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The South African bioeconomy strategy did not clearly articulate the measurement framework to monitor the implementation of the strategy. This paper provides an analysis of bioeconomy patents, the most prolific organizations and citations at the EPO and USPTO for South Africa, BRICS, Egypt and Nigeria during the Ten-Year Innovation Plan 2008–2018. The terms 'biotechnology', 'medical technology', 'pharmaceuticals' and 'selected environment-related technologies' were used to search for patents. The OECD patents by technology, the EPO PATSTAT and the USPTO PatFT databases were used to map patents and citations. The results show that South Africa ranked last in the BRICS group but produced a higher number of patents than Egypt and Nigeria. The number of patents generally decreased for the selected countries except for China. The total citations for the selected countries was generally inconsistent. The important innovators for South Africa in the bioeconomy are mainly universities and public research institutions. A new fiscal approach to encourage knowledge application in bioeconomy in South Africa is required. Incentives from government that encourage collaboration between research institutions and industry to direct research with industry application are required. The study contributes to the development of metrics to monitor the bioeconomy in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do sparsely populated regions innovate in green policies? What enables or limits such innovation? The green policy literature often focuses on core regions, while territorial innovation models have long ignored regional state innovation. In this article we examine the drivers of public sector innovation in green policies in peripheral regions, often considered unequipped. The data come from the case study of Finnish Lapland's Smart Specialisation Strategy in relation to promoting a forest-based bioeconomy. In a context where climate change has become a major global challenge, and sustainable development an additional responsibility for local and regional governments, this article contributes to understanding the rationales for innovation in green policies from a regional perspective. Drawing from institutional economic geography, we argue that top-down approaches (Smart Specialisation) combined with scale and place-specificity (personal connections, environmental fragility, political will and natural resources endowments) play an important role in driving the governments of sparsely populated regions to innovate when translating and implementing green policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fossil fuel consumption in recent decades has caused the rise of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, with negative consequences on the environment and human health. This study develops a methodological framework to quantify carbon credits from carbon-oriented forest management and evaluates the economic sustainability of their sale. Application of the framework to two forest compartments with long-lasting active management in the Western Italian Alps showed the feasibility of the methodology and provided insights on its replication in other contexts. Particularly, the Carbon-oriented scenario led to a reduction of both the extracted wood volume (10% and 6.5% CASE1 and CASE2, respectively) and Net Present Value (32% and 29%), leading to a carbon credit price of 19.6 € MgCO2eq−1​ and 44.1 € MgCO2eq−1 to counteract these losses. This work allows us to highlight the factors needed to design and evaluate alternative forest management options while considering the consequences of climate change. Moreover, the hypothesized scenarios include an economic remuneration of the positive externalities provided by sustainable forest management. Finally, the proposed workflow entails undeniable environmental benefits while contrasting climate change but still looks undesirable with respect to the traditional timber-oriented management in compartments where high-quality wood products can be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioeconomic modeling was used to evaluate traditional and extensive shrimp production in the Mahakam Delta and impacts of adopting Better Management Practices (BMP) for semi-intensive and integrated mangrove-shrimp culture. Modeling outcomes indicate that traditional production is not financially viable, failing to generate a positive 10-year Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Such practices persist in the Mahakam Delta as capital costs have been depreciated against past financial returns, input costs are negligible, risks are minimal, opportunity costs are low and options to intensify production have been retained by producers. Returns from BMP-guided semi-intensive culture (20% IRR) are marginally higher compared to extensive culture but entail a 10-fold increase in operating costs and greater risks. Integrated mangrove-shrimp production gives a reasonable IRR (53%) but costs remain high, management demanding and risks uncertain. Risk adverse operators with short-term leases may favor traditional and extensive practices. Sustainable intensification, allied to social capital development and rehabilitation of mangrove ecosystem services and environmental flows, is needed to reconcile multiple demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]