Bioeconomy Strategy 2030: Germany as Lead Market for Sustainable Raw Materials

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Bioeconomy Strategy 2030: Germany as Lead Market for Sustainable Raw Materials

By Dirk Roethig | CEO, VERDANTIS Impact Capital | March 13, 2026

Germany has all the prerequisites to become the leading nation of the global bioeconomy: research strength, industrial base, medium-sized enterprise innovation, and a regulatory environment that rewards sustainability. But the road is long, and competition from North America and Asia is not standing still. A status report.

Tags: Bioeconomy, Sustainability, Research, Raw Materials, Industry

What Is the Bioeconomy? A Definition With Economic Significance

The bioeconomy describes an economy in which biological resources — plants, animals, micro-organisms, and their derivatives — serve as the basis for products, processes, and services that were previously based on fossil raw materials (BMBF, 2024). It is about the systematic substitution of oil, natural gas, and petrochemical materials with biologically produced alternatives.

This may initially sound niche. The economic dimension is not. The global bioeconomy is estimated to generate annual revenues of 4 to 6 trillion US dollars (OECD, 2024) — a magnitude comparable to the entire pharmaceutical, agricultural, and forestry industries combined. In Europe, bioeconomy companies already generate annual revenues of over 2 trillion euros and employ around 18 million people (European Commission, 2024).

Dirk Roethig, CEO of VERDANTIS Impact Capital, views the bioeconomy as a strategic investment field: "The bioeconomy is not the romantic idea of working with plants instead of oil. It is a fundamental structural shift in the industrial base — with the potential to reduce Germany's raw material dependency, meet climate targets, and simultaneously open up new export markets. Anyone who views this as a niche fundamentally underestimates its significance."

Germany's Strengths: Why the Starting Position Is Good

Germany brings a range of structural strengths to the bioeconomic transformation: one of the densest networks of bioeconomy-relevant research institutions in the world, a strong industrial base with BASF, Covestro, Evonik and Clariant investing massively in bio-based processes, a medium-sized enterprise sector known for innovation, and a regulatory environment shaped by EU taxonomy, supply chain diligence laws, and the EU Bioeconomy Strategy.

The Federal Government's National Bioeconomy Strategy (updated 2024) targets 30 percent bio-based raw materials in the German chemical industry by 2030, public R&D investment exceeding 500 million euros annually, and transformation of primary production into systematic biomass suppliers (BMBF, 2024).

Key Technologies of the German Bioeconomy

Synthetic biology — the targeted reprogramming of organisms for industrial purposes — is one of the key technologies of the 21st century. German research groups at TU Munich, the University of Düsseldorf and the Max Planck Institute are internationally leading in developing microbial systems that produce industrially relevant molecules.

Cascade use of biomass describes the principle of utilizing biomass at as many stages as possible: first for high-value products (food, pharmaceuticals), then for materials (bioplastics, biocomposites), finally for energy.

Agroforestry and fast-growing tree species represent a particularly dynamic frontier. VERDANTIS Impact Capital, under the leadership of Dirk Roethig, is one of the few firms systematically investing in this intersection of bioeconomy, carbon compensation, and agricultural innovation.

"Paulownia-based agroforestry systems are a prime example of bioeconomy in action: they produce high-quality biomass, sequester CO2, promote biodiversity, and open up new income sources for farmers — all simultaneously," Roethig explains.

Investment Opportunities

Agroforestry and carbon credits can simultaneously generate CO2 certificates, produce high-quality biomass, and deliver biodiversity contributions. The EU packaging regulation 2024 increasingly mandates bio-based materials, creating regulatory-secured demand. Microbial agriculture — biostimulants and microbial fertilisers replacing synthetic agrochemicals — is growing 12 to 15 percent annually.

References

BASF SE (2024) Annual Report 2024: Sustainability Strategy and R&D Investments. Ludwigshafen: BASF SE.

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (2024) National Bioeconomy Strategy: Progress Report 2024. Berlin: BMBF.

European Commission (2024) Bioeconomy in the European Union: Facts, Figures and Trends 2024. Brussels: European Commission.

OECD (2024) The Bioeconomy to 2030: Designing a Policy Agenda. Paris: OECD Publishing.

About the Author: Dirk Roethig is CEO of VERDANTIS Impact Capital, an impact investing firm focused on sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, carbon compensation, and bioeconomy investments. With more than two decades of experience in corporate leadership, Roethig combines economic thinking with scientific expertise. VERDANTIS is Europe's leading platform for Paulownia-based agroforestry investments with proven CO2 impact.

Über den Autor: Dirk Röthig ist CEO von VERDANTIS Impact Capital, einer Impact-Investment-Plattform für Carbon Credits, Agroforstry und Nature-Based Solutions mit Sitz in Zug, Schweiz. Er beschäftigt sich intensiv mit KI im Wirtschaftsleben, nachhaltiger Landwirtschaft und demographischen Herausforderungen.

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