Standards Committee

Paul spent a 40-year career working in forest conservation, sustainable forest management, and not-for-profit management. Since 2022, he has been operating a part-time consultancy focused on coalition-building, collaborative problem solving, and strategic planning in the context of forest conservation and sustainability. Formerly Chief Conservation Officer at the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), Paul led SFI’s conservation agenda and helped shape programs across the organisation. This included conservation leadership through two revisions of the SFI Certification Standard, and advancement of research to measure and ensure outcomes relative to sustainable forest management. At SFI, Paul conceived and led SFI’s Conservation Impact Project, which details outcomes from SFI’s work in the areas of climate change, biodiversity, and water conservation. In June of 2022, his career accomplishments were acknowledged with the Sharon Haines Memorial Award for Innovation and Leadership in Sustainability. Prior to SFI, Paul served in leadership roles with the American Forest Foundation (AFF), and The Nature Conservancy, through work focused on large scale forest conservation, and collaborative partnerships toward conservation in managed forestlands. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry and Wildlife Management from Virginia Tech, USA and a Master’s in Environmental Management from Duke University, North Carolina, USA.

Christian is Head of Sustainability at CM Biomass Partners A/S, a Denmark-based, but globally active, biomass trader and producer. Christian is responsible for leading and coordinating CM Biomass’ certification and sustainability activities related to wood pellets and other biomass fuels. Christian has been involved with SBP certification since 2015, in the role of senior auditor for the Certification Body, Preferred by Nature. He also participated in the development of the SBP Regional Risk Assessment for Denmark in 2016. And later contributed to SBP technical working group on wood chips. With over 11 years’ experience as an auditor, and five years’ experience specifically with SBP audits of wood chip and wood pellet producers, Christian hopes to share his experiences from both sides of the audit process, aiming to improve the real-world applicability of the SBP Standards for Certificate Holders and auditors alike. Christian holds an MSc in Forestry from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Alicia is Chief Operating Officer at the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Inc. (the Endowment), with primary responsibility for programme oversight and development. She began working with the Endowment in 2015 as a volunteer member of the Board of Directors, later transitioning to become a full-time member of the leadership team in 2017. With more than 30 years of professional experience, Alicia’s roles have included packaging engineering, supply chain analysis, mitigation banking and product development in the forestry sector, all knowledge of which support her current responsibilities.

Before joining the Endowment, Alicia spent more than two decades with the Westervelt Company, formerly known as Gulf States Paper Corporation, in Alabama. During her tenure, she held key management positions in product development before progressing to Vice President of Business Development, an executive role encompassing global leadership for Westervelt Ecological Services, Westervelt Renewable Energy, and the company’s recreation and agricultural assets in New Zealand.

Alicia holds Bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Sociology from Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania, and she has completed The Fuqua School Executive Program at Duke University. Her interests include hiking, fishing, and spending time with her family.

Alicia is based in Pennsylvania, USA.

Matti is a doctoral researcher at Turku School of Economics (TSE), University of Turku, Finland. TSE is a business school committed to training responsible future leaders ready to drive the sustainability transition. He is also seconded to the JJ Strossmeyer University in Osijek, Croatia. Matti’s doctoral research work explores the dynamics of legitimacy processes in sustainability transitions with a focus on commodities, consent and organisational change. He is also an active participant in a startup developing a mechanised harvesting system for palm oil that would guarantee traceability while addressing yield gaps and labour shortages. He has a background in the sustainable oil palm agribusiness, in particular, working on issues related to Free, Prior and Informed Consent processes in a plantation context in Liberia. There he took part in a team effort developing an updated FPIC Standard Operating Procedure that later informed the FPIC requirements of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). He has also worked on projects addressing innovation governance and the sustainability of critical energy minerals. Matti holds an MSc (econ) degree in international business and entrepreneurship. He is based in Finland.

Dr Le Xuan Phuong is Associate Professor of Forestry and Vice Director of International Cooperation at the Vietnam National University of Forestry. With over 27 years of experience, he specialises in wood science and technology, wood identification, cleaner production, and sustainable forest resource management. He has led numerous national and international projects focused on bio-based materials, wood processing, REDD+, and forest governance. Dr Phuong is an active member of several national technical committees responsible for developing Vietnamese standards on solid biofuels, timber structures, and wood-based materials. As chair of the committee that developed TCVN 13985:2024, the national standard on the Chain of Custody for wood and wood-based products, he brings deep insight into Vietnam’s wood industry and supports efforts to ensure that wood and biomass in supply chains are sourced both legally and sustainably. He also serves as Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO Research Group 5.05.00 on Composites and Reconstituted Products and is actively engaged in a range of international cooperation initiatives. Dr Phuong holds a PhD in Biomaterial Sciences from the University of Tokyo.

Nick is an environmental scientist with over 20 years of experience in sustainable natural resource management. His work sits at the intersection of bioeconomy, forest management, climate change mitigation, and energy transition, with a strong focus on advancing science and policy to support evidence-based decision-making.

He is currently a Senior Researcher with Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service in Edmonton, Alberta. He leads multi-disciplinary research exploring the role of bioenergy in strengthening energy security across northern regions of Canada. His work integrates environmental, economic, and policy perspectives to address complex challenges in remote and Indigenous communities. Nick is also an Adjunct Professor at two Canadian universities, where he supervises students in forestry, natural resource management, and environmental economics.

Nick has worked extensively with international partners, including the European Commission, contributing to the development of governance frameworks and best practices for sustainable biomass management. He has also contributed to several international task forces and expert working groups focused on assessing the value and contributions of the bioeconomy and the circular economy.

He has authored nearly 70 peer-reviewed publications covering a range of topics, including climate change mitigation, bioenergy systems, forest management, and environmental economics.

Nick holds a PhD in Environmental Science (Forestry) from Université de Montréal and an MSc in Geography from Sorbonne University, Paris.

Tanja is a senior research scientist in the Climate Solutions Unit at the Finnish Environment Institute. The Finnish Environment Institute provides expertise and independent information on climate change, biodiversity loss, over-consumption, pollution and eutrophication. Her work is related to assessment of the sustainability of biomass use, including greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. She has some 15 years’ experience working as a researcher and project leader across various projects. Although her current work is mostly connected to forest resources, Tanja has also studied sustainability impacts of paludiculture, biogas and peatlands. She has authored several peer-reviewed scientific journals and project reports. Tanja holds a PhD in Forest Sciences from the University of Eastern Finland and an MSc in Ecology from the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Esther is a biomass sustainability expert at ENGIE Laborelec (Linkebeek, Belgium), an entity of ENGIE Research & Innovation and leading centre of expertise and research in energy. She joined the Biomass and Green Fuels team of Laborelec in 2021 to support biomass trading and producing entities for certification of their biomass activities, closely following the evolving legislative framework on sustainable biomass. Joining the efforts of her experienced team at Laborelec, she is accompanying and supporting various entities and customers of ENGIE to get certified against the SBP Standards. With a strong knowledge of SBP Standards 5 and 6, she also supports internal and external SBP-certified clients of Laborelec in performing greenhouse gas and energy balance calculations. She previously worked as a forest engineer in DR Congo, then as a research and teaching assistant at the University of Liège. Esther holds a MSc in Bioscience Engineering from Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Belgium, specialising in Forests and Nature Management.

Lisbeth is Senior Lead Sustainability Advisor at Ørsted, where she has played a key role in developing the company’s sourcing policy for sustainable biomass. With deep technical expertise and a strong focus on certification schemes, she has worked extensively on ensuring biomass sustainability from forest management to energy production. Her experience spans wood pellets and wood chips, as well as forest management practices across the Nordics, Baltics, Europe, and North America. She closely follows evolving societal and regulatory expectations on biomass and is committed to ensuring SBP remains the most trustworthy certification scheme in the sector. Throughout her years in the sector, she has been advocating for practical and effective implementation of sustainability requirements. She is dedicated to fostering balanced dialogue between commercial and civil society stakeholders to drive meaningful and impactful improvements in biomass certification. She holds an MSc in Environmental Chemistry and PhD in Bioenergy from the University of Copenhagen. Lisbeth is based in Denmark.

Justin is the Director of Responsible Sourcing at Enviva, the world’s largest producer of sustainable wood pellets that provide a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. Based in the United Kingdom, Justin is responsible for ensuring that Enviva delivers sustainably and responsibly sourced biomass to its customers that meet globally recognised standards and Enviva’s own Responsible Sourcing Policy. During his time at Enviva Justin has become heavily involved in Enviva’s engagement with SBP. As a Biomass Producer, all of Enviva’s production and many of its customers are SBP- certified. He has been involved in the Standards revision process and ensuring implementation of new requirements for REDII. Justin is also responsible for third-party due diligence and engagement on responsible sourcing. As such he has a strong appreciation of certification requirements and application of SBP in a wide range of geographies, including in SE Asia, Europe, Russia, and North America/Canada. Justin holds an MBA from the Royal Agricultural University, an MSc in Development Administration and Planning from the University of Bristol and an MA in International Relations and Politics from the University of Aberdeen, all in the UK.

Simon is Business Manager for wood chips at Dalgas, Denmark’s largest private forest management and timber trading company, with extensive operations in Germany and across the Baltic region.

Since 2019, Simon has led the company’s wood chip sales and oversees legal compliance related to biomass, including responsibility for Dalgas’ SBP certification scheme. He has been actively engaged with SBP since 2016 and brings additional expertise in FSC and PEFC Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification.

Simon’s career spans a wide range of forestry roles. Before his current position, he worked as a harvesting and marketing manager for roundwood in the UK and Denmark, focusing on both domestic and export markets. He began his professional journey as an operations forester, gaining hands-on experience in harvesting and forest management.

He holds a BSc in Forestry from the Danish Forestry College.

Simon is based in Denmark.

Reg is General Manager of Grand River Pellets Limited, a pellet producer owned by JD Irving, Limited (JDI) in eastern Canada.

With over 20 years’ experience across JDI’s forestry supply chain, Reg has held roles spanning forest operations, transportation systems, forest management and certification, silviculture, stakeholder engagement, and marketing and communications. His deep understanding of sustainable forestry practices and biomass production positions him as a key contributor to advancing responsible sourcing in the sector.

Reg is an active voice in the forestry and biomass industry. He serves on several advisory boards focused on post-secondary education, professional practice, and forest sector initiatives in Canada. Previously, he was President of the Association of Registered Professional Foresters of New Brunswick and continues to be an engaged member of the association.

A Registered Professional Forester in New Brunswick, Reg combines technical expertise with strategic insight to foster collaboration and innovation in sustainable biomass production.

He holds a BSc in Forestry from the University of New Brunswick and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University.

Reg is based in New Brunswick, Canada.

Katie is Director of Grants and Program Development at the Forest Landowners Foundation. In this role she builds programs and partnerships that advance forest stewardship through collaboration and help private forest landowners across the USA remain economically and ecologically viable.

Katie’s experience includes managing programs that support sustainable forest management, advocating issues of importance to private landowners, strengthening market-based solutions to address global challenges, and collaborating across sectors to achieve shared natural resource goals. Her work bridges science, economics, landowner needs, and effective communication – all key elements of standards development and implementation.

Katie holds a BSc degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation from Mississippi State University, USA.

Katie is based in the USA.