Review of environmental issues in the context of biofuel sustainability frameworks

Abstract

With the rapid growth of biofuel production and consumption, and the proliferation of policy decisions supporting this expansion, concerns about the biofuel sector’s environmental and social impacts are increasing. Consequently, a range of actors – among them governments, multilateral institutions, nongovernmental organisations and multistakeholder industry groups – have created sustainability frameworks, some mandatory, others voluntary. This report examines how the most developed sustainability frameworks for feedstock production (including biofuels) address key environmental issues. It identifies critical gaps in these frameworks and proposes areas for improvement. The frameworks analysed are the European Union Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED), Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB), Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS), Better Sugarcane Initiative (BSI) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).