Biomass: Key tradeoffs and

opportunities in the SDGs

Ivonne Lobos AlvaTMG Think Tank for Sustainability

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This talk covers biomass (4Fs)

The ratio of biomass produced for feed and bioenergy is increasing

82 % food and feed

11 % bioenergy

7 % biomaterials(Wirsenius 2007)

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13 billion tonnes of biomass produced globally (2005)

Trade-offs

Limited Resources

Different Levels of Ambition (SDGs vs BAU)

Human RightsIssue

Opportunities

Follow-up and Review

Contribute to Increasing Accountability

Indicators! Supporting reviews

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Competition between different biomass needs might lead to incoherent policies and serious implementation issues

Biomass plays central role in achieving SDGs

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The 2030 Agenda provides a framework for the necessary design of sustainable biomass production

Principle of universality:Encourages importing countries to redesign their consumptionpatterns which creates incentivesfür producing countries

Principle of Integration:Calls producing countries toaccount for the incorporation ofall dimensions of sustainabilityand the implementation ofparticipatory and inclusive processes

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1200

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1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

BAU GrossExpansion

Safe operating space (1,640 Mha)

Mha

Historical Trend

BAU Net Expansion

Overshoot of safe operating space

Are we on the right track?Safe operating space

BAU expansion of global cropland compared to safe operating space 7

S. Bringezu

Gap under business-as-usual scenarios between the ambition set by the SDGs and the biomass and natural resources

that are available to us

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Potential conflicts

Need to review trade-offs between

the SDGs

which calls for an integrated approach

at national and global level in

implementing the SDGs.

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Brazil and the Curse of Soy

Disturbance of global carbon and nitrogen biochemical cycles

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Intensified biomass production may cause severe consequences

Sustainable production and consumption of biomass that take social, economic and environmental challenges into account is of essential importance for an integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda

Deforestation

Biodiversity loss

Changes in land use and ownership rights Human rights violations

Food security hazards if biomass production is aimed at other purposes than food production

Water quality and availability hazards

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Opportunities

• Follow-up and review: SDGs force us to look at the interlinkages and discuss them

• Tracking Biomass Consumption• Engage with the process:

– Assess GBEP indicators compared to SDG indicators– Global thematic reviews under the umbrella of the

High-level Political Forum to support an integrated perspective on the SDGs.

– At the national level, multi-actor approaches in finding ways to achieve the SDGs in their integrity.

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Tracking Biomass Consumption:Scientific Underpinning for the Implementation ofthe 2030 Agenda

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Complex production and consumption patterns require that national policies of one country need to take effects on other countries into account

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E.g. Germany: Increasing dependence on importedagricultural resources and products (such as soya or palm oil)

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policies need to take socio-economic and environmental consequences -“ecological footprints”- in producing countries into account

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Worldwide one third of harvest gets wasted, in Europe about one quarter

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Source: Gustavsson et al. for FAO (2011)

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Further Strategies:

Improve land use planning

Invest in rehabilitating degraded soils (Land Degradation Neutrality)

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Improve diets and reduce waste

Assess biofuel targets and biomaterials demand

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Trade-offs

Limited Resources

Different levels ofambition (SDGs vsBAU)

Human rights issue

Opportunities

Follow-up and Review

Contribute toIncreasingAccountability

Supporting reviews ofprogress

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Open questions:

1. How to monitor the human rights dimension of the production of biomass for

energy?

2. What is the role of women in sustainable biomass production? How is GBEP

measuring this?

3. How do GBEP indicators live up to the principles and the ambitions of the 2030

Agenda?