Swiss technology institute launches ‘Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels'
With their potential to reduce carbon emissions, help solve global warming, and create economic opportunities for rural areas, biofuels can be an important part of the energy mix of the future. Governments worldwide are rapidly requiring oil companies to blend biofuels with fossil fuels, and the biofuels industry is booming from Guatemala to Mauritius to Thailand. But without safeguards, some biofuels can have negative impacts, including clearing valuable forests for cropland, using scarce water, and reducing the amount of land available for food production. Consumers, producers, governments, and environmental and social groups are calling for global rules to ensure that biofuels represent an environmental solution, not another problem.
The Energy Center at the École Polytechnique Féférale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Switzerland announced today a multi-stakeholder process, the 'Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels', to create draft global standards for sustainable biofuels production and processing.
Founding Steering Board members include, among others, the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), Toyota, BP, the Mali Folkecenter, the National Wildlife Federation, Shell, the Dutch and Swiss governments, the UN Foundation, Petrobras, the World Economic Forum, the University of California at Berkeley, Bunge, TERI India, and Amigos da Terra - Amazônia Brasileira (Friends of the Earth Brazil).
The roundatble's Steering Board will draft principles of sustainable biofuels production, which will then be open for public comment on its website. The criteria for measuring performance against these principles will be drafted by four Working Groups, open to any interested party:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: rural development :: social sustainability :: environmental sustainability :: policy ::
"Many people are worried about biofuels contributing to deforestation and air pollution in the name of protecting the planet," said Claude Martin, former Director-General of WWF International and Chair of the Roundtable's Steering Board. "Companies and farmers want global rules that they can follow. The Roundtable will bring together all of these actors to start writing these rules together, to ensure that biofuels deliver on their promise of sustainability."
The Steering Board will invite affected parties to join working groups or otherwise participate in developing and commenting on principles and criteria related to biofuels' environmental and social impacts, as well as overall greenhouse gas benefits.
Areas of interest will include protecting biodiversity, water resources, and labor and land rights, as well as encouraging biofuels' contribution to economic development in rural areas. The Roundtable will gather opinions and feedback through online technology, conference calls, and regional meetings, to ensure that developing countries and disadvantaged groups have a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the elaboration of the standards.
"As Switzerland is not a major importer or exporter of biofuels, it represents a neutral platform to host these discussions," said Dr. Patrick Aebischer, President of the EPFL. "Our hope is that in an academic setting, companies, governments, and civil organizations will be able to come to consensus on how to ensure biofuels are produced sustainably."
The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels aims to develop draft standards through a global feedback process by early 2008. Already over 80 organizations from the US to Argentina to Kenya to Malaysia have signed up to participate.
Article continues
The Energy Center at the École Polytechnique Féférale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Switzerland announced today a multi-stakeholder process, the 'Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels', to create draft global standards for sustainable biofuels production and processing.
Founding Steering Board members include, among others, the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), Toyota, BP, the Mali Folkecenter, the National Wildlife Federation, Shell, the Dutch and Swiss governments, the UN Foundation, Petrobras, the World Economic Forum, the University of California at Berkeley, Bunge, TERI India, and Amigos da Terra - Amazônia Brasileira (Friends of the Earth Brazil).
The roundatble's Steering Board will draft principles of sustainable biofuels production, which will then be open for public comment on its website. The criteria for measuring performance against these principles will be drafted by four Working Groups, open to any interested party:
- GHG - greenhouse gas lifecycle efficiency analysis. This group will recommend methodologies to use to calculate the efficiency of particular production and processing techniques in terms of replacing greenhouse gas emissions as compared to fossil fuels.
- ENV - environmental concerns. This group will draft minimum criteria for sustainable biofuels on their impact on biodiversity, soil and water resources, and other environmental issues.
- SOC - social concerns. This group will outline the criteria for the labor rights, food security, poverty alleviation, and other social elements of sustainable biofuels production.
- IMP - implementation. This group will review the recommendations of the other working groups to ensure that the standards are easy to implement and measure so that they are accessible by small-scale and other low-income farmers.
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: rural development :: social sustainability :: environmental sustainability :: policy ::
"Many people are worried about biofuels contributing to deforestation and air pollution in the name of protecting the planet," said Claude Martin, former Director-General of WWF International and Chair of the Roundtable's Steering Board. "Companies and farmers want global rules that they can follow. The Roundtable will bring together all of these actors to start writing these rules together, to ensure that biofuels deliver on their promise of sustainability."
The Steering Board will invite affected parties to join working groups or otherwise participate in developing and commenting on principles and criteria related to biofuels' environmental and social impacts, as well as overall greenhouse gas benefits.
Areas of interest will include protecting biodiversity, water resources, and labor and land rights, as well as encouraging biofuels' contribution to economic development in rural areas. The Roundtable will gather opinions and feedback through online technology, conference calls, and regional meetings, to ensure that developing countries and disadvantaged groups have a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the elaboration of the standards.
"As Switzerland is not a major importer or exporter of biofuels, it represents a neutral platform to host these discussions," said Dr. Patrick Aebischer, President of the EPFL. "Our hope is that in an academic setting, companies, governments, and civil organizations will be able to come to consensus on how to ensure biofuels are produced sustainably."
The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels aims to develop draft standards through a global feedback process by early 2008. Already over 80 organizations from the US to Argentina to Kenya to Malaysia have signed up to participate.
Article continues
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Climate change is a national security issue - report
The recently published analysis entitled "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change" [*.pdf] was written by a military advisory board of 11 retired admirals and generals. It focuses on how climate change may affect US national security and military operations over the next 30 to 40 years.
Some of its sobering findings are:
- that, in the national and international security environment, climate change threatens to add new hostile and stressing factors. On the simplest level, it has the potential to create sustained natural and humanitarian disasters on a scale far beyond those we see today. The consequences will likely foster political instability where societal demands exceed the capacity of governments to cope.
- climate change acts as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world. Projected climate change will seriously exacerbate already marginal living standards in many Asian, African, and Middle Eastern nations, causing widespread political instability and the likelihood of failed states. Weakened and failing governments, with an already thin margin for survival, foster the conditions for internal conflicts, extremism, and movement toward increased authoritarianism and radical ideologies.
- projected climate change will add to tensions even in stable regions of the world. The U.S. and Europe may experience mounting pressure to accept large numbers of immigrant and refugee populations as drought increases and food production declines in Latin America and Africa. Extreme weather events and natural disasters, as the U.S. experienced with Hurricane Katrina, may lead to increased missions for a number of U.S. agencies, including state and local governments, the Department of Homeland Security, and our already stretched military, including our Guard and Reserve forces.
- climate change, national security, and energy dependence are a related set of global challenges. Dependence on foreign oil leaves the US more vulnerable to hostile regimes and terrorists, and clean domestic energy alternatives help us confront the serious challenge of global climate change. Because the issues are linked, solutions to one affect the other. Technologies that improve energy efficiency also reduce carbon intensity and carbon emissions.
In order to mitigate the multiple national security risks related to climate change, the senior military thinkers make a clear set of recommentations that need timely implementation:bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: climate change :: national security :: climate refugees :: state collapse :: terrorism :: U.S. ::
1. The national security consequences of climate change should be fully integrated into national security and national defense strategies.
2. The U.S. should commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilize climate change at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability.
3. The U.S. should commit to global partnerships that help less developed nations build the capacity and resiliency to better manage climate impacts.
4. The Department of Defense should enhance its operational capability by accelerating the adoption of improved business processes and innovative technologies that result in improved U.S. combat power through energy efficiency.
5. The Department of Defense should conduct an assessment of the impact on U.S. military installations worldwide of rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and other projected climate change impacts over the next 30 to 40 years.
The report further underlines the growing awareness of political leaders that climate change is more than an environmental issue. On 17 April, the United Nations Security Council will deal with the same security dimension of global warming in its first debate on climate change. The UK government has written a special Energy, security and climate concept paper for the meeting.
More information:
The CNA Corporation: "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change" [*.pdf] - April 2007.
UK government: "Energy, security and climate" - March 2007
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