Global Bioeconomy Summit 2026 confirmed for 20 and 21 October 2026 in the Convention Centre Dublin
- Foilsithe: 21 Deireadh Fómhair 2025
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 21 Deireadh Fómhair 2025
The Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, the Department of Climate, Energy, and the Environment and the International Advisory Council of the Global Bioeconomy (IACGB) today announced that the fifth Global Bioeconomy Summit (GBS 2026) will take place in Dublin, Ireland on 20 and 21 October 2026 at the Convention Centre Dublin, during Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Recognised as a leading global forum for bioeconomy policy, innovation, and cross-sector collaboration, the Global Bioeconomy Summit brings together political leaders, policy makers, industry leaders, researchers, investors, and civil society globally to accelerate sustainable, bio-based innovation and solutions.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, speaking on the announcement said:
“Bringing the 2026 Global Bioeconomy Summit to Dublin will see up to 1000 delegates from around the world coming together to discuss opportunities for developing the bioeconomy. The bioeconomy is about creating new and valuable products such as biostimulants that further develop a sustainable farming economy, create new green jobs in the agri-food sector through biorefinery development, cut emissions, and aid rural regeneration and prosperity.”
Also commenting on the summit, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien TD, said:
“As another successful Bioeconomy Ireland Week comes to a close, I’m delighted to announce the dates for next year’s Global Bioeconomy Summit here in Ireland. The summit will provide a unique opportunity to showcase our bioeconomy achievements, partnerships, and future ambitions on both the European and global stage. A strong and sustainable bioeconomy is key to achieving Ireland’s climate targets, advancing circular solutions, and supporting a greener, more resilient future for all.”
Minister of State with responsibility for Food Promotion, New Markets, Research and Development, Noel Grealish TD, welcomed the announcement:
“Ireland’s selection to host this important event reflects the very significant scientific expertise in Ireland in relation to bioeconomy development, backed by Government investment in research, demonstration and innovation.”
Minister of State with responsibility for Circular Economy, Alan Dillon TD endorsing the announcement said:
“The Global Bioeconomy Summit in 2026, will showcase the growing importance of the circular bioeconomy in building a more sustainable and resilient future for Ireland and the world, while driving innovation, investment, and new green opportunities.”
The IACGB is looking forward to co-hosting the next summit in Dublin together with the Irish Government in October 2026.
“The Global Bioeconomy Summit has now established itself as the world's leading event for discussing opportunities and challenges of the global bioeconomy. We will again engage with stakeholders, and we will work on further developing visions for the future global bioeconomy”,
Christine Lang, co-chair of the IACGB.
Co-chair Elspeth MacRae also added:
“The theme for GBS2026 is ‘Bioeconomy for Socio-Economic Transformation and Climate Action’, emphasising the importance of the bioeconomy for innovation and economic growth.” Julius Ecuru, co-chair of IACGB and co-host of GBS2024 in East Africa, stressed that “hosting of GBS is a great opportunity to highlight the region's capabilities and showcase its innovation and economy”.
The summit series began in 2015 and has since become the flagship international gathering for the bioeconomy. Ireland was selected as the host nation for 2026 following the conclusion of GBS 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya, reflecting the country’s growing leadership across bio-based innovation, bioeconomy related climate solutions, and circular bioeconomy demonstration initiatives.
Notes to Editor
- Hosting the summit in 2026 is an opportunity for Ireland to showcase the country’s advances in the bioeconomy to a local and global audience, focusing on how the bioeconomy is a tool for tackling climate change, decarbonising, and facilitating the just transition to more sustainable agricultural and food systems. Further information on the development of Irelands bioeconomy can be found at Bioeconomy Policy.
- The International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy (IACGB) facilitates international collaboration and mutual exchange in all aspects of relevance for sustainable and circular bioeconomy development by working together with multiple stakeholders from policy, science, civil society, and the business sector across the globe. The IACGB initiates, designs, and organises the Global Bioeconomy Summit. The most recent GBS was held on October 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. - Home - Global Bioeconomy Summit (gbs2024.org).
- More details about the 2026 Summit, are available on this website. Further details will also be announced in due course.
- The bioeconomy is the production, utilisation, conservation, and regeneration of biological resources, including related knowledge, science, technology, and innovation, to provide sustainable solutions (information, products, processes, and services) within and across all economic sectors and enable a transformation to a sustainable economy. – What is the Bioeconomy?
- Biostimulants: Irish agriculture is mainly grassland-based, and is key to the success of the dairy, beef, and sheep sectors. The Irish Climate Action Plan, the EU Green Deal, and the EU Farm to Fork strategy has placed ambitious reduction targets for the use of chemical inputs in the form of fertilisers and pesticides in grasslands. The use of sustainable bio-based products and innovations such as biostimulants that can stimulate growth and protect plants from pathogens could provide an alternative to such inputs, reducing the environmental footprint of the Irish agricultural sector while at the same time reducing chemical inputs. Projects such as BIOS4Grass is developing new elite grass germplasm with better nitrogen use efficiency, and is testing and evaluating three classes of bio-based products, singly or in combinations, for their functionality in perennial ryegrass and multispecies swards under reduced chemical input regimes.
- Biorefinery: Biorefining can be broadly defined as the processing of biomass into a portfolio of marketable bio-based products, which can include co-production of food and feed, chemicals and materials and bioenergy (power, heat/cold, fuels). Approximately 300 biorefineries at commercial or demonstration scale are located in the EU. Biorefineries producing food and feed and bio-based chemical and material products are expected to be an important part of the circular bio-based economy, as well as the transition to a climate-neutral and competitive economy utilising domestic biomass to increase security of supply of raw materials, substituting fossil-based materials and products and their respective emissions, and create jobs and business opportunities, especially in rural areas complementing the processing of biomass in bioenergy and biofuels.
