The workshop, held in London on the 17th and 18th February, built upon the outcomes of previous workshops on the subject hosted by ISEAL and the Inter-American Development Bank. Participants focused their discussions on a selection of seven priority issues linked to content (GHG calculation methodologies, environmental impact assessments, agricultural expansion/land conversion, indirect land use change) and processes (capacity building for producers, benchmarking and mutual recognition, and chain of custody tools).

Certification is a key tool for ensuring the sustainability of biofuel value chains. Given the diversity of potential feedstock for biofuels, multiple sustainability schemes can apply to a biofuels supply chain. As these schemes were developed separately and with diverse objectives, there are differences in how each address common issues – creating confusion and barriers for biofuel producers that are voluntarily trying to implement them.

A number of next steps were identified that will support cost effectiveness, reduce complexity and help facilitate wider adoption of certified products throughout the biofuels value chain. A report of the workshop will be available soon.

For more information on this event, and the IUCN/Shell programme of work on biofuel sustainability please contact:

• Rosie Rafferty: rosie.rafferty@ shell.com
• Andrea Athanas: andrea.athanas@ iucn.org