How can sustainable biomass supply chains support the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
Within the assurance and certification industry we talk about the transparency and credibility of sustainability data quite a lot. Having a transparent and sustainable biomass supply chain impacts the value and consumer confidence in products generated by energy, food, and industrial markets. We also say it aligns with scientifically determined environmental objectives and public concerns for the environment and climate. But this is a generalized, surface level dialogue regarding complicated systems. What then are the realistic positive outcomes of a sustainable biomass supply chain on the environment and societies and communities?
The UN adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The SDGs at their heart intend to achieve more equitable human living conditions globally by reducing inequality, hunger, and poverty while promoting economic growth and protecting the climate and biodiversity.
Biomass supply chains can impact all SDGs to varying degrees. By committing to improving and increasing sustainable production, transport, and trade of biomass we can help improve the working conditions and a well-being of producers and workers globally and ensure net-positive impacts on nature.
Biomass is expected to play an increasingly important role in energy production through technology such as Bio-energy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS). This technology is still in its infancy and not yet scalable, but plays an important role in national strategies to reach net-zero. When, or if, this technology becomes a core part of the worlds energy mix it will place additional strain on biomass resources. The UK government is expected to publish its biomass strategy sometime in 2023 (delayed from 2022). It is anticipated the strategy will outline priority uses for biomass in the UK economy for the production of energy, how much biomass can be realistically produced in the UK, and how much will need to be imported from other countries.
The import of biomass is where the sustainability and transparency of supply chains becomes critical. It is likely that a significant proportion of economically viable sources of biomass for the UK and other developed nations will come from developing nations in the global south. This risks increasing the rate of deforestation in areas we know are vital for climate regulation and biodiversity. It also increases the risk of exploiting people and societies most at risk to the effects of climate change but the lowest capacity to adapt.
One of the main mechanisms for ensuring supply chains are sustainable and avoid negative impacts to people and the environment is certification schemes. Such schemes provide an assurance that internationally agreed sustainability standards are being met. One of the largest certification schemes is the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) scheme. It has systems designed for biofuel product supply chains in the EU and for bio-based products, renewable energy, food, livestock feed, and biofuel supply chains outside EU.
Such schemes are robust because they require all elements of the upstream supply chain to be certified by a recognized scheme that provides assurances of a products sustainable origin.
