A review of environmental issues in the context of biofuel sustainability frameworks

Abstract

This report has been produced with financial assistance from the European Union, under the project Bioenergy, sustainability and trade-offs: Can we avoid deforestation while promoting bioenergy? The objective of the project is to contribute to sustainable bioenergy development that benefits local people in developing countries, minimises negative impacts on local environments and rural livelihoods, and contributes to global climate change mitigation. The project will achieve this by producing and communicating policy-relevant analyses that can inform government, corporate and civil society decision making related to bioenergy development and its effects on forests and livelihoods. The project is managed by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and implemented in collaboration with the Council on Scientific and Industrial Research (South Africa), Joanneum Research (Austria), the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and the Stockholm Environment Institute. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union. With the rapid growth of biofuel production and consumption, and the proliferation of policy decisions supporting this expansion, concerns about the biofuel sectors environmental and social impacts are increasing. Consequently, a range of actors among them governments, multilateral institutions, nongovernmental organisations and multistakeholder industry groups have created sustainability frameworks, some mandatory, others voluntary. Tis report examines how the most developed sustainability frameworks for feedstock production (including biofuels) address key environmental issues. It identifies critical gaps in these frameworks and proposes areas for improvement. Te frameworks analysed are the European Union Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED), Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB), Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS), Better Sugarcane Initiative (BSI) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)