ECOS | Environmental Coalition on Standards

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Nature protection & restoration

Bio-based products

Many industries are shifting towards bio-based alternatives to tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. While biomass is touted as a solution, misconceptions about the bioeconomy exaggerate climate benefits and resource availability and omit biodiversity impacts. ECOS advocates a just and reasoned transition to a bioeconomy. With an emphasis on sufficiency, circularity, regenerative processes, healthy and zero-pollution lifecycles, and climate mitigation, this transition must provide fair opportunities to workers and local communities. This complex balancing act demands a holistic approach. We are addressing barriers and risks in EU and international policies, standards, and certifications for bioeconomy. ECOS helps create more robust and reliable international methodologies that assess the environmental impacts of bio-based products.

What we are working on

  • ECOS calls for improved accounting of the negative impacts from bio- natural resource extraction upon ecosystem functions and services – soil, air, water, and biodiversity.
  • We support implementing the cascading use principle of biomass across policies and standards, improving long-term and circular uses of bio-based resources.
  • ECOS helps develop life-cycle assessment methods for biobased products and processes, including comparisons with fossil or mineral-based counterparts.
  • We evaluate voluntary sustainability standards for certifying the sustainability of bio-based products, ensuring they are fit for purpose and that they provide clear information to consumers.
  • We advocate the inclusion of land use change and proper accounting of GHG emissions and storage in assessment methodologies, including carbon removal certifications.
Related news

  • Can we really talk about a “regenerative” bioeconomy?

    The European Commission is revising the current EU Bioeconomy Strategy and refers to a “regenerative” bioeconomy, suggesting something sustainable - but without an agreed definition, this can lead to misleading claims, or even greenwashing, whilst detracting from ecologically sound approaches.

  • Call for experts – Circular, bio-based construction products

    ECOS is looking for experts in the field of circular bio-based construction to represent and defend environmental interests in the development of standards and related policies. Our experts provide us with technical and scientific input and represent ECOS in standardisation processes and multi-stakeholder discussions.

  • Restoring nature will secure our future – winds of change must set us on the right path

    Nature is all around us – giving and sustaining life. But we must ensure that we see the forest for the trees. The impassioned debate that enveloped the EU’s Nature Restoration Law earlier this month demonstrated the importance of taking a breath and stepping back from the business of our daily routines. We must remember that we owe much to nature. Policymakers and regulators all over the world have a duty to protect it.

Contact person
Samy Porteron
Senior Programme Manager samy.porteron@ecostandard.org

ECOS is co-funded by the European Commission and EFTA Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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