The United Nations (UN) Foundation is working on a variety of bioenergy and sustainability initiatives, which are introduced below.
"Our International Bioenergy and Sustainability Initiative (IBSI) advances environmentally and economically sustainable strategies for harnessing biomass energy in ways that don't reduce food supplies. IBSI identifies, shares and promotes best practices for the sustainable uses of bioenergy with government leaders, UN agencies, scientific experts, the World Trade Organization (WTO) officials and nongovernmental organizations. Activities in this area are constantly evolving and the strategy developed for our collaborative relationship with the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea allows us to stay on the leading edge on many of the issues regarding bioenergy." (Source: United Nations Foundation http://www.unfoundation.org/global-issues/climate-and-energy/clean-energy-development.html
Their IBSI priorities include:
"In partnership with the UN Conference on Trade and Development and the World Trade Organization, we supported a trade policy dialogue that assessed opportunities for existing producers of bioenergy feedstocks to expand into energy markets and for others to consider export production possibilities. We also worked with the International Agriculture and Trade Policy Council to highlight the trade problems in a 2007 report." (Source: United Nations Foundation http://www.unfoundation.org/global-issues/climate-and-energy/clean-energy-development.html
"We support the development of tools to help governments assess clean-energy projects. This includes a macroeconomic assessment tool that enables policy makers to evaluate the impacts, opportunities and trade-offs in bioenergy production. After a successful field test in El Salvador, we are working to help countries to identify public and private financing opportunities to advance utilization of bioenergy opportunities." (Source: United Nations Foundation http://www.unfoundation.org/global-issues/climate-and-energy/clean-energy-development.html
"Through the IBsI, we are working with developing countries to build capacity for assessing the economic and environmental benefits offered by sustainable biomass management and bioenergy production, with special reference to rural communities." (Source: United Nations Foundation http://www.unfoundation.org/global-issues/climate-and-energy/clean-energy-development.html
"UNF supported the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) in producing a "best practices and policies" database that supported G8 and G8+5 discussions in 2007. To follow up, we organized an international workshop in 2008 to help standardize accounting methodologies for calculating direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the production and use of solid biomass and biofuels. As a founding member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB), we are working to incorporate these sustainability principles into the GBEP process and to examine voluntary certification approaches." (Source: United Nations Foundation http://www.unfoundation.org/global-issues/climate-and-energy/clean-energy-development.html
"Together with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development and the Energy and Security Group, the United Nations Foundation produced a bioenergy policy-making guideline for eight West African countries. "Sustainable Bioenergy Report in UEMOA Member Countries," details the great potential that biomass holds as a reliable, sustainable and clean energy source, as well as a catalyst to spur economic growth, and reduce poverty and deforestation." (Source: United Nations Foundation http://www.unfoundation.org/global-issues/climate-and-energy/clean-energy-development.html)
Research by Eliza Brannigan, December 2010
