Stakeholder Engagement in Developing a Sustainable Biomass Policy for Japan

Abstract

Japan has just decided (June 2012) the initial conditions for a new policy to encourage renewable energy based on a Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) system. This paper describes an attempt to influence the regulations covering solid biomass, and to advocate that the criteria used in the FIT system give adequate recognition to sustainability. The approach used a stakeholder engagement process to develop a consensus among non-governmental stakeholders on the sustainability criteria which should be applied, before attempting to influence the regulatory process by a combination of direct contacts in the regulatory process and wider publicity. Despite this effort, the regulatory decision ignored several critical issues related to sustainability. This paper describes the rationale behind this project, the process used and its results, and assesses its influence on the regulatory process.