| 08/06/09 - Biotechnology has the power to
improve human health, address environmental challenges, and change the way
the world does business. A new OECD report, The
Bioeconomy to 2030: Designing a Policy Agenda, examines the role of
biotechnology in the global economy over the next two decades and outlines
policies that could maximize its benefits.
Already biotech-based drugs provide greater
health advantages than their traditional counterparts. By 2015 virtually all
new drugs, about half of global production of the world’s major crops and an
increasing number of everyday products (e.g. food additives, plastics, fuels
and detergents) will be produced using biotechnology. New crop varieties
under development could increase global food production while requiring less
water, pesticides, and fertilisers.
From less than 1% today, biotechnology could
contribute to up to 2.7% of the GDP in OECD countries by 2030, and
considerably more in non-OECD countries. However many barriers stand in the
way of the development and commercialisation of biotechnologies. These
include technological challenges as well as regulations, adequate
investment, human resources, social acceptance, and market structures.
To boost innovation and competitiveness,
policies for the bioeconomy need to align private sector incentives with
public goals such as good health and reduce the cost of regulation,
particularly for applications in agriculture and industry.
Today, only 6% of business biotechnology R&D
expenditure in the OECD is related to agriculture and industry, even though
75% of the potential economic contribution of biotechnology is in these two
areas.Meantime, 85% of current business expenditures for biotechnology R&D
goes to health, with a 25% potential return. The solution is not to reduce
R&D expenditures in health, but to encourage substantially greater public
and private investment in other applications of biotechnology.
The bioeconomy could fall victim to the
global economic crisis as less capital is available to invest in
biotechnology R&D and high-risk start-up firms unless governments, through
green stimulus packages, use this opportunity to focus on alternative energy
and sustainable agriculture in an effort to address long-term growth.
Faced with global challenges such as the
effects of climate change on land use, food production, and human health,
the report argues that it would be foolhardy to diminish chances of meeting
these challenges by underplaying the role of biotechnologies.
More information on the report is available
at
www.oecd.org/futures/bioeconomy/2030.
For further information, journalists are
invited to contact David Sawaya (david.sawaya@oecd.org),
OECD Bioeconomy Policy Analyst (tel. + 1 33 1 45 24 95 92).
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