Key leverage points and role of actors

The SMARTCHAIN project explores challenges and enablers for the transformation to circular blue bioeconomy using fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Iceland and Norway as case studies, and examines the status of organisational motivation for enhanced sustainability performance and circularity. The first part of the report, is based on literature and covers definitions and examples of circular business models in the context of the blue bioeconomy, followed by discussion and examples of sustainability and circularity assessments and highlighting the benefits of life cycle-based approaches. Frameworks that companies use and topics of indicators for circularity and sustainability assessment were explored along with the requirements of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The explorative review of sustainability reports of fisheries and aquaculture companies gave insight into the organisational approaches to sustainability and circularity, and furthermore the key policies and strategies relevant to the bioeconomy that have been formulated at international, regional and national levels were reviewed. The research outcome is a synthesis of the challenges, key leverage points, policy and role of industry actors including the role of respective stakeholders, NGOs and governments in the blue bioeconomy supply chain.