BIO Deutschland position paper: “Doing business with biology: recommendations for a sustainable economy based on biotechnology”

(26.06.2024) BIO Deutschland represents the interests of all companies working in industrial biotechnology, particularly innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. Industrial biotechnology is one of the main pillars of the transformation process towards a bio-based and sustainable economy, a knowledge-based bioeconomy. The knowledge-based bioeconomy primarily uses the principles of industrial biotechnology and is key to achieving the sustainability goals set by Germany, the European Union and the UN.

In order to implement these sustainability goals, BIO Deutschland's Industrial Bioeconomy working group is committed to the following measures:

• In order to make the economic and social benefits of applying innovative technologies visible, a comparison with traditional and fossil-based products and processes must include all costs and also take into account the ecological footprint of a product.
• Biotechnological innovations must be promoted by creating a clear framework for new technologies. This includes a consistent revision of all existing laws and guidelines at the national and EU level that are relevant for biotechnological manufacturing processes and bio-based products.
• The implementation of bioeconomic approaches in industry must be accelerated. This acceleration should be achieved by
• long-term funding of pre-competitive pilot plants and prototype developments;
• massive support for the development of new manufacturing processes for biotechnological products and preliminary products and for the establishment of the necessary value chains from bio-based raw materials from agriculture or forestry to chemical or biotechnical production to processing into the final products.
• In order to facilitate the market entry of bio-based products, market pull is needed through blending quotas and material specifications, as well as higher levies on CO₂.
• Legal opportunities must be created for German and European institutional investors to invest in venture capital. Tax incentives must be created, particularly for private investors investing in the venture capital asset class.
• There is a need for a clear and coherent commitment by the members of the Bundestag and the federal government, as well as the relevant federal ministries, to the central importance of biotechnology in implementing bioeconomic strategies. The defossilization and biologization of the economy can only succeed with the use of biotechnology.
• Public relations, dialogue with society and a clear commitment to the transparent presentation of innovative technologies and products must be supported.