More than forty states worldwide currently pursue explicit political strategies to expand and promote their bioeconomies. This paper assesses these strategies in the context of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Theoretical framework differentiates between four pathways of bioeconomic developments.

Human stress on the environment has long been debated and different views about the human drivers of greenhouse-gas emissions have emerged. Now research synthesizes the debate by looking at empirical evidence and offers new insights on the role of human population, affluence, urbanization, trade, culture and institutions on greenhouse-gas emissions trends.

Most climate change policy attention has been addressed to long-term options, such as inducing new, low-carbon energy technologies and creating cap-and-trade regimes for emissions. We use a behavioral approach to examine the reasonably achievable potential for near-term reductions by altered adoption and use of available technologies in US homes and nonbusiness travel.