The purpose of this report is to inform Parties, decision-makers, scientists and the general public on the complex relationship between biofuel production and use, and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, as well as tools and approaches available to address sustainability, and remaining gaps in this regard. This report builds upon an information note3 that was prepared for the consideration of the sixteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to the CBD in response to decision X/374. This information note provides the primary source of information for this report and further details the work undertaken, including the analysis of information submitted by Parties5 and collected from recent scientific literature.

The scope of this report, consistent with that of the CBD, is “biodiversity”. Because of the complex inter-relationships between biofuels and biodiversity the boundaries of the topic can be difficult to define. Few aspects of biofuel production and use, and associated policies, are independent of potential impacts on biodiversity.