The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) has announced the launch of a series of public consultations on updated draft Regional Risk Assessments (RRAs) and REDIII Level A Risk Assessments (REDIII Level A RAs), following the publication of SBP Standards v2.1 on 29 April 2026.
SBP Standards v2.1, which will come into effect on 29 July 2026, introduce new and revised indicators within SBP Standard 1, which are now aligned with REDIII sustainability criteria. Accordingly, SBP has undertaken updates to RRAs and REDIII Level A RAs where necessary ensuring full alignment with these revised requirements.
The consultations focus exclusively on those indicators that are new or have been amended in SBP Standards v2.1 and have resulted in corresponding changes to the RRAs and REDIII Level A RAs. In some cases, additional indicators, in particular those related to High Conservation Values, have also been revised where impacted by these updates.
Indicators that remain unchanged are outside the scope of this consultation. As a result, the consultation drafts do not include the full set of specified risk indicators, but rather only those subject to revision.
Stakeholders are invited to review the updated drafts and provide feedback during the consultation period, which runs from 28 May to 27 June 2026. All relevant documentation, along with detailed instructions for submitting comments, is available via the SBP consultation platform.
To support accessibility and inclusive participation, SBP has provided the consultation platform for the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec in both English and French, and a Vietnamese translation of the relevant draft document is also available.
SBP encourages broad stakeholder engagement and values all feedback received, which will be carefully considered as part of the review process. Following the consultation, SBP intends to publish the updated RRAs as SBP-endorsed RRAs by 29 July 2026, aligning with the effective date of SBP Standards v2.1.
For further information or enquiries about the consultation process, please contact: consultations@sbp-cert.org.
