1st Biofuture Platform All-Member Meeting

The first all-member meeting of the Biofuture Platform was opened by Mr. Renato Domith Godinho, alternate focal point for Brazil and the Platform´s interim facilitator. After introductions, members shared the view that the present meeting´s main objective was to decide on the specific activities that the Biofuture countries and non-government participants will be working on, in line with the mandate given by its launch statement. It was agreed that the meeting´s conclusions would be circulated by the Facilitator to participating members for adjustments and then submitted electronically for the approval of all 20 Biofuture Platform countries. 

IRENA DG WELCOMING STATEMENT

IRENA´s Director-General, Adnan Z. Amin, received the delegates to the 1st all-member Biofuture Platform meeting with a welcoming address, opening the expanded session of the procedures. In his statement, Mr. Amin stressed that analysis found that "among the 2030 renewables technologies, biomass is the most important source, accounting for half of the cost-effective potential for doubling the renewables share by 2030". To complete the pathway to limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius or below, scenarios demand a six-fold increase in the use of bioenergy in the transport sector and a reinvigoration of bioenergy application in several forms, including advanced liquid biofuels for aviation, freight and shipping applications. Mr. Amin expressed confidence that "the Biofuture Platform has a key role to play as a pathway to a lowcarbon bio-economy", and asserted IRENA´s position to support and collaborate with the Biofuture initiative and governments in the effort to promote a sustainable energy transformation. 

PRESENTATIONS

The three "scene-setting" presentations given complemented each other to provide a picture of the need for a much scaled-up low carbon bioeconomy; stress that "business as usual" will probably not lead to that development, and indicate the main instruments that could be mobilized to fulfill that need. It was made clear that the main purpose for the founding of the Biofuture Platform was to call attention to those aspects and share experiences and views about the path forward.

Check the Facilitator's Report on the Meeting's Conclusions