Virtual Event
WPAC Conference & AGM 2020 – Day 1
September 22, 2020 at 11:00am ET

Sustainable Biomass Program has embarked on a Standards Review Process to occur over the next eighteen months. This is the first review since SBP’s six standards were first released in 2015 and a test of the multi-stakeholder governance that was implemented in 2019. Presently SBP’s standards cover feedstock compliance, verification procedures, requirements for certification bodies, chain of custody, collecting and communicating greenhouse gas data and calculating energy and carbon balance.

The scope of the Standards Review Process is wide-ranging.  All topics are up for discussion, especially:

• Expansion into new feedstocks, new products, new markets;
• Connection with UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially carbon & climate goals, biodiversity and social safeguards;
• Forest and natural landscape sustainability concepts of other sustainability standards;
• Recognition of other certification systems;
• Updates driven by new legislation and best practice; and suitable impacts to monitor and evaluate desired and intended outcomes.

This is a recording of the official launch the Standards Development Process that took place Wednesday, May 20, 2020 and explains how the process will work.

Carsten Huljus
Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Biomass Program

Over the past 18 years Carsten Huljus has been involved in forest and chain of custody certification, consulting and related activities and projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Latin America on behalf of private clients, GIZ, World Bank, WWF, FAO and EBRD. Carsten holds a Masters degree in International Forest Management from Georg-August University Göttingen, Germany. He is a trained auditor for forest management and chain of custody as well as for ISO 9001 quality management. Carsten was Managing Director and shareholder of GFA Certification GmbH, a world-wide operating certification business for sustainable forestry accredited for FSC and PEFC certification, that he built from scratch. Since 2016 he is Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP), a not-for-profit organisation that manages a global certification system designed for wood pellets and woodchips.

Simon Armstrong
Sustainability Biomass Partnership

Simon is a forester by profession, having worked in Europe, South America and SE Asia on public sector research and development projects, in commercial operations and with investors. He completed his first accreditation audit in 2000 and since then has been working in the area of accreditation and standards development covering forestry, palm oil, social accountability and biomass sustainability. He has supported a number of schemes with their standards and process development and undertaken evaluation of sustainability programs for NGOs, companies and government agencies. Since January 2014 Simon has supported the development of SBP.

He has a distinguished academic background, key professional qualifications, solid commercial experience and an excellent track record in delivering high-quality work.

Adam Harrison
Adam Harrison is a consultant with expertise in developing multi-stakeholder initiatives, planning and managing complex processes, sustainability, certification, international trade, development and conservation. Presently he is working under contract to the Sustainable Biomass Program on their standards revision. Previously Adam worked for the Woodland Trust and the World Wildlife Fund.Adam has a Master’s Degree in Resource Management and Conservation and a Bachelor of Science in Ecological Sciences, both from the University of Edinburgh.