In the July 2005 Gleneagles Plan of Action, the G8 +5 (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa)  agreed to "... promote the continued development and commercialisation of renewable energy by: [...] d) launching a Global Bioenergy Partnership to support wider, cost effective, biomass and biofuels deployment, particularly in developing countries where biomass use is prevalent".

Following a consultation process among the developing and developed countries, international agencies and the private sector, a White Paper  was prepared to guide Partnership activities. The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) was launched during the Ministerial Segment of the 14^th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD14) in New York on 11 May 2006, with a signing ceremony of the Terms of Reference.    

In 2007 it was given a renewed mandate by the G8 Heiligendamm Summit to "continue its work on biofuel best practices and take forward the successful and sustainable development of bioenergy".
(G8 Summit Declaration - Heiligendamm, 7 June 2007).

On 18 January 2007, GBEP was registered as a CSD Partnership

In 2008 it was given a renewed mandate by the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit to "work with other relevant stakeholders to develop science-based benchmarks and indicators for biofuel production and use". (G8 Summit Declaration - Hokkaido Toyako, 8 July 2008)

To download a three-page information note on the Global Bioenergy Partnership click here

To download the GBEP leaflet click here