GBEP Newsletter n.12 - 16 July 2012

GBEP at Rio+20 promotes transition to modern sustainable bioenergy and showcases its work on sustainability and capacity building

Twenty years after the Johannesburg’s Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro hosted the Rio+20 United Conference on Sustainable Development. With the outcome document “The Future We Want” heads of state and ministers from more than 190 nations signed off on a plan to set global sustainable development goals and other measures to strengthen global environmental management, tighten protection the oceans, improve food security and promote a "green economy". Back to back to the Conference the Global Bioenergy Partnership held a two-day event to present its recent achievements and activities.

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GBEP indicators’ work in progress in Colombia, Ghana and Indonesia

The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) developed in May 2011 a set of 24 relevant, practical, science-based, voluntary indicators regarding the sustainability of all forms of bioenergy. Together with the respective application methodologies they constitute the GBEP Report on Sustainability Indicators for Bioenergy, which was published in December 2011. To establish their feasibility and enhance their practicality as a tool for policymaking, a number of pilot testing project have been started in a diverse range of national contexts.

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News from the GBEP Working Group on Capacity Building: first forum held in West Africa and new activity groups launched in Rio

The newly established GBEP Working Group on Capacity Building for Sustainable Bioenergy began its activities last March with the “ECOWAS Regional Bioenergy Forum” organized by the first of the three Activity Groups focused on “Sustainable Modern Bioenergy in West Africa” and co-led by the United States and the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS).

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FAO promotes the "Energy-smart" approach to farming to escape fossil fuel trap

The global community is becoming increasingly concerned about the high dependence of the global food sector on fossil fuels. Energy from fossil fuels has increased farm mechanization, boosted fertilizer production and improved food processing and transportation. However, high and fluctuating prices of fossil fuels and doubts regarding their future availability mean that agri-food systems need to shift to an "energy-smart" model, according to a recent FAO report Energy-Smart Food for People and Climate.

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Global Bioenergy Perspectives: BEFSCI releases new tools to help countries harness the potential of bioenergy

Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, the FAO's Project Bioenergy and Food Security Criteria and Indicators (BEFSCI) was initiated in 2009 to study the complex relationship between bioenergy and food security and help policymakers make informed decisions regarding bioenergy development. Last March the project has released a suite of guidance documents and policymaking tools that governments can use to help rural communities benefit from bioenergy development and ensure that biofuel crop production does not come at the expense of food security.

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Past and future: GBEP events and bioenergy conferences

A list of upcoming and recent conferences, workshops and events signalled by GBEP Partners or which involved the GBEP itself. Links are provided for programme details and to download papers or presentations.

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