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- Elmqvist, Bodil, et al.
(author)
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Does the EU renewable Energy Directive contribute to fair and just governance of the biofuel sector? A comparison between the Swedish national scheme and EU accredited voluntary schemes
- 2012
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the search for viable pathways for transforming governance and institutions in the Rio+20 agenda,strengthening of public‐private governance networks has been emphasized. Important initiatives arefound in the expanding bioenergy sector where several certification schemes have been launched forensuring that bioenergy feedstock meet environmental and social requirements. These initiatives areencouraged by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). RED states that biofuels should replace10% of Europe's fossil fuel in transport by 2020. However, the production of bioliquids raises seriousenvironmental and social sustainability concerns in producer countries. In order to contribute to theEU targets, economic operators most comply with a set of sustainability criteria through one of threereporting schemes. This study, emphasizing the Swedish case as one of the first countries totranspose RED into national law, focuses on which reporting system is chosen by economic operatorsand on what grounds. Are social concerns such as labor rights, land and resource rights consideredimportant factors? Preliminary work show that the national scheme is stressing environmentalsustainability, showing fewer concerns of social aspects, while the EU recently accredited voluntarysystems, driven by a range of actors, are more transformational concerning the inclusion of socialconcerns in producer countries. The study contributes to the important question on how to promotenorth‐south justice and fairness aspects in governing a sustainable biofuel production by learningfrom the implementation of this potentially influential regulatory innovation.
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