The bioeconomy has significant potential to transform production systems and contribute to sustainable development. Realizing this potential, however, requires businesses to place biodiversity and social inclusion at the heart of innovation and scale-up.
All businesses depend on and impact biodiversity, creating risks but also opportunities to rethink products, operations and value chains. This satellite round table will explore how bioeconomy enterprises can move from commitments to practical and scalable action, drawing on the latest IPBES work on business and biodiversity and experiences from Latin America.
Organized by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) in collaboration with Universidad de los Andes, ANDI – National Association of Entrepreneurs of Colombia, and Natura, the session will bring together perspectives from research, business and industry to explore how biodiversity and social inclusion can become part of corporate strategies and business models.
Through short impulse talks and an interactive discussion, participants will explore opportunities and barriers for integrating biodiversity across four levels of business action:
The discussion will draw on practical experiences from Latin America, including Natura’s work developing biodiversity-based value chains and ANDI’s efforts to support companies in integrating biodiversity into business strategies. Participants will then work together to identify enabling conditions, including policy, finance and partnerships, that can help nature-positive and inclusive business models reach scale.
14:00–14:10 | Setting the scene: Business, biodiversity and the global context
14:10–14:25 | Inspiring cases: Experiences from bioeconomy enterprises and business associations in Latin America
14:25–14:55 | Interactive round table: Co-creating solutions across corporate strategy, operations, value chains and portfolios
14:55–15:00 | Key takeaways and closing reflections
The Global Bioeconomy Summit 2026 brings together leaders from policy, science, industry and civil society to explore how the bioeconomy can deliver sustainable, innovative and inclusive solutions at scale. The Summit takes place in Dublin, Ireland, on 20–21 October 2026, with pre-Summit activities on 19 October.
Initiative / This initiative aims to guide decision-makers towards more cohesive and constructive governance of bioeconomy pathways, with a focus on the Global South.
Program / SEI is supporting the strengthening of the cassava value chain in Colombia to increase its sustainability, competitiveness and circularity.
Tool / Trase enables governments, companies and others to address the environmental impacts of supply chains.
Past event / This session will showcase pioneering efforts in Colombia, Perú and Brazil to transform tourism value chains in the region.
Past event / Sharing concrete lessons and best practices from the implementation of bioeconomy strategies in Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia
SEI working paper / The authors distil useful insights regarding sustainable use of bioresources and their transformation into bio-based products in this working paper.
