From July 2 to July 4, the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law will hold its 12th annual Colloquium at the University of Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain. A number of presentations will deal with the issue of biofuels.

  • Laode Syarif – Hasanuddin University Law School (Indonesia), Rich Bio-fuels Potential and the Absence of Adequate Legal and Policy Framework
  • Odile Juliette / Lim Tung (University of Mauritius and North-West University / North-West University, South Africa), Biofuels, GMos and Food Security: The South African Legal and Policy framework
  • Susana Borràs Pentinat (CEDAT-Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain), La Deslocalization de les Emisiones de Gases de Efecto Invernadero : la Inclusion del Factor ILUC en la Reorientacion de la Politica de Biocombustibles
  • Isabel Hernández San Juan (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain), Biotechnologica, Cambio Climatico y Biocarburantes
  • Max Salomon Jansson (IES at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Belgium), Rules on Production and Process Methods in EU Public Procurement: The Case of Renewable Energy and Biofuels
  • Seita Romppanen (University of Eastern Finland; UEF Centre for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law, Finland), The Legitimacy of EU’s Private Biofuel Governance
  • Paul Martin (Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law; University of New England, Australia), Biofuels Governance, an Illustration of fundamental challenges to traditional environmental law and policy
  • Amado S. Tolentino, Jr. (San Beda Alabang School of Law, Philippines), The Philippines Biofuels Law: A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
  • Aline Pacheco Pelucio / Patricia Faga Iglecias (University of São Paulo, Brasil), An Analysis of Brazilian Policies, Institutions and Legal Regulations relative to Bio Energy Investments
  • Lei Guo / Frank Maes (Ghent University, Belgium), Biofuels Transformation in China: Will the EU Biofuels Expereicne Shed Light on it?
  • Mingde Cao / Xun Gong (China University of Political Science and Law), Biofuel Law and Policy in China
  • Omondi Robert Owino (Bayreuth University, Germany), Incipient Biofuels Legislation in Kenya: navigating the Legal Minefield
  • Vladimir Garcia Magalhães (Catholic University of Santos -UNISANTOS, Brasil), Sugar Cane and Ethanol Production Sustainability in Brazil
  • Taotao Yue (Maastricht University, Netherlands), Sustainability of Biofuels as a Global Regulatory Issue

As part of the 10th annual colloquium of the Academy, held at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA, in July 2012, one panel focused on sustainable development and biofuels.

  • The Principle of Integration 20 Years after Rio: EU Environmental Governance and the Case of Biofuels, Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny, candidate for LL.M in Law,University of British Columbia, Canada
  • On the Improvement of Bioernegy Law in China, Lei Guo, Ghent University, Belgium.
  • Legal Challenges in Promoting Sustainability - The Bioenergy Case, Helle Tegner Anker and Brigitte Egelund Olsen, Copenhagen University, Denmark.
  • Biofuels Governance: Insufficient Legal Instruments or Innovative International Governance System?, Paul Martin and Elodie LeGal, University of New England, Australia.

Thanks to funding by the Law Foundation of Ontario, the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law has pursued a project on the legal and policy dimensions of biofuels. Throughout the project the Academy organized a number of workshops and encouraged presentations on this topic at its various conferences. As a result of this work comprehensive book on this topic will be published in 2015.

Power points prepared as part of this project are available at the links below.

Biofuels, Biodiversity and Climate Change

As part of the 8th annual colloquium of the Academy, held in Ghent, Belgium in September 2010, two panels were devoted to the study of law and regulations regarding biofuels.

Plenary 1:

Zen Makuch, Imperial College London (UK),  How Valid is the Promotion of Agrofuels by Reference to Ecosystem Conservation and Environmental Protection: An Evaluation of UK and French Law and Policy in an EU Context

Panel 14: Biofuels I

Chair: Melissa Powers, Lewis and Clark University (USA)

  • Liselotte Smorenburg-van Middelkoop, University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Sustainability Criteria by the EU: Do they Provide the Legal Solution to the Devil’s Dilemma of Bioenergy?
  • Michael I. Jeffery, University of Western Sydney, and Xiabao Zhao, PhD candidate, University of Western Sydney (Australia), Will Biodiversity Pay the Price? The Case for and against the Use of Biofuels and Biochar to Aid in the Mitigation of Climate Change
  • Alexandrina Sobreira de Moura, Federal University of Pernambuco (Brazil) and Joaquim Nabuco Foundation (Brazil), The Biodiesel Program and Sustainable Development in Brazil
  • Vladimir Magalhaes, Catholic University of Santos (Brazil), Biofuels: The Risks to Brazilian Biodiversity and their Interaction with Global Warming
  • Victor M. Tafur, Pace University (USA), Linkages between Biodiversity and Bioenergy: Inclusive Market Development

Panel 27: Energy II/ Biofuels II

Chair: Melissa Powers, Lewis and Clark University (USA)

  1. Designing law and policy for the transition to sustainable energy: the case of biofuels
  2. Biofuels: Legal And Policy Dimensions