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

martina.otto@unep.org

www.unep.fr/energy/bioenergy