We begin by discussing two Portuguese companies that create regenerative models. And then we'll explain why they are important. Algaplus is a company that produces algae and fish (and other products) through a regenerative model, increasing sea resources without fishing. With the waste from algae production, paper, plastic, and fertilizers can be produced.

The Amorim company produces cork. Cork cultivation is also highly sustainable because no trees are cut down. But it's even more sustainable when pigs graze under the trees, as they don't need (or barely need) additional food because they "manage" some of the waste. If we add sheep to the pigs, we have a system that produces materials, meat, and milk, and we reduce the risk of fire through grazing. The cork used to make wine corks can be recovered and used to make other corks or shoe soles. And cork is also used to manufacture materials for the space industry. Compounds for fertilizers can be created from non-reusable cork powder.

These two models are an example of how food, materials, and the regeneration of soil and coastal environments can coexist simultaneously and in a multifunctional way. These are circular and regenerative models that exemplify what the economy of the future should be.

We have seen with our small analyses some of the environmental problems that affect us daily. The analyses and facts demonstrate that the period of economic development we are currently experiencing causes damages that accumulate over time and cannot be sustained for long by society and the planet.

The attention that Europe and the world are paying to sustainability issues and the world's attention to the appropriation and use of resources should radically influence the processes of land and ocean management and the processes of production and distribution of goods and services. But so far, we hear many words and see few actions. Renewable and non-renewable natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce, notably due to the increase in the world population and per capita consumption capacity, both in Europe and in major economies like China and India.

A resource is renewable (or sustainable) when the regeneration rate (i.e., the rate at which it is produced) is equal to or greater than the rate at which it is used.

Resources include energy, material, and production resources. Some resources come from geological processes and are considered non-renewable on a human scale. For example, 50% of oil is extracted from Tertiary (Cenozoic) age deposits, which generally range from 65 to 23 million years old (the remaining 50% is extracted from older deposits from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic).

Resources are raw materials, some of which are renewable (i.e., can be grown) like wheat, wood, or hemp, while others are mineral resources derived from geological deposits. Some, like those used in construction (clay, sand, stone), are available in Europe in sufficient quantities, while others, such as energy raw materials, metals, and rare earths, have to be partly or wholly imported (they are not available, or only available in small quantities, or it is not economically viable to extract them).

The importance of raw materials from mineral resources has been increasing over time, parallel to technology and industry, to the point that almost all elements of the periodic table are currently used. For example, to produce systems for wind energy (but also for nuclear power plants), significant quantities of elements (known as rare earths) such as neodymium (which has important magnetic properties, is a spin glass, whose price increased by 21% just in 2021, also because it is used in hard drives) and dysprosium to make permanent magnets are required.

It is predicted that the demand for these elements in Europe will increase by at least six times by 2030 compared to current values. Even in the case of "renewable" or "almost renewable" resources, there are scarcity problems. "Only 60 crops remain" is the title of Philip Lymbery's book from Compassion in World Farming. A study by Duncan Cameron of the University of Sheffield highlighted the critical situation of British soil, which should accommodate more than 100 crops.

The plowing of recent years has depleted the fertility and biodiversity of the soil and is the main cause of soil loss, resulting in about 10 million tons of fertile soil ending up in rivers and seas every year. In the EU, 2.5 tons per hectare per year are lost in all soils at risk of erosion (2016 value). In agricultural areas and natural grasslands, the average rate of soil loss is higher, at 3.4 tons per hectare per year. With poorly functioning soils, productivity decreases over time; without soil, we lose more than 80% of our food (including plants and animals).

As for the rest of the food, fishing is also declining. According to the FAO, the fraction of fish stocks at sustainable levels fell to 64.6% in 2019, down 1.2% from 2017 (it was 90% in 1974). On the other hand, the proportion of fish stocks fished unsustainably increased from 10% in 1974 to 35.4% in 2019.

Part of the solution is to create a circular economy, which we have already partially discussed (those who want to delve deeper will find a lot of material on the Ellen MacArthur Foundation website at https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org), but that is not enough.

On a finite planet with a growing population, if we consume the same amount, there are two alternatives: either we increase the available resources or we consume less and less. To increase resources, we must build regenerative production models. It is necessary to produce and, at the same time, increase existing resources and repair existing damage. We started with two examples of how to create regenerative and economically sustainable systems, and in the future, we will see other interesting models in various domains.