Biogenic Carbon Project
The Biogenic Carbon Project aims to use an expert-led multi-stakeholder process to develop a recommendation that brings harmonisation, stability, verifiability and enhanced credibility of LCA results for bio-based products. The goal is that the recommendation would have a global reach and impact by making available consistent and stable information about the climate impacts of bio-based products to decision-makers.
Key Documents (added 20.02.2026)
Announcement
Phase 2 of the project commenced in November 2025.
Call for experts: Experts interested in contributing to the project can send their expressions of interest to Adam Robertson and copy to Llorenç Milá i Canals.
Call for pilot testing: Organizations interested in pilot testing the guidelines are requested to get in touch with the project focal point. UNEP would like to engage organizations to pilot test the recommendations and guidance and solicit feedback during the final stage of the development process. The pilot testing is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2027.
Biogenic carbon refers to carbon that is derived from material of biological origin, excluding material embedded in geological formations and material transformed to fossilized material. Biogenic carbon is found in a variety of natural materials, such as trees, plants, and other forms of biomass, and accumulates in pools such as soil organic carbon.
For any questions related to this project, email Llorenç Milà i Canals and Adam Robertson.
A) Consensus Building Process Towards Recommendations
Phase 1: Progress report (March 2024 – March 2025)
Phase 1 of the Biogenic Carbon Project ran from March 2024 to March 2025 and included preparatory work in working groups, contributed in-kind by experts in this field of study and from the main sectors. Stakeholders were invited to four rounds of meetings across four working groups and two workshops.
The first set of meetings and a workshop (May-July 2024) focused on identifying existing options used for biogenic carbon accounting and framing/structuring them, with three topic-focused working groups (i.e., temporal aspects; end of life including reuse/recycling; system boundaries) and a fourth working group addressing standards and adoption barriers. A set of qualities to compare options was developed during the workshop.
A second set of meetings and a workshop (September-October 2024) assessed the options discussed earlier to identify issues and concerns, including consideration of implementation in existing standards and the possibility of implementation in future guidelines and recommendations.
The result of Phase 1 was a first draft of the paper shared with Working Group members and cumulative summary in the form of progress report shared with the project TAC.
Phase 2: Development of guidance and recommendations (November 2025 onwards)
Phase 2 will take feedback from Phase 1 meetings and the Phase 1 progress report to develop guidance and recommendations that can be applied consistently by LCA practitioners across multiple product sectors.
Scope of work (among other activities):
- Review & analyze Phase 1 findings: review Phase 1 outputs and feedback; distinguish science-based findings vs stakeholder perspectives; identify key issues/concerns/solutions.
- Develop initial draft recommendations: draft best-practice recommendations; consider categories of best practices; integrate case studies/real-world examples; prepare a document for stakeholder feedback.
- Stakeholder engagement & consensus-building: engage new/existing members with broad representation; establish comment submission/resolution process; run online meetings/workshops/conference sessions across regions; analyze feedback for agreement/disagreement/biases.
- Revise & refine recommendations: incorporate feedback; iterative reviews with support of the Steering Committee and TAC; submit drafts for independent expert review.
- Road testing: develop pilot requirements; identify pilot testers; conduct road testing; collect comments; revise based on pilot feedback.
- Finalize & publish: share draft for technical/communication comments; plan additional consultations if needed; publish final report upon approval of Life Cycle Initiative Steering Committee.
- Dissemination: Disseminate through webinars and presentations at relevant events; in-person presentations considered based on budget.
B) Governance Structure & Process Update
The project sits within the overall governance structure of the Life Cycle Initiative, available in the Initiative’s strategy document. In the Biogenic Carbon project governance, the Steering Committee (SC), with support from the Secretariat, appointed the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which in turn selected the Implementing Partner contracted by the Secretariat to manage and execute the project. The Secretariat and the implementing partner, with recommendations / suggestions from the TAC and the SC, identify experts for the Working Groups (WGs), which will contribute to the development of guidelines.
The TAC will oversee an independent review of the outcome document from the consensus-building process, and will express a technical opinion to the Steering Committee as to whether the recommendations are solid enough for endorsement by the Initiative.
The work of the TAC and of the WG is in-kind, while the Implementing Partner has a contractual agreement with UNEP.
Technical Advisory Committee
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) is a group of 15 subject matter experts that provides technical guidance and advice on the direction of the project. The TAC was formed early in the project and will meet on an approximately monthly basis to review progress, advise on overall direction, and input into specific topics.
In the project’s consensus-building approach, Life Cycle Initiative and the TAC also have defined roles in assessing progress toward consensus, including determining whether “sustained opposition” exists and assessing whether consensus has been reached.
During Phase 2, iterative reviews will be conducted with the support of the Life Cycle Initiative Steering Committee and the TAC, and that drafts will be submitted for independent expert review to ensure technical quality and consistency. Phase 1 deliverables referenced in Phase 2 include outputs received from the University of Bath (Phase 1 Implementing Partner).
| Name | Organisation |
|---|---|
| Ana Morao | Corbion |
| Angel Avadi | CIRAD |
| An Maria De Schryver | PRé Sustainability |
| Annette Cowie | NSW Department of Primary Industries |
| Annie Levasseur | Quebec University |
| Caroline Gaudreault | Independent Expert |
| Cécile Bessou | CIRAD |
| Edie Sonne Hall | Three trees consulting |
| Kevin Harding | University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) – School of Chemical & Metallurgical Engineering |
| Mirjam Roeder | Aston University; Energy & Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI) |
| Susanna Andreasi Bassi | European Commission Joint Research Centre |
Working Groups
In Phase 1, significant interest from stakeholders resulted in over 160 nominations to participate in the working groups. These nominations were divided into four Working Groups (WG) based on individual preferences and indications of interest (participant distribution and meeting schedule provided below).
WG1: Temporal aspects (timing of flows; characterisation/impact factors; uncertainty)
WG2: End-of-life assessment (transfer across product systems; reuse/recycling; consistency across life cycles; end-of-life (EoL) uncertainty)
WG3: System boundaries (system expansion/counterfactuals; cradle-to-gate interpretation; land-use change/soil organic carbon considerations)
WG4: Standards and adoption barriers (sector standards; feasibility of generic guidance; institutional barriers; alignment with non-LCA standards)
The meetings of the Working Groups address several key points, including divergent practices in dealing with topics of the WG, variations between industries, specific examples illustrating these practices, the rationale and evidence behind the identified different approaches, etc. The aim of these discussions is to gain a clearer understanding of the issues towards the development of the recommendations and guidance.
Figure 1 below provides a comprehensive analysis of the distribution of individuals who are actively engaged in these working groups as they kick off. The objective was to achieve balanced geographic, industry, and gender representation. It is acknowledged that this aim has not been fully achieved, particularly with under-representation from Asia, Africa, Oceania and females. Suggestions for improvement are invited. (Note that participants had the opportunity to select multiple sectors in the sectoral distribution.)
Figure 1: Analysis of Working Group Participant representation
C) Contact
For any questions related to this project, email Llorenç Milá i Canals and Adam Robertson.
D) Funding Partners
The work of the Life Cycle Initiative, including this project, is made possible through the generous support of our annual funding partners. We express our gratitude to the following funding partners for their specific contribution to this project.
Opportunities for funding phase 2 (between November 2025 and December 2027) remain available, as the project’s total funding needs have not yet been fully achieved.