March 2008UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuel Expert meeting on standards and strategies or sustainable cultivation of biomass for non-food purposes

March 2008UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre 7 wedges needed for stabilisation Each wedge avoids 1 billion tonnes of CO2 emission / year by 2054 Pacala & Socolow (2004) Science 305, Stabilising CO 2 emissions involves many sectors

Pacala & Socolow wedges  Wedge = 1 billion tonnes of CO 2 / year by 2054  Biofuel wedge requires 250 million ha of new high production plantations - with no emissions from inputs or conversion Now: 1.5 billion ha cropland + 35 m ha abandoned. 237 m ha forest very suitable or suitable for crop cultivation. But carbon losses outweigh gains. Sources: Pacala & Socolow (2004); FAO GAEZ; MNP 2008 Large land requirements

Biodiversity loss from land use change usually outweighs gain from climate mitigation

March 2008UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Food & feed crop demand doubles in next 50 years

UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels  Coordinator: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland  Working groups: GHG – greenhouse gas lifecycle analysis ENV - environment SOC - social IMP - implementation  Aim for draft standards by mid 2008  Likely to be meta-standards

March 2008UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Working Group on Environment (Conservation; Soil; Water; Air; Biotech) Biodiversity draft principle: Biofuel production should avoid negative impacts on biodiversity and areas of High Conservation Value Criteria, requirements, responsibilities, guidance are in development.

March 2008UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre High Conservation Values ONE OR MORE OF: 1.High biodiversity (e.g. endemism) 2.Landscape level pristine forest 3.Rare / endangered ecosystems 4.Critical ecosystem services (e.g. watersheds) 5.Meeting basic community needs (e.g. hunting) 6.Critical to local cultural identity

Criteria table

March 2008UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Major discussion areas  Indirect effects on land use – unresolved  Cut-off dates for land use change  Offsets – significant disagreement  Definitions for buffer zones, corridors  Encouraging good practices beyond the minimum standard Use of degraded / idle land Use of native species Regional landscape management Avoiding monoculture

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