Advisory Memorandum on Biotechnology, Sustainable Development and Canada’s Future Economy

Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee (CBAC)

Background:

Greenhouse gases, contamination by toxic chemicals, dwindling supplies of clean fresh water, and other threats to the environment, are top-of-mind issues nowadays. Canada ought to seize every realistic and practical opportunity to build a new economy that protects the environment and remedies past damage while improving Canada’s standard of living.

Although biotechnology is often promoted as part of the solution to achieving sustainable development, its potential in this respect has not been fully examined. That is why CBAC commissioned an expert working group, led by Dr. Arthur Hanson, former president and CEO of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, to undertake a comprehensive examination of the contribution biotechnology can make to the quality of Canada’s environment and to the competitiveness of its economy.

After lengthy and detailed analysis the working group submitted its report to CBAC in the autumn of 2006. The report, titled BioPromise? Biotechnology, Sustainable Development and Canada’s Future Economy, was disseminated widely, commentary invited and discussions held with a variety of knowledgeable informants.

Overview

BioPromise? contends that the anticipated benefits of biotechnology for sustainable development can only be realized if certain barriers are removed and forward looking, coherent policies are adopted. The report makes the following specific observations.

• There is no integrated national or federal strategy to guide the development and deployment of innovative technological approaches to sustainable development.
• Increased investments in R&D; and getting the market signals right to encourage investment in environmentally beneficial advanced technologies are essential components of such a strategy.
• Equally important is recognition of the central role of shared values in defining strategic directions and the need to take an adaptive approach to decision-making in order to be responsive to changing circumstances.
• Ongoing engagement of citizens and stakeholder groups in the process of decision-making is essential to build public support for bold initiatives.
• Special efforts are needed to engage young people whose future will be shaped by emerging technologies and the degree to which sustainable development is achieved.
• Linking strategic actions to measurable outcomes through an effective ecological monitoring system based on improved integration and coordination of existing efforts and on the development of new methods and performance indicators is of critical importance.
• The global dimensions of ecological challenges require Canada to strengthen its role in international cooperation along two lines: enhancing participation in international knowledge networks on biotechnology and sustainable development; and, taking greater advantage of Canada’s ability to make a larger contribution to improving the quality of life in developing countries through, for example, development and use of new vaccines for humans and livestock, and of environmental technologies for sanitation and supply of clean water.

BioPromise? notes there are some good starting points for addressing this ambitious domestic and international agenda. The working group points to a Canadian company that is a leader in the production of ethanol from wood and straw instead of expensive grains. Pulp mills, struggling through tough economic times, could become biorefineries, producing a range of biofuels, industrial chemicals and high-value materials. Canada’s large supply of biomass from surplus fibre and other stock materials from forests and agricultural crops is a potential “natural advantage” provided the ecological impact of large-scale harvesting can be appropriately managed.

Despite these solid starting points, the working group cautions that creating “win-win” opportunities will not be easy: it requires attracting new investment; avoiding cost-ineffective long-term financial support packages; improving cooperation between federal and provincial governments on innovative technology regulation; and developing cost-effective industrial incentives and resolving inter-provincial and international trade issues.

CBAC’s Advice

1. We concur with the general thrust of BioPromise and endorse its broad conclusions and recommendations.
   
   
2. We strongly urge the federal government, as part of its current active engagement with environmental issues, to develop an action plan designed to facilitate initiatives aimed at realizing the benefits of applying biotechnology to sustainable economic development.
   
   
3. BioPromise? identifies several areas for potential government action and the key objectives to which government should direct its efforts. However, the report leaves open the question of what mechanisms ought to be employed in developing a specific plan of action. We recommend that the government initiate discussions with key stakeholders on what an action plan should consist of in respect of particular areas of focus. By way of example we suggest two plausible areas of immediate focus; namely, biorefineries and ecosystem monitoring.
   
   
4. Given Canada’s plentiful sources of biomass and its strengths in natural resource and life sciences research, strategic capital investment to provide the infrastructure for biorefineries could help to put Canada in a strong global competitive position in this emerging industry.¹ BioPromise? places considerable emphasis on the potential contribution the development of rurally-sited biorefineries can make to the economic sustainability of rural communities. There are a variety of issues that must be addressed in order for this potential to be realized. Identifying these issues and the mechanisms for dealing with them requires further in depth analysis and multi-stakeholder engagement that proceeds expeditiously in view of the concerted action being taken in other jurisdictions.
   
   
5. We recommend the implementation of an ecosystem monitoring program to ensure environmental performance measurement targets are being met, to provide early warnings about unanticipated effects and to enable hypothesis-driven research with sufficient statistical power to study the effects of large-scale activities. It may well be prohibitively expensive for Canada to generate a system de novo, for biotechnology-based effects per se. However, by cooperating with other countries, integrating systems that already exist and spreading cost impacts over a broad range of technologies, an effective and affordable monitoring program would be feasible.²

Conclusion

BioPromise? sets out some ambitious goals for harnessing biotechnology in support of environmental sustainability economic growth. If achieved, these goals would establish Canada as a global leader. Two areas of immediate government attention are suggested: the development of biorefineries and the development of a program for monitoring ecosystem impacts.

CBAC stands ready to assist the government in undertaking the further analysis and consultations required to develop a timely and focused action plan in these areas and others that may be of special interest to policy-makers.

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¹Globally, the biorefinery concept is in the early stages of development. The agricultural and forestry sectors are beginning to consider the strategic possibilities of biorefineries, and in Canada some provincial governments are ramping up support for them. Except for ethanol production, the suite of required technologies is mainly at the proof-of-concept stage, though a few pilot plants are in operation. Many of the opportunities to substitute biomass-derived chemicals for petroleum-derived ones are tied to price of oil. Nonethesless, the technology is developing rapidly as a result of substantial and rapidly increasing investments being made in other countries.

²Some initial areas of focus could be: creating a system for information collection and communication including defining standards for data collection, developing linked and shared databases, defining best practices to visualize or make available complex information about different variables; linking the information the system provides into decision making and marketplace signals -- incorporating "intelligence" into "smart" regulations.