- The Climate Technology Progress Report 2025 highlights an economy based on renewable biological resources as key to achieving climate and development goals.
- The lead author of the report, Sara Trærup, says that India is well-positioned to lead in developing and scaling bio-based climate technologies by building on its strong public–private partnerships and targeted national initiatives.
- As the world moves toward COP30 in Brazil, a key takeaway is that accelerating progress on the Paris Agreement requires integrated approaches that unite climate action, biodiversity, and land-use objectives, says Trærup, in this interview.
“India is at the forefront of the global bioeconomy transition, linking innovation, rural livelihoods and climate action in ways that can serve as a model for other developing economies,” said Sara Traerup, lead author of the Climate Technology Progress Report 2025, in an interview with Mongabay India.
Released on October 23 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), the report examines global progress in developing and transferring climate technologies. This year, the annual report focuses on bioeconomy, or the sustainable use of biological resources for energy, materials and food, and examines how it can contribute to both climate mitigation and adaptation.
The report finds that bio-based innovation is expanding rapidly but that gaps in finance, policy and access still prevent many developing countries from fully benefiting from it. High upfront costs, weak institutional capacity and fragmented governance continue to limit technology deployment and inclusion, particularly for small producers and rural communities.
India is highlighted among the countries that are backing climate technologies with public financing and investments to advance sustainable development and climate action. According to the report, India’s Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and Green Credit Programme are providing financial and market-based incentives to support biological input manufacturing, waste management and regenerative agricultural practices, to advance climate-resilient infrastructure and biobased technologies.
At the same time, UNEP cautions that the growth of the bioeconomy must be guided carefully to avoid conflicts with food production and ecosystem protection. The report stresses that secure land rights, transparent governance and inclusive decision-making are critical to ensure that new industries complement, rather than compete with, food systems.
Globally, the Climate Technology Progress Report 2025 identifies four biobased technologies that that define bioeconomy’s role in climate action: biomass conversion, biogenic carbon capture and use (Bio-CCUS), sustainable agriculture and land use technologies and biobased materials.
The report says these solutions can lower emissions, enhance carbon sequestration and strengthen biodiversity when implemented through circular and regenerative systems supported by equitable finance.
The report notes that residue management has emerged as a priority as second-generation biofuels are producing dual benefits in Asia by improving air quality and supporting rural incomes. It also notes that Latin America and the Caribbean are linking bioenergy development with forest restoration, while African nations are promoting land-based innovations to create jobs and enhance food security.
Despite these advances, UNEP warns that the transition remains uneven. Many developing countries still lack access to concessional finance and technology partnerships. The report calls for expanding blended finance mechanisms, improving institutional coordination and integrating local and Indigenous knowledge systems into national strategies to ensure equitable innovation.
As the world prepares for COP30 in Brazil, the report highlights that countries must link their climate, biodiversity and land-use goals “to reshape our collective response to planetary challenges.”
To understand what the report’s findings mean for India and how the country can balance innovation with inclusion, Mongabay India spoke with Sara Trærup, the lead author of the Climate Technology Progress Report 2025. Trærup is a Senior Researcher at the UNEP DTU Partnership and holds a Ph.D. in the socio-economic aspects of climate change adaptation.
In the interview, she explains how India’s bio-based technologies can advance climate goals, protect food security and offer lessons for other developing economies ahead of COP30.
Mongabay India: This year’s Climate Technology Progress report highlights the growing role of the bioeconomy in tackling climate change. What key opportunities do you see for India to lead in developing or scaling bio-based climate technologies?
Sara Trærup: India is well-positioned to lead in developing and scaling bio-based climate technologies by building on its strong public–private partnerships and targeted national initiatives. This report has highlighted several examples, such as the rice straw ethanol plants which illustrate how waste-to-energy pathways can create rural jobs and reduce emissions. Further there is the National Mission on Natural Farming and the network of Bio-Input Resource Centres (BRCs) which provide locally adapted bio-inputs and regenerative solutions that strengthen soil health and reduce dependence on synthetic fertilisers. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and the Green Credit Programme are catalysing investment in biological inputs, waste management, and circular practices. Together, these initiatives provide examples that India are at the forefront of the global bioeconomy transition linking innovation, rural livelihoods, and climate action in ways that can serve as a model for other developing economies.
Mongabay India: How can India’s bioeconomy transition support both climate goals and food security, ensuring that bio-based industries do not compete with food production or small farmers’ interests?
Sara Trærup: The report has highlighted that strong institutional and governance frameworks are essential. Clear land rights, transparent rules, and extension services that integrate smallholders into biobased value chains ensure that feedstock production complements, rather than displaces, food crops. When managed through circular approaches, such as using crop residues or waste biomass for energy and biofertilisers, the bioeconomy can reduce emissions, improve soil health, and diversify rural livelihoods. Ultimately, the inclusiveness and sustainability of India’s bioeconomy depend on how effectively programmes engage small farmers and align industrial development with local food security priorities.
Mongabay India: What innovations in the bioeconomy can directly improve rural livelihoods, for instance, by creating local jobs or new income streams for farmers and small entrepreneurs?
Sara Trærup: Biobased innovations can enhance rural livelihoods by fostering local value creation and entrepreneurship. Because they rely on regionally available feedstocks and knowledge, they enable production systems to thrive outside traditional industrial centres. Examples include small-scale biogas and biofertiliser systems that convert agricultural residues into energy and soil nutrients, as well as biorefineries that enable small entrepreneurs to scale up the transformation of crop by-products such as sugarcane bagasse, rice husks, and cotton stalks into bioplastics and bio-based chemicals, generating new livelihood opportunities in rural areas. Such innovations generate local jobs in feedstock supply, processing, and maintenance, while opening new income streams for farmers and rural cooperatives. By linking local resource use with circular production, biobased technologies strengthen rural economies, reduce waste, and support more inclusive, low-carbon development pathways.
Mongabay India: What are the main challenges countries like India face in ensuring that climate technologies are accessible, affordable, and equitable, and how can global finance or partnerships help bridge these gaps?
Sara Trærup: Many countries, including India face challenges in making climate and biobased technologies accessible and equitable due to high upfront costs, limited technical capacity, and uneven institutional support. These barriers are often reinforced by fragmented governance and financing mechanisms that fail to reach small producers and rural communities. Aligning technology deployment with social and environmental integrity is therefore essential ensuring that innovation reflects local knowledge systems, cultural practices, and community needs. Global climate finance and partnerships can bridge these gaps by providing concessional funding, supporting technology co-development, and building institutional capacity for inclusive innovation systems. Such cooperation helps ensure that technologies are not only deployed, but also adapted and owned locally, advancing both equity and sustainability.
Mongabay India: Beyond India, what key global takeaway would you like policymakers and stakeholders to draw from this year’s report as the world prepares for COP30?
Sara Trærup: As the world moves toward COP30 in Brazil, a key takeaway is that accelerating progress on the Paris Agreement requires integrated approaches that unite climate action, biodiversity, and land-use objectives. The 2025 Climate Technology Progress Report underscores that technologies, when combined with sustainable biobased solutions, can deliver scalable, cost-effective, and inclusive outcomes. Policymakers should view this convergence as an opportunity to redesign global cooperation linking innovation, finance, and local action to drive a just and nature-positive transition.
Mongabay India: Is there anything else you would like to add, particularly about the future of innovation and equity in advancing the global bioeconomy?
Sara Trærup: Looking ahead, the global bioeconomy’s success will depend on ensuring that innovation is inclusive, equitable, and accessible, leveraging diverse knowledge systems to deliver sustainable solutions across regions and sectors.
Read more: From Bonn to Belém, global climate talks inch forward amid deep divides
Banner image: Sara Trærup. Image by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth.
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