How bioenergy can contribute to sustainable forests and green energy towards zero emissions
FAO, the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) co-organized last 4 May a Special session at the XV World Forestry Congress, to highlight links between sustainable forests and sustainable bioenergy.
Sustainable bioenergy plays a crucial role in sustainable development
Biomass, mainly from forests and agriculture sources, represents about 11 percent of global final energy consumption (IEA, 2021). Energy from woodfuel alone accounts for roughly 40 percent of the world’s renewable energy supply, which is as much as solar, hydroelectric, and wind power combined (FAO, 2017). So far, most of the bioenergy is used in developing countries for cooking and heating, with increasing modern uses in both the industrial and household sectors. Transition from traditional to more modern use of bioenergy is necessary to facilitate sustainable development.
“Focusing on sustainability is key to ensure that bioenergy makes a positive contribution to sustainable development, while also contributing to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Extra efforts are needed to facilitate the gradual transition towards modern, renewable, and sustainable sources of energy. More efficient wood energy supply chains and the adoption of alternative forms of modern bioenergy play an important role in this process” said Thais Linhares Juvenal, FAO Forestry Officer.
FAO’s Energy-Smart Food Programe aims to ensure adequate energy access in agrifood systems through more energy efficiency, use of renewable energy including sustainable bioenergy, and a water-energy-food nexus approach. FAO and IRENA have recently signed an agreement that includes cooperation actions, to improve the profitability and sustainability of the food and energy nexus by accelerating the use of renewables and sustainable bioenergy while fostering climate action and resilience
Sustainably managed forests are key to achieve energy transition towards net zero emissions
The event outlined how accelerating the energy transition to renewables is an urgent task to achieve the Paris Agreement Goals, and bioenergy is among the key options for achieving these targets.
Forests will represent a critical contribution to enhancing access to basic energy needs and to energy transition in developing countries, especially those that depend heavily on fuelwood and/or charcoal for household cooking.
The necessary transition to modern bioenergy will need to have more efficient and sustainable energy value chains and alternatives will need to be developed to reduce the pressures on forest resources by adopting substitute feedstocks, technologies, and bioenergy pathways.
Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA, highlighted that “Bioenergy has a great potential to accelerate the energy transition. We need a stronger coordination with the forestry sector to tap synergies and avoid negative impacts and for policy frameworks to ensure sustainability.”
The progress on access to modern energy services, in particular the access to clean cooking solutions, has been very slow in these past years. The SDG7 Report (2021) indicates that the population with access to clean cooking solutions increased from 50 percent in 2000 to 66 percent in 2019 worldwide, and from 9 percent to 16 percent in sub-Saharan Africa over the same period. This makes universal access to clean cooking solutions by 2030 under SDG7 a big challenge and calls for bold action.
As a legally binding international treaty on climate change, the Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, many major economies have committed to net-zero emission by 2050. These twin goals for 2030 and 2050 remain extremely challenging and call for effective options for energy provision and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. The sustainable use of bioenergy, transition and energy access is one of key components of the transition to green energy and net zero emissions, and sustainably managed forests have strong potential to contribute to these goals.
Learn more:
Special event info and recordings
XV World Forestry Congress – Summary Report