Last 9 September, the Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) was launched on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India.
The Global Biofuels Alliance is an initiative by India as the G20 Chair. As the official press release from the G20 meeting explains, “The Alliance intends to expedite the global uptake of biofuels through facilitating technology advancements, intensifying utilization of sustainable biofuels, shaping robust standard setting and certification through the participation of a wide spectrum of stakeholders. The alliance will also act as a central repository of knowledge and an expert hub. GBA aims to serve as a catalytic platform, fostering global collaboration for the advancement and widespread adoption of biofuels.”
The launch was led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with other Heads of State from initiating members (Singapore, Bangladesh, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Mauritius and the UAE) present at the launch.
Other countries that have joined the Alliance are Canada, South Africa, Iceland, Kenya, Guyana, Paraguay, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Finland. Bangladesh and Singapore are observers of the GBA. Membership to the Alliance is open to all nations, and founding members will continue outreach to other countries committed to these shared values with the goal of adding more countries to this effort.
The Alliance intends to work in collaboration with the relevant existing international and regional agencies and initiatives in the bioenergy fields and complement their work. Although the GBA is a country-owned Alliance, 12 international organizations have pledged their support to the GBA as partner organizations: the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum, World LPG Organization, UN Energy for All, UNIDO, Biofuture Platform, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Energy Agency, International Energy Forum, International Renewable Energy Agency, and the World Biogas Association.
The Biofuture Platform Initiative welcomes the foundation of the Global Biofuels Alliance and looks forward to collaborating with the Alliance to help expand sustainable biofuel use.
With the aim to guide the Alliance’s efforts to expand sustainable biofuel adoption, the IEA developed a policy insight paper in close collaboration with members of the Biofuture Platform, for which the IEA acts as facilitator. In this paper, the IEA shares biofuel policy insights from Brazil, India and the United States, and outlines three priority areas for the GBA to facilitate sustainable deployment in support of the global energy transition:
- Identifying and helping develop markets with high potential for sustainable biofuels production
- accelerating technology deployment and
- seeking consensus on performance-based sustainability assessments and frameworks.
In the coming six months, the Alliance will work on proposing an action plan and a governance framework for the initiative. The IEA and the Biofuture Platform look forward to continuing to work with India beyond its G20 Presidency, as the founder of the GBA and a member of the G20 Troika, as well as working closely with Brazil, the next G20 Presidency, and other GBA members to scale up the use of sustainable biofuels.
