The Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP) has today announced the appointment of Julia Marton-Lefèvre as the Chairman of the new Board being established to provide advice to the SBP.

Ms Marton-Lefèvre has been prominent in the scientific and environmental community and has recently stepped down as Director General of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) following eight years’ service. The IUCN is a unique global membership organisation bringing together governments and non-governmental organisations, scientists and experts to seek pragmatic solutions to the most pressing environment and development challenges.

The role of the new Advisory Board to the SBP will be to give advice to the SBP Board on, for example, the strategic direction of the SBP, the credibility of the SBP Framework, as well as on specific technical and policy issues. With the Chairman in post, work is now underway to fill the remaining positions on the Advisory Board. The composition of the SBP Advisory Board will ensure that key stakeholder groups are represented.

Thomas Dalsgaard, Executive Vice President of DONG Energy and SBP Board Member, who led the search and selection process on behalf of the SBP Board, commented: “I am pleased that Ms Marton-Lefèvre has accepted the role of Chairman of the SBP Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will play a critical role in the future development of the SBP and it is very important that its Chairman has a solid track record of bridging the gap between business and civil society.

“Ms Marton-Lefèvre has impeccable credentials and the necessary intellectual curiosity to be an effective Chairman. I believe she will be a tremendous asset to the SBP.”

Welcoming Ms Marton-Lefèvre to the role, Dorothy Thompson, Group Chief Executive of Drax and Chairman of the SBP, said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Ms Marton-Lefèvre as Chairman of the SBP Advisory Board. My fellow Board members and I look forward to working with her to make SBP a truly multi-stakeholder approach.”

Julia Marton-Lefèvre commented: “I am delighted to accept the role of Chairman of the SBP Advisory Board. I strongly believe that the SBP will benefit from a collaborative approach involving key stakeholder groups to help it achieve its vision of an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable solid biomass supply chain that contributes to a low carbon economy. My first task will be to assist in populating the Advisory Board and then we will begin our work as a group providing the best advice possible to the Partnership.”

SBP has today announced that Certification Body, SCS Global Services has been accepted as an applicant and is now able to progress towards achieving SBP-approved status.

The SBP Framework of standards and processes enables producers of woody biomass to demonstrate that they source their raw material responsibly and that it complies with the legal, regulatory and sustainability requirements applicable to European power generators. It also facilitates the carriage of energy and carbon data along the supply chain to the end-user. Under the SBP Framework the Biomass Producer, typically a pellet mill, is certified by a SBP-approved Certification Body and is responsible for ensuring that its feedstock meets the SBP standards.

To become SBP-approved, a Certification Body must first provide evidence that it meets the SBP requirements regarding its existing accreditations and it must also demonstrate that it has sufficient resources and competence to manage the certification programme.

The next step for an applicant Certification Body is to satisfy SBP of its competence to undertake an audit of a Biomass Producer against the SBP standards in a real-life situation.

Peter Wilson, Executive Director of SBP commented: “We are pleased to accept SCS Global Services as an applicant and look forward to progressing the application towards SBP-approved status.

“SBP has now accepted six Certification Bodies as applicants which is a key step towards establishing the SBP Framework as an effective scheme enabling users of woody biomass for energy production to demonstrate that the biomass is both legally and sustainably sourced.”