12.2 - “By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources”

As our project allows for increased utilization of lignocellulosic residues derived from the agriculture and forest industries, we allow a more sustainable and efficient use of natural resources.

12.3 - “By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses”

By unlocking the potential to convert lignocellulosic biomass from crops and agriculture into valuable compounds, we are optimizing the utilization of food-based feedstocks, thus reducing the waste generated by this industry.

12.5 - “By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse”

Our project targets recycling and utilization of lignocellulosic waste, thus promoting a circular economy in which less waste is generated.

12.6 - “Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle”

As our project provides an A. niger strain that allows for more sustainable production, companies that choose to implement our solution will be able to adopt more sustainable production methods.

2.3 - “By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment”

By minimizing the amount of land used for the production of carbon and energy sources for bioproduction, we help in securing equal treatment of farmers, their lands, and the crops on them.

2.4 - “By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality”

Our project encourages sustainable food production systems through optimization of what is already produced, allowing more space for food production. Removing the competition for farmland between farmers and the biotech industry allows for an increased food production, while also increasing the sustainability of said production.

15.1 - “By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements”

Our project revolves around the sustainable use of natural resources from agriculture, forestry, and crops. This environmental management practice contributes to the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems.

15.5 - “Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species”

A driving force behind the loss of biodiversity is the creation of farmland through deforestation. Our solution allows the already available land to be utilized more effectively, resulting in less need for new farmland, as the biotech industry would no longer need to use crops for production, only the waste generated by farming and forestry.

4.4 - “By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship”

Future iGEM teams will be able to work on the advances described in Fun4al. In addition, our project will expand career opportunities at both academia and industry, for researchers, professors, and engineers. Furthermore, our efforts e.g. in developing educational material for high school students on the technical field of synthetic biology, support future scientists in their learning in a free and easily accessible manner.