The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) has today published its Annual Review 2025, charting a year defined by delivery against strategy, strengthened sustainability standards and continued growth in certified biomass markets.
The Review marks the conclusion of SBP’s 2023-2025 Strategy period and demonstrates how the scheme has responded to evolving regulations and markets, and rising expectations around sustainability, transparency and data integrity.
Key highlights from 2025 include:
- Growth in uptake and market relevance, with 405 Certificate Holders across 35 countries and 22.8 million tonnes of SBP‑certified biomass produced and sold during the year.
- Full implementation of SBP Standards (v2.0), strengthening sustainability criteria, assurance processes and regulatory alignment across global supply chains.
- Formal regulatory recognition, including confirmation of SBP’s alignment with EU REDIII requirements.
- Expanded risk and assurance capability, with new and updated Regional Risk Assessments, enhanced data systems, and continued development of tools supporting compliance with emerging regulations such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
- Broadening relevance beyond energy, with growing engagement in industrial and bio‑based markets, including biocarbon, and early progress towards incorporating non‑woody feedstocks.
Francis Sullivan, Independent Chair of SBP, commented: “The 2025 Annual Review reflects a year focused on delivery. We have strengthened our Standards, expanded our global footprint and reinforced SBP’s role as a credible, forward‑looking certification scheme. As we close the 2023-2025 Strategy period, the progress we have made positions SBP strongly for the next phase of its development”.
Carsten Huljus, Chief Executive Officer of SBP, added: “2025 was about doing the work, including embedding strengthened Standards, supporting Certificate Holders through evolving regulations, expanding our risk assessment coverage and investing in data, transparency and usability. At the same time, we laid important foundations for future growth, ensuring SBP remains relevant across evolving biomass and bio‑based markets”.
The Annual Review also introduces the foundations of SBP’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system, scheduled for implementation from 2026, which will strengthen outcome‑based reporting and support continuous improvement across climate, environmental and social dimensions.
Looking ahead, SBP has adopted a new five‑year strategy for 2026-2030, aligned with a longer‑term outlook to 2040. This approach builds on a resilient strategic foundation while ensuring the flexibility needed in an evolving regulatory and market environment.
The SBP Annual Review 2025 is available to view and download at: https://sbp-cert.org/documents/annual-reviews/
