SBP has today announced that the application for the approval of its current Standards under the recast EU Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001 (REDII) has received a preliminary positive assessment from the European Commission.

The Commission expects the recognition of the first voluntary schemes to take place in the short term.

The SBP REDII Instruction Document is now being finalised and will be made available to Certificate Holders in January 2022.

Looking ahead, SBP has sought the views of its certified European End-users on how best to address the REDII requirements in its revised Standards, which will be published next year. Several models are under consideration.

Having heard from the European End-users, SBP is now consulting its certified Biomass Producers and Traders. Biomass Producers and Traders are invited to complete a short survey, which should take no longer than 15 minutes. Any feedback will be extremely helpful in finding the best way to serve those Certificate Holders wishing to conduct business in REDII-regulated markets.

To get involved, please follow the relevant link below.

Biomass Producer survey link: https://www.research.net/r/56DFH2J
Trader survey link: https://www.research.net/r/JTFGRHT

The deadline for responses is Wednesday, 12 January 2022.

SBP has today announced the appointment of Nicolas Viart as Technical Director. Nicolas will take up the appointment from 1 January 2022.

A senior sustainability professional with extensive agriculture and international supply chain experience, Nicolas has proven technical and strategic competencies in advancing sustainable agendas. Through the development and management of complex projects, Nicolas understands the challenge of tackling complex issues, creating momentum, trust and achieving goals for lasting and thriving communities and businesses.

Nicolas has considerable experience of working with sustainability certification. Prior to joining SBP, Nicolas spent ten years with Bonsucro, a global membership organisation promoting sustainable sugarcane production, processing and trade, where he played an instrumental role in the growth of the organisation to become the leading certification scheme in the sector.

Nicolas joined Bonsucro as its Head of Sustainability and after five years was promoted to the role of Director, Standards and Innovation. Key amongst his responsibilities were overseeing the maintenance of Bonsucro’s three standards, recognition of the standards by the European Commission and the Netherlands’ regulatory body, strengthening the certification and accreditation systems, and developing the impact evaluation and reporting system, in particular in relation to carbon accounting.

Nicolas started his career in the dairy industry, with a focus on quality management, technical specification and compliance audits, before moving on to the seafood industry, including two years at the Marine Stewardship Council, a leading global certification scheme for sustainable seafood.

Commenting on Nicolas’ appointment, Carsten Huljus, SBP Chief Executive Officer, said, “I am delighted to welcome Nicolas to SBP. Nicolas brings with him a wealth of experience that will complement and strengthen the skill set of the Secretariat.

“Nicolas joins us at a critical time in the Standards Development Process as we plan the roll-out of our revised Standards. I am confident that, amongst other things, Nicolas will be influential in implementing our revised Standards in an efficient and timely manner”.