Biodigital Technologies and the Bioeconomy: The Global New Green Deal?

Abstract

the European Green Deal has established the legislative framework for achieving the European Union's climate neutrality by 2050. The Explanatory Memorandum (2020) puts the objective in unambiguous terms:The European Green Deal Communication launched a new growth strategy for the EU that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, improving the quality of life of current and future generations, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use. The European Green Deal reaffirms the Commission's ambition to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. (European Commission, 2020) The European Green Deal suggests that reaching the target requires coordinated investment in environmentally-friendly technologies, support for industrial innovation, cleaner public and private transport, energy-efficient buildings, decarbonising the energy sector and 'working with international partners to improve global environmental standards' (European Commission, 2020).In the U.S. Joe Biden's election website supports 'the Biden plan to build a modern, sustainable infrastructure and an equitable clean energy future': At this moment of profound crisis, we have the opportunity to build a more resilient, sustainable economyone that will put the United States on an irreversible path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050. Joe Biden will seize that opportunity and, in the process, create millions of good-paying jobs that provide workers with the choice to join a union and bargain collectively with their employers. (Biden for President, 2020)The website plays up the difference with Donald Trump's science denial and his withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. It also announces that Biden will 'make a $2 trillion accelerated investment, with a plan to deploy those resources over his first term, setting us on an irreversible course to meet the ambitious climate progress that science demands' (Biden for President, 2020) with investments in infrastructure, auto-industry, transit, power sector, buildings, housing, innovation, agriculture, conservation, and environmental justice. The figure of two trillion is about double the notional level of investment in Europe.China's president Xi Jinping announced that the country aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 in his much-publicized video speech at the United Nations General