SBP Interim Regional Risk Assessments

The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) has today published three SBP Interim Regional Risk Assessments (RRAs), covering the province of Quebec, Canada, US Private Forest, and US National Forest, available here. These SBP Interim RRAs will support Certificate Holders in implementing risk mitigation measures and enable Certification Bodies to carry out certification activities until SBP-endorsed RRAs for these regions are available.

These RRAs are a direct outcome of SBP’s Standards Development Process, launched in May 2020, which led to the revision of SBP Standards 1 and 2. This revision necessitated a review of all existing SBP-endorsed RRAs and initiated the development of new ones.

The process of preparing the SBP Interim RRAs started with the development of a Draft RRA prepared by the responsible Working Body, comprising local qualified experts, followed by rigorous technical and quality reviews by SBP and independent local experts, and public consultations conducted both by the Working Body responsible for each RRA and by SBP itself, ensuring a transparent and inclusive approach.

Stakeholder engagement has been a critical component of the RRA development process. All comments received during the public consultations, along with those provided by local experts mandated by SBP, have been reviewed and taken into account by the SBP Secretariat. This comprehensive process ensures that the published SBP Interim RRAs provide a robust foundation for assessing and mitigating risks within the specified regions.

These SBP Interim RRAs may now be used by Biomass Producers for certification purposes. In parallel, the SBP Interim RRAs are being shared with the SBP Technical Committee for final review and recommendations for endorsement.

Once an SBP-endorsed RRA is available for a region, Certificate Holders using the SBP Interim RRA must assess any changes in risk ratings. Should a final SBP-endorsed RRA indicate a shift from low risk to specified risk, Certificate Holders will be required to update their Supply Base Evaluation accordingly. A six-month transition period will be granted for Certificate Holder to implement the SBP-endorsed RRA, with compliance verified during the Certification Body’s next surveillance audit.