Publications
Sustainable woodfuel for food security – A smart choice: green, renewable and affordable
2017
With food insecurity, climate change and deforestation and forest degradation remaining key global issues, this paper highlights the role of sustainable woodfuel in improving food security. Food insecurity and a high dependence on woodfuel as a primary cooking fuel are characteristics common to vulnerable groups of people in developing regions of the world.
The role of wood residues in the transition to sustainable bioenergy - Analysis of good practices and recommendations for the deployment of wood residues for energy
2023
This report provides an overview of the potential use of wood residues as feedstock for bioenergy production as part of the transition towards a sustainable and circular forest bioeconomy. While data and examples are abundant from developed countries, a specific focus will be put on the role and potential of wood residue-based energy in developing countries.
Are policies in Africa conducive to sustainability interventions in the charcoal sector? A preliminary assessment of 31 countries
2023
This publication presents the key findings from a preliminary assessment of the policies of African countries relevant to charcoal value chains. The main objective of this study is to assess the extent to which national energy and environmental policies and strategies in Africa have the potential to provide enabling conditions for sustainability interventions in the charcoal sector. The study was limited to the 31 countries that have pledged commitment to the AFR 100.
Issue Brief: Sustainable forest management as means to enhance self-reliance and promote climate resilience in displacement settings
2024
Conflict, violence and persecution, climate-related shocks and stresses as well as economic turbulence are increasingly driving humanitarian crises and displacement. As of June 2024, more than 122.6 million people had been forcibly displaced by conflict and persecution worldwide, including more than 37 million refugees. Tens of millions of refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and stateless individuals come from, and now live in highly climate-vulnerable situations.
Issue Brief: Forests, energy, and livelihoods
2023
The High-Level Political Forum under the auspices of the UN General Assembly Summit on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Summit) was held in September 2023 in New York. It will be used to review SDG progress and provide policy recommendations for accelerating achievement of the SDGs. This Issue Brief was prepared by the UNFF Secretariat, FAO, IUFRO, and UNDP to inform discussions at the event.
Unasylva, no. 118 - Wood for fuel
1977
For the poor in developing countries, both urban as well as rural, wood is usually the principal source of energy for cooking food and for keeping warm. In these countries an estimated 86 percent of all the wood consumed annually is used as fuel. As populations have grown, this dependence has led inexorably to pressures on the wood resource which all too often have resulted both in the destruction of the forest and in a worsening of the situation...
Unasylva, no. 131 - Wood energy, special edition 1
1981
This is the first of two special issues of Unasylva devoted exclusively to wood energy. As the magazine goes to press, this subject is also being prepared for examination at Nairobi, in August, by the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy. Four of the six articles in this issue are adapted from papers written for this meeting.
Unasylva, no. 33 - Wood energy, special edition 2
1981
Of particular concern to developing countries is the need for taking urgent measures aimed at alleviating the acute domestic energy supply problem, particularly the fuelwood crisis, which is asuming alarming dimensions. One goal of the Nairobi Programme of Action is that during the present decade countries will undertake planned programmes with a view to ensuring that the energy needs of the rural areas can be met on a sustainable basis.
Unasylva, no. 211 - Wood energy
2002
Wood energy policies need to be holistic; they must take into account socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors, to avoid, for example, the deforestation and forest degradation problems that sometime resulted from incentives to promote woodfuel in the past. Wood energy programmes should be integrated into national forest programmes and coordinated with other sectors.
Wood energy planning, policies and strategies: national workshop for the Philippines
1998
The past decades saw the emergence of more effective approaches to wood energy development in many developing countries which took account of this perspective. Multipurpose management of forests and tree resources with active involvement of rural people is showing to be a socially desirable, economically rewarding and environmentally sustainable strategy for production of fuels, timber and other forest products.
Proceedings of the FAO/UNEP Regional workshop on wood energy information in Africa
2000
The demand for energy is rapidly increasing, but wood resources are finite. What was once regarded as a family business, i.e. the free gathering of fuelwood for daily needs - has rapidly become a major policy issue with far-reaching ramifications on vital social, economic and environmental sectors. Satisfying current and future wood-energy demand requires sound planning of the wood-energy sector and careful management of the resources.
PROCEEDINGS - International seminar on energy and the forest products industry
2006
Energy costs, energy supply and climate change are amongst the core issues impacting on the future of the forest products industry. They will have impacts on the manufacturing costs, as well as on the allocation of investments around the globe. The increasing focus on biomass as an energy source may on the one hand lead to competition on the raw material markets for existing industries, but on the other hand open new markets to other parts of the forest cluster.
-building-capacities-for-sustainable-bioenergy.jpg?sfvrsn=4fcdeb07_1 "PROCEEDINGS - Expert Consultation: WISDOM - Evaluation of current status, and Seminar (on) Building Capacities for Sustainable Bioenergy")
PROCEEDINGS - Expert Consultation: WISDOM - Evaluation of current status, and Seminar (on) Building Capacities for Sustainable Bioenergy.
2009
The WISDOM methodology has been widely applied over a decade in many countries and in many regions with the financial support from the FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP). As such, FAO deemed it necessary to undertake a stocktaking exercise of these experiences. The main aim was to evaluate the extent to which WISDOM has facilitated meeting the WEP objectives of creating national and international capacity to address major issues related to wood energy and bioenergy.
Forest Energy Forum - Issue no. 1
1997
Why Forest Energy Forum? The motivations are many. First, we want to offer our readers and colleagues a new quick and direct source of information on wood energy. Second, we wish to establish a simple mechanism for dialogue (south-south and north-south), which is the reason why we have adopted the word "forum" for this newsletter.
Forest Energy Forum - Issue no. 2
1998
Many important subjects are covered in this issue, among which: the Unified Wood Energy Terminology, Definitions and Conversion Factors (UWET), the World Forestry Congress held in Turkey in October 1997, the Kyoto Protocol and the Clean Development Mechanism and the Forum on "Forests and Energy" which took place in Germany in January 1998. [For more information on all these subjects, please see Special Features.]
Forest Energy Forum - Issue no. 3
1998
The Kyoto Protocol, agreed in November 1997, has contributed to our success, and will help especially to revamp forest energy as a modern energy carrier to combat the adverse effects of climate change. This agreement and the changes in energy policies initiated some years ago, the increasing advantage of woodfuel over other fuel options, and its largely untapped potential as a modern energy carrier, bring new opportunities for the utilization of cheap fuel sources.
Forest Energy Forum - Issue no. 4
1999
The 14th Session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO) was held in Rome from 1 to 5 March 1999. COFO has been convened every two years since 1971 to review FAO's forestry work programmes and their implementation, as well as to guide the FAO Council. More than 400 representatives from 130 countries discussed forestry issues of international relevance. Needless to say, Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Fires were both high on the agenda, as were FAO's Outlook Studies.
Forest Energy Forum - Issue no. 5
1999
In our specific area of work, we have now finalized the third in our regional Wood Energy Today for Tomorrow (WETT) studies "The role of wood energy in Africa", which presents woodfuel information and data for 55 African countries. According to the best current wood energy estimates, African woodfuel consumption reached 623 million m3 in 1994. The figures show that Africa has the highest per caput woodfuel consumption (0.89 m3/year) compared with other continents (e.g. Asia: 0.3 m3/caput/year).
Forest Energy Forum - Issue no. 6
2000
IEA was founded in 1974, is based in Paris and is an autonomous agency within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is the energy forum for 24 industrialized countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Forest Energy Forum - Issue no. 7
2000
We are starting the new millennium with an increasing number of bioenergy initiatives and activities. Most of these new activities have been boosted by a combination of special conditions resulting from: increased public concern about climate change; higher international oil prices and new energy policies; and markets being deregulated almost everywhere.