Global Bioenergy Partnership
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Bioenergy > Initiatives > International initiatives > Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP)
The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) is an initiative for international cooperation on bioenergy; the GBEP Secretariat is hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
GBEP "brings together public, private and civil society stakeholders in a joint commitment to promote bioenergy for sustainable development." These include "public decision-makers, representatives of the private sector and civil society as well as international agencies with expertise in bioenergy."
The Partnership builds its activities upon three strategic pillars: Sustainable Development - Climate Change - Food and Energy Security
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Partners
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Fiji Islands, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Japan, Mauritania, Mexico, Netherlands, Paraguay, Russian Federation, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States of America, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Energy Agency (IEA), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Foundation, World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) and European Biomass Industry Association (EUBIA).
Italy and Mexico were elected Chair and Co-Chair respectively for the first biennium. Italy and Brazil were elected Chair and Co-Chair respectively for the following biennium: Chair: Corrado Clini, Director General, Ministry for the Environment Land and Sea, Italy; Co-Chair: André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, Director, Ministry of External Relations, Brazil.
Programme of work
In the short term the Partnership will seek to:
- Facilitate the sustainable development of bioenergy and collaboration on bioenergy field projects for market building activities, in cooperation with developing countries;
- Formulate a common methodological framework on GHG emission reduction measurement from the use of biofuels for transportation and from the use of solid biomass for bioenergy field projects;
- Update the inventory of existing networks, initiatives and institutions dealing with bioenergy;
- Identify gaps in knowledge or areas of weak understanding;
- Establish mechanisms for raising awareness and facilitating information exchange on bioenergy;"[1]
Official announcements
- GBEP: Global Bioenergy Partnership (PDF file) description posted on the website of the Global Bioenergy Partnership.
Events
2009
- 4 March 2009, Milan, Italy: 2nd Bio-Ethanol Conference: Second Generation Bioethanol - a realistic challenge. Organized by the Global Bioenergy Partnership and Il Sole 24 ORE Formazione (Themes: GBEP, ethanol, second-generation biofuel)
2008
- 11 December 2008, Poznań, Poland: Bioenergy towards a low carbon future: meeting the challenges of sustainable development and climate change mitigation (PDF file). A side event to the meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, hosted by Global Bioenergy Partnership. (Themes: climate change, development)
2007
- 12 December 2007, Bali, Indonesia: Promoting Bioenergy Towards Sustainable Development and Climate Change Mitigation: The GBEP Challenge (PDF File). Hosted by the Global Bioenergy Partnership (Themes: Bioenergy, international cooperation)
News
- Gauge agreed for biofuel effects on world, 24 May 2011 by the Financial Times: "Official measures for gauging the effect of bio-energy on food prices and the environment have been agreed by the world’s leading economies in a move that could undermine support for some forms of biofuel production."
- "The move by the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP), a Rome-based group backed by governments and international organisations, is a response to concerns that the rapid growth of biofuels and other forms of bio-energy is causing global hunger and environmental damage."
- "The measures include assessments of the effects on food prices, greenhouse gas emissions, water and land use, for biofuels such as ethanol and biomass such as woodchips used for power generation."
- "The indicators are voluntary, but Michela Morese, manager of the GBEP’s secretariat, said there was an expectation that 'each and every developed country should be producing these measures'.
- "The results could be problematic for some of well-developed bio-energy industries, such as ethanol made from corn in the US and wheat in Europe, and bio-diesel made from palm oil from Indonesia."
- "Nathanael Greene, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a US environmental group, said more progress in setting standards had been made by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, an independent body that includes governments, campaigners and some oil and ethanol producers."[1]
- Read the document, "GBEP Sustainability Indicators" (PDF file)
- GBEP Newsletter Highlights Progress on Sustainability Indicators for Bioenergy, 1 July 2010 by Climate-L.org: "The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) has published its eighth newsletter, which discusses, inter alia, the recent G8 Summit in Muskoka, Canada, GBEP’s new partners, and new online resources for greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement."
- "The newsletter opens by noting that G8 leaders renewed GBEP’s mandate, highlighting the need for further progress on sustainability indicators and criteria, and capacity building efforts. The newsletter further highlights that, concerning sustainability indicators, the GBEP Task Force on Sustainability has recently reached agreement in a number of areas including economic, energy security, social and environmental aspects. This is contrasted, however, with hurdles that remain in the areas of food security, government support, trade, land rights and national legal, policy and institutional frameworks."[2]
- See the GBEP newsletter here
- "The newsletter opens by noting that G8 leaders renewed GBEP’s mandate, highlighting the need for further progress on sustainability indicators and criteria, and capacity building efforts. The newsletter further highlights that, concerning sustainability indicators, the GBEP Task Force on Sustainability has recently reached agreement in a number of areas including economic, energy security, social and environmental aspects. This is contrasted, however, with hurdles that remain in the areas of food security, government support, trade, land rights and national legal, policy and institutional frameworks."[2]
References
| International organizations and initiatives | edit | |
| Multilateral agreements: Kyoto Protocol: Clean Development Mechanism International initiatives: Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) | International Biofuels Forum | ||
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