download the position paper as a PDF here! With the impending revision of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy on the horizon, 70 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have jointly issued a position paper today, advocating for a bioeconomy that upholds both ecological sustainability and social equity. The undersigned organizations emphasize that the focus of the bioeconomy strategy must fundamentally shift for this purpose. The current waste economy must be stopped. They assert that large-scale biomass imports from the Global South are not a viable solution. Moreover, the NGOs assert that waste and residues alone will not suffice to meet the future economy’s raw material requirements. In addition to these points, the NGOs call for genuine participation of citizens and civil society, urging for tangible resources to support their involvement, not just on paper. The initiative to release this statement was coordinated by the Bioeconomy Action Forum, with active involvement from denkhausbremen, FERN, and ELF, all committed to promoting a responsible bioeconomy. …

Rituraj Phukan: Indigenous communities are at the front line of climate change

Published by jonas

Rituraj Phukan in conversation with denkhausbremen on the way indigenous people are affected by climate change and how their cultures and management practices can help to restore and preserve degraded natural lands. Rituraj Phukan is an environmental activist and writer based in Assam (India) and the founder and president of the Indigenous People’s Climate Justice Forum. denkhausbremen: When you think about climate justice, what are the first thoughts coming to your mind? Rituraj Phukan: Well, first I would say that by default, climate justice is crucial to social justice. Indigenous people and the poorest of the poor are some of the worst affected by climate change and they don’t have the means to do anything about it. They have contributed very little to the accumulation of greenhouse gases. To make sure they have the resources to live a humane life – I think that defines the aspect of climate justice. For indigenous communities this is also very much connected to the way they live. I belong to the Tai-Ahom community in Assam in the Eastern …

Consequences of the Ukraine war for the bioeconomy

Published by jonas

Consequences of the Ukraine war for world food supply: German government must rethink bioeconomy Download position paper as PDF here! The Ukraine war is causing immeasurable suffering: Civilians are being displaced or even killed. The fighting soldiers also suffer trauma, torture and death under the cruelty of war. Beyond this horror, the war once again exposes failures of the world food system and further increases the chronic global crisis of hunger. Most affected are states and people in the Global South who have lost food sovereignty. For the world‘s 828 million hungry, it becomes evident once again that global supply chains are not designed to feed them. These developments clearly show how hunger is further exacerbated when agricultural commodities are made scarce and expensive by nervous markets. An industrialized countries’ shift from a fossil-based economy to a bioeconomy would result in similar negative effects, if the industrial agricultural system and our resource overconsumption remain unchanged. Wealthy countries as well as transnational corporations would buy all they can to keep their „green“ economy going. The German …

Alternative Bioeconomy Summit

Published by Peter

Far more than 100 experts from civil society, ministries, federal agencies and academia had dialed in to the Alternative Bioeconomy Summit on February 23, when Silvia Bender, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), opened the event with her keynote address: “How much bioeconomy can our globe cope?” is exactly the right question, she believes. In addition, Bender warned not to repeat the mistakes of the so-called energy transition in the bioeconomy and, above all, to ensure that fewer primary raw materials are used in the future. It is about saving resources and not about ‘business as usual’! This provided the framework for this online summit. “How should a future bioeconomy be organised within planetary boundaries?” was accordingly also the key question for the high-level panels and working groups. For the future it is crucial not to get lost in abstract debates. The bioeconomy must be regulated with concrete and effective instruments. Panelists (from top left to bottom right): – Silvia Bender, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food and …