Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine Charlie McConalogue T.D. and Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan T.D. have welcomed the announcement that Ireland will host the 2026 Global Bioeconomy Summit (GBS2026). The announcement was made at the conclusion of the GBS2024 Summit held in Nairobi, Kenya, following an application by Ireland to host the 2026 Summit.
The Global Bioeconomy Summit is an international conference for the Global Bioeconomy, held bi-annually since 2015. Its purpose is to bring together policy makers, industry, academia, and other stakeholders to discuss developments for a sustainable and circular global bioeconomy.
The bioeconomy covers all sectors (including agriculture, horticulture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture) and systems (including nature, land, food, energy, built environment and health). It is the part of the economy that uses renewable biological resources such as animals, plants, micro-organisms, and derived biomass and organic waste to produce food, feed, bio-based products, energy and services, while also reducing waste.
Hosting the summit in 2026 is an opportunity for Ireland to highlight the country’s advances in the bioeconomy to a global audience, focusing on how the bioeconomy is a tool for tackling climate change, decarbonising, and facilitating the just transition to more sustainable agricultural and food systems. The GBS2026 will come at a time when Ireland takes up the rotating Presidency of the European Union, providing an opportunity for Ireland to drive forward a positive policy agenda for the Bioeconomy in the Union.
For information on the Global Bioeconomy Summit 2024, click here.
For more information on the Irish Bioeconomy visit here.
