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UNEP’s approach to bioenergy
Bioenergy is neither good nor bad per se; to avoid unintended consequences in the short and long-term,
bioenergy development requires solid planning and management,both on the national policy and strategy and the project levels.
Scientific assessments:
International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management: Assessing
Biofuels report (2009)
The Bioenergy and Water Nexus, UNEP, IEA Bioenergy Task 43, Oeko
Institut (2011)
Issue Paper series on emerging issues: Land use and land use change ;
Bioenergy and Water; Invasive species; Stakeholder consultation; Group
Tools:
Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP):
-Methodological framework for GHG calculations
-Sustainability criteria & indicators
Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB):
-solid multi-stakeholder process
-all major issues are coveredBioenergy and Water; Invasive species; Stakeholder consultation; Group
Certification; Facilitating Energy Access; REDD+
Assessments & Guidelines for Sustainable Liquid Biofuel Production in
Developing Countries, funded by GEF, implemented with FAO and UNIDO,
providing guidance on environmental, social and economic performance of
biofuel projects.
-all major issues are covered
UN Energy Decision Support Tool for Sustainable Bioenergy (DST),
developed by UNEP and FAO to provide stepwise guidance to decision
makers in governments to develop sustainable bioenergy policies and
strategies, and to assess investment proposals.
Finance:
CASCADe: enhancing African expertise to generate carbon credits in
the forestry and bioenergy sectors by providing technical assistance,
institutional support and training workshops.
Jatropha-based PoA: assessing the feasibility of a CDM Programme
of Activities for rural energy generation from Jatropha oil in Mali.
African Rural Energy Enterprise Development promoting rural
energy enterprises, includes a bioenergy component that allows to
demonstrate additional environmental and social benefits resulting
from ‘local production for local use’ projects.performance of biofuel projects, using a settings approach.
Regional and national support:
Bioenergy Policy Support Facility, providing advisory services to
governments developing and implementing bioenergy policies, strategies
and measures, mobilizing local and international experts: targeted
consultations; science-based information for decision making; advice on
legal frameworks, planning and management tools; and guidance on
processes to facilitate integrated decision-making.
Mapping of land suitable and available for bioenergy development:
-Methodology refined (GIS and groundtruthing)
-completed in Kenya, Uganda, Senegal
Definitions
Standards set requirements - principles, criteria, and indicators - for
more responsible production, sourcing, and manufacturing practices
within or across a given sector or product, to be followed by program
participants.
Certification provides third party assurance that a product, process or
service is in conformity with a given standard.
Labeling provides on-pack claims, marks or seals that indicate
conformance with the standard.
Sustainability Standards -what are they good for?Bridge between sustainable production and consumption.Solution-oriented, forging better understanding across supply chain.Key users: private sector; finance sector, governments, consumers
Project Management Efficiency and productivity gains, better performance, cost reduction
Reputational riskRisk Management
Benchmark
Market access
Reputational riskWorkers, community and civil society relations
sustained resource base, long-term stability of investments
Consumer decisions along the supply chainFinancing decisions
market shareLicensing decisions
Demand for sustainable productsExport opportunities
Sustainability Standardscannot solve it all
Cumulative effects Environmental impact categories such as water, biodiversity, land and soil, atmosphere
policy/legislation
They can be an effective tool to deliver sustainability, but need to be applied in coordination with other tools, e.g. national planning, regulation, incentives.
Indirect effects where causality is not directly established
Certification is necessarily a snapshot in time and space
Limits to scale
policy/legislation
iLUCFood Security
national/regional level land use planning and management
system covering all biomass
Factors of effectivenessGenerally, the higher the level of ambition, the higher the cost of compliance; choice of strategic opportunity vs. simple market access
Coverage – all three pillars of sustainability,
Incl. science-based measurable environmental performance requirements
for HCV preservation, GHG emissions reduction, soil and water use and
pollution, waste management and biodiversity protection, as well as the
respect for basic human rights, land use and tenure rights, property rights,
indigenous people’s rights, workers’ rights and community benefits
Development process – multi-stakeholder
Assurance – third party auditing
Transparency – clear and transparent structures to manage different
aspects of operation, from design to certification and accreditation
Traceability / Chain of Custody – mass balance
Continuous improvement – resource efficiency; regular review
An estimated 67 sustainability certification schemes operational / being developed.
Scope - feedstock specific (palm oil, soy, sugarcane, cotton etc.), supply
chain specific (biofuels, bioenergy, agriculture, forestry, etc.),
national/regional/international
Depth – EU RED compliant to comprehensive schemes following ISEAL
guidance, and covering all three pillars of sustainability.
Proliferation of standards Creates confusion, market segmentation and opacity, and may damage the efficiency and credibility of certification.
guidance, and covering all three pillars of sustainability.
Need for convergence and cooperation between schemes.Some standards have started looking into cross-recognition.
Benchmarking and gap analysis are carried out to increase transparency.
Adaptation to regional/national conditions and needs.
Opportunities comprise:
coveragetools incl. on: food, biodiversity, GHG
calculations, ESIA, iLUC
training incl. for: auditors, farmers, CoC
outreach: group certification, business models
BenchmarkingExample: Water
Water quality is well-covered.Effluents from conversion: Indicators for customary and legal threshold values are mostly in place. Use of legal references.Runoff from Ag production is more difficult due to cumulative effects and time-delays. Use of best practices.
Avoidance of excessive water consumption is addressed by most schemes.Schemes require water management plans, efficient use and Schemes require water management plans, efficient use and reuse, and optimization of irrigation if it is used. Beware of cumulative effects.
Water scarcity is difficult to standardize. Physical scarcity can be categorized easily in terms of volume of available water resources per year and capita, or a withdrawal-availability ratio. Yet, what is needed is regional resolution of the data – catchment / watershed level; and consideration of economic water scarcity (affordability).
The overall context matters. Water rights !
GBEP indicator 5:Water use and efficiency
•Water withdrawn from nationally-determined watershed(s) for
the production and processing of bioenergy feedstocks,
expressed:
• as the percentage of total actual renewable water
resources (TARWR) and
• as the percentage of total annual water withdrawals
(TAWW), disaggregated into renewable and non-
renewable water sources renewable water sources
•Volume of water withdrawn from nationally-determined
watershed(s) used for the production and processing of
bioenergy feedstocks per unit of bioenergy output,
disaggregated into renewable and non-renewable water
sources.
Water demand of bioenergy/availability; efficiency in use
Threat to water bodies – scarcity
Competing uses
Best practices to promote efficiencyIntegrated Water Management and Planning
Standards contain social principles, indicators,
criteria. A requirement to engage with local
smallholders opens up the possibility for a price
premium and better market access.
Certification comes at a cost, which may act as
a de facto exclusion. In addition to economic
barriers, insufficient knowledge of standards
Smallholder involvement
barriers, insufficient knowledge of standards
and technical constraints may act as barriers.
Group Certification is a way through which auditing cost can be shared amongst a group of smallholder farmers. Good examples incl. coffee farming in Kenya,
RSPO Task Force, FSC.
Still, it needs to be complemented by capacity building and training.
Key messages for governments
Leading by example – public procurement
Beyond voluntarism – scale up/standard can a blueprint for sound
policy framework; licensing; sustainability standards for all biomass
Flanking measures – land use planning, water rights and mmt
Coherence between project and national / regional level measures – alignment of issues
Make sustainability part of the business strategy –take a longer-term perspective
Commitment to using solid sustainability standard for all product – as part of risk and resource management
and the private sector
Martina Otto
Head of Policy Unit, Energy Branch
Coordinator Bioenergy
www.unep.fr/energy/bioenergy