The bioeconomy in Germany is closely connected with other regions of the world through trade of biogenic raw materials, intermediate and final products. For example, the German agricultural sector produces large quantities of food for export while importing significant amounts of animal feed.

The environmental footprints presented on this webpage are indicators for measuring the global use of natural resources (e.g. agricultural and forest land and water) and the associated environmental impacts (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions) that can be traced back to the consumption and/or export of bio-based goods in Germany.

In SYMOBIO, five footprints of the use of biomass-based goods in Germany are quantified:

• The material footprint includes all biogenic primary raw materials (excluding wood) that have been extracted around the world from nature (harvested) for consumption of goods in Germany.
• The forest footprint includes the global raw wood harvest for the consumption of wood-based products in Germany.
• The agricultural footprint describes the arable and pasture land occupied in Germany and elsewhere for the consumption of goods in Germany.
• The water footprint includes global water withdrawals for crop irrigation for consumption in Germany.
• The climate footprint captures the greenhouse gases emitted globally (currently excluding emissions from land use change) associated with the production of biogenic goods consumed in Germany.

As the environmental impacts of the production of bio-based products for exports should not be neglected in a comprehensive monitoring framework, the footprints presented on this website always facilitate the option to widen the perspective from the domestic consumption to the domestic consumption plus export (production).