RSB Working Group on Social Impacts
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Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) > RSB working groups > RSB Working Group on Social Impacts (SOC WG)
| The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels | ||
| Note: This RSB-related page is out of date. For up-to-date information on the RSB, see the RSB Website The RSB has released "Version One" of the "Principles on Sustainable Biofuel Production" |  | |
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Secretariat webpage | Steering Board | |
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| Sustainability Criteria: | RSB principles & criteria (Version 0.0) August 2008 Official Brochure | |
| Working groups | GHG - Greenhouse gas lifecycle efficiency analysis ENV - Environmental impacts SOC - Social impacts IMP - Implementation | |
| Current debates: | Land Use and GHG- GHG emissions from indirect land use changes Soil Management Water Management Air quality Biodiversity Offsets. | |
| Documents: | -RSB launch press release -RSB Flyer (pdf) -RSB Intro to Feedback Mechanisms -Commenting on RSB Drafts Using the BioenergyWiki (PDF File) -RSB Draft Principles - June 5, 2007 (PDF File) | |
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Contents |
Latest news and announcements
- [04-April-2008] A new page concerning the Southern African Regional Stakeholder Meeting was created. This Stakeholder Meeting held in Braamfontein,Johannesburg, March 12th and 13th 2008 was organized by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels with assistance from Southern Africa Trust and in association with CURES Southern Africa.
- The final version of the two background papers of the next SOC WG group meeting on consultation and rural and social development are available. The agenda and the list of participants are available as well! (Uploaded: 26 March 2008)
- The Draft Background Paper on rural and social development for the teleconference call of SOC WG (31st March at 16:00 GMT, details to follow) is now available. This is a draft proposed from the Expert Advisory Group. (Uploaded: 10/03/2008)
- New discussion page on Small farmers and communities! How to ensure their participation and benefit sharing?
- The minutes from the meeting of the SOC Working Group (4 February 2008) are available!
- Background paper for the teleconference call of the 1st November on principle 2, consultation and transparency (Updated: 26/10/2007)
- NOTICE of a teleconference call of the SOC WG to Look at Principle2 1st of November 2007 (Updated: 30/10/2007)
- Minutes from the SOC meeting of 10 September 2007 (Updated: 26/10/2007)
- Special Discussion Page on Draft Principles on Social Issues
- Synthesis of discussions on SOC draft principles
- Second meeting of the Working Group on Social Impacts to be held on the 10th of September. To register, click here.
- Next virutal meeting on the 10th of September. Link for registration
- The minutes from the first joint meeting of the SOC and IMP Working Groups are available!
Presentation
The Working Group on Social Impacts (SOC WG) will outline the criteria for labor rights, food security, poverty alleviation, land rights, and other social elements of sustainable biofuels production. We will use a combination of teleconferences, online discussions, and regional meetings over the next year to come to consensus on how to measure the social impacts of biofuels production.
Participants
Coordinator: Annie Sugrue
Based near Johannesburg, South Africa, Annie Sugrue has spent the last 15 years working within the development sector in South Africa, mostly within the NGO sector but also within government. She currently coordinates the Southern African region for the Citzens United for Renewable Energy (CURES) Network. She has authored or co-authored extensive publications on bioenergy that focus on social issues, and was a member of the UN Ad-hoc Expert Group Meeting on Small-scale Production and Use of Liquid Bio-fuel in sub-Saharan Africa. Annie began her career as a classical scientist working as a biotechnologist after she achieved an honours degree in Genetics and Molecular biology from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters Degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Objectives and scope
The starting point of the discussion are three of the nine principles suggested by the RSB Steering Board:
- Biomass production should comply with all local and national laws, including labor laws and recognizing land and water rights. If such legislation does not exist, international norms shall be the reference.
- Biomass production should contribute to the well-being of communities, workers and rural populations.
- Biomass production should not contribute to food insecurity.
The Working Group will first discuss stakeholder feedback on these principles, and suggest new wording to the Steering Board. They will then move on to drafting criteria for meeting these principles. There are several social standards already in existence in other agricultural sectors and could be efficiently integrated into the RSB criteria, and we hope to use these as our starting point. The existing general standards on agriculture will then be complemented by biofuel-specific ones, in order to cover those issues that may emerge from biofuels' specific socio-economic aspects.
Timeline
(Coming soon)
Background documents
- Background papers of the teleconference call of the 31st March on consultation and rural and social development. (Agenda, List of participants). (Uploaded: 26 March 2008)
- Draft Background Paper on rural and social development for the teleconference call of SOC WG (31st March at 16:00 GMT, details to follow)
- Background paper for the teleconference call of the 1st November on principle 2, consultation and transparency
- NOTICE of a teleconference call of the SOC WG to Look at Principle 2, 1st of November 2007
- Minutes from the SOC meeting of 10 September 2007
- synthesis of discussions on SOC draft principles
- Agenda and call-in information for 2nd virtual meeting
- minutes from the first joint meeting of the SOC and IMP Working Groups
- Overview of the Working Group on Social Impacts
- Paper "closer-look-at-social-impact"
Further readings
Presentations about the bioenergy in Africa
- "A Roadmap for Biofuels in Kenya: Opportunities and Obstacles" commissioned by German Technical Cooperation -GTZ in Kenya and the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Kenya; 17 May 2008
- "Learning by Doing and Learning from Others: Human Capital and Technical Change in Agriculture" by Andrew D. Foster and Mark R. Rosenzweig (University of Pennsylvania)
- "Biofuel use assessments in Africa: Implications for Greenhouse GAs Emissions and Mitigation Strategies" by D.L. Kgathp and E Zhou;Botswana; Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 38: 253-269, 1995.
- "Stratégie Nationale de développement des énergies renouvelables pour la lutte contre la pauvreté - Stratégie et Plan d’actions pour la relance du développement des énergies renouvelables"
- "An assessment of biofuel use and burning of agricultural waste in the developing world" by Rosemarie Yevich and Jennifer A. Logan (Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA); Submitted to Global Biogeochemical Cycles; June 30, 2002
ALL INTERNATIONAL KEY REPORTS (International Organisations, Governments, NGOs...) ARE AVAILABLE HERE
- The FAO's Unified Bioenergy Terminology
- ILO's Standards and Fundamental principles and rights at work
- IPCC's report on Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (Socioeconomic impacts)
- FAO's Environmental and Social Standards, Certification and Labelling for Cash Crops
Useful links
- Official webpage of the RSB
- UK Department of Transport: Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO)
- Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
| Social issues | edit | |
| RSB Working Group on Social Impacts (SOC WG) Communities (Indigenous peoples) | Land tenure | Poverty | ||
| Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels
| edit | |
| RSB sustainability criteria: "Version Zero" draft of standards RSB working groups: Greenhouse Gases (GHG WG) Environment (ENV WG) | Implementation (IMP WG) Social Impacts (SOC WG) RSB launch press release | RSB Intro to Feedback Mechanisms | Commenting on RSB Drafts Using the BioenergyWiki (PDF) RSB outreach in the Americas | RSB Current Debate on Land Use Recent changes to BioenergyWiki related to the RSB | ||
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