Parallel Events

Monitoring Sustainability Certification Schemes and Labels of Bio-based Products

Wednesday 26 June 2024 | 15:00-18:20 | Room: Morgiou

agenda

15:00 – 15:20
Introduction Session    
Welcome and introduction to the BIOBASEDCERT cluster
Iris Vural Gursel, Wageningen Research

15:20 – 16:00
Policy priorities and initial policy recommendations    
Guiding policy priorities and initial policy recommendations for sustainable biobased systems and their certification
Luana Ladu, TU Berlin, BAM
Q&A

15:40 – 16:00
BIOBASEDCERT Monitoring System     
The BIOBASEDCERT cluster is collaboratively developing a Monitoring System (BMS) to assess sustainability Certification Schemes and Labels (CSLs) for industrial biobased systems. The BMS aims to provide the European Commission and CSL owners with a framework to evaluate CSLs’ potential contribution to EU policies and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while also facilitating potential harmonization of existing CSLs.

System level – STAR4BBS
Delve into the foundational aspects of the System level, focusing on key indicators centered around governance and operational requirements.
Luana Ladu, TU Berlin, BAM
Q&A

16:00 – 16:15 Coffee Break

16:15 – 17:15
BIOBASEDCERT Monitoring System (contd.)

Content level – SUSTCERT4BIOBASED
Explore the core criteria at the Content level, covering indicators on environmental sustainability, circularity, social responsibility, and economic viability.
Laura Vayrynen, ECOS
Heleen Ballemans, Wageningen Research
Q&A

Outcome level – HARMONITOR
Learn about the indicators designed to assess the impact of Cer-tification Schemes and Labels
Maulidia Khairani, Utrecht University
Q&A

17:15 – 18:15
Monitoring certification schemes and labels: A roundtable dialogue for sustainable solutions    
Roundtable with panellists and Q&A with participants

Discussion on the potential role(s) of CSLs for the future of European Circular Bioeconomy and their use as a co-regulation instrument, as well as on the design of a monitoring tool for CSLs.

Panelists:

  • Audrun Utskarpen, Nordic Swan
  • Rodrigo Ruperez, UNCTAD-UNFSS
  • Oliver Hurtig, JRC
  • Jean-Marc Jossart, Bioenergy Europe
  • Mirjam Roeder, Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute at Aston University
  • Laura Vayrynen, ECOS

18:15 – 18:20
Closing Remarks
Antonia Kalimeri, WHITE

With the increasing shift from fossil to bio-based products, safeguarding the sustainability performance of bio-based products and their compliance with a variety of European policy objectives is becoming an important topic.

The three Horizon Europe projects under the BIOBASEDCERT cluster (SUSTCERT4BIOBASED, HARMONITOR and STAR4BBS) evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of voluntary sustainability certification schemes and labels (CSLs) and their use to ascertain the sustainability of biological feedstocks and bio-based products in the European Union and beyond.

The event will  present preliminary results from the BIOBASEDCERT Monitoring System (BMS) that the cluster is developing and testing, and the policy recommendations derived so far based on the cluster’s findings. Finally, the event will feature a roundtable in which various stakeholders will be asked to present their views on the potential role(s) of CSLs for the future of European Circular Bioeconomy and their use as a co-regulation instrument, as well as on the design of a monitoring tool for CSLs. In interactive sessions, the audience is invited to actively participate and shape  future research developments.

 

Organisers