FAO Report: Biofuels and the Sustainability Challenge

Via the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation has released a new report entitled “Biofuels and the Sustainability Challenge.”

From the summary by IISD, the report “addresses the issue of biofuel sustainability based on a global assessment of major commodities and feedstocks. The report is guided by the need to understand the economic, environmental and social sustainability dimensions of biofuels, and how these elements can be used to address the challenges of land-use change, food security and climate change. The report evaluates the role of biofuel certification schemes in promoting sustainability. It relies on a survey of a large number of country case studies, as well as analyses of trends in crop policies, production and markets. The report questions whether certification schemes are adequate to assure sustainability.” 

Find IISD’s summary of the report here. Download the report here.

First Ever Global Soil Week

Let's Talk About Soil - English from IASS Vimeo Channel on Vimeo.

While soils are the fundamental pillars of sustainable development, they are facing increasing threats. To draw attention to this challenge and to upscale actions towards sustainable soil management, the first ever Global Soil Week was hosted by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Berlin from 18-22 November, 2012. The week sought to provide a platform to initiate follow-up actions on land and soil-related decisions made at the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference to offer a forum of interactive exchange and dialogue. At the week, stakeholders from science, government, business and civil society came together to share their land and soil-related experience and expertise, and to develop future plans of action for sustainable land/soil management and governance.

Several panels, platform sessions, and dialogue sessions were held on various relevant themes. One of particular interest was a dialogue session on securing the commons co-hosted by Maliasili Initiatives, the Rights and Resources Initiative, and the International Land Coalition. The session “reviewed the state of current knowledge around sustainable use and governance of communal natural resources, and examine threats to communal tenure of lands and resources in a range of different geographic contexts, and from points of reference as varied as gender dimensions, indigenous rights, biodiversity conservation, pastoralist land use, and forest governance.”

Find out more about Global Soil Week here. The International Institute for Sustainable Development's coverage from the week can be accessed here. Find out more about the week’s sessions here.