Toward an Ecological Bioeconomy: Rethinking Environmental Innovation Based on Organic Resources

In the face of contemporary ecological crises and geopolitical tensions, economic science is called upon to fundamentally rethink current models of development and growth. In our book Environmental Innovation and Ecodesign: Certainties and Controversies (2018), we demonstrated that environmental innovation requires systemic thinking, highlighting epistemological, ontological, and methodological limitations in its conceptualization and implementation. We now propose to take this analysis a step further by integrating the biophysical limits of the biosphere, which are often overlooked in current approaches. So-called environmental innovations still largely rely on non-renewable mineral resources. We therefore advocate for a redefinition of environmental innovation grounded in renewable resources derived from photosynthesis, embodied in an ecological bioeconomy. This perspective, rooted in the long-term evolution of human societies, invites us to reconfigure our relationship to space, time, and the biosphere. First articulated in the 1970s, this orientation would allow us to move away from fossil and nuclear dependencies, while enhancing both ecological and economic resilience. This presentation will examine the foundations and implications of a transition toward a biosourced economy grounded in the real constraints of biological renewability.