On the sidelines of COP30 in Brazil, Government representatives and industry leaders announced the launch of the Biofuture Platform Declaration on Sustainable Chemicals and Materials, a landmark international statement to accelerate the transition from fossil carbon to sustainable carbon feedstocks in the global chemical industry.
Established in 2016 in Marrakech, Morocco, during COP22, the CEM Biofuture Platform is a 23-country initiative and a key tool for developing and promoting multilateral collaboration and policy debate on the use of biofuels and sustainable bio-based solutions, promoting the exchange of best practices related to technologies, regulatory aspects, and financial support, as well as fostering consensus through information activities.
Except for the United States (US), the Declaration has been endorsed by all Biofuture Platform member countries, representing a major output under the Biofuture Platform Action Plan 2025–2027 and the broader CEM Future Fuels Action Plan.
The Declaration was developed under the auspices of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Biofuture Platform Initiative, through a dedicated Working Group on Sustainable Chemicals and Materials, initiated by the Netherlands.
This milestone comes at a pivotal moment ahead of COP30 and demonstrates the value of strong international collaboration. It represents a vital step for the global transition and for advancing a climate-neutral, circular industry in the Netherlands and beyond. We look forward to further deepening this cooperation and translating these shared ambitions into concrete results, commented Wytske van der Mei, Dutch Ministry of Climate and Green Growth.
Shared international vision
The launch took place during the CEM Future Fuels High-Level Roundtable at the Sustainable Business COP30 in São Paulo, co-hosted by the Clean Energy Ministerial, Brazil’s COP30 Presidency, and Sustainable Business COP30.
The event brought together ministers, senior officials, and business leaders from around the world to discuss practical pathways for implementing COP30 outcomes on sustainable fuels and materials.
The Biofuture Platform Declaration on Sustainable Chemicals and Materials outlines a shared international vision to foster the use of bio-based, recycled, and captured carbon feedstocks, while encouraging innovation, policy alignment, and investment to create resilient and sustainable global supply chains.
It recognises that conventional decarbonisation measures alone are insufficient for the chemical sector, where carbon is a fundamental input, and calls for international collaboration to build a competitive global market for sustainable materials.
The Biofuture Industry Council, which brings together Industry leaders from across the sustainable chemicals value chain, issued a letter to express its support for the Declaration and for ambitious policies and actions to rapidly increase the production and use of sustainable chemicals and materials.
The Declaration sets out principles for joint action in four priority areas:
- Policy and regulatory alignment to promote clear and consistent frameworks for sustainable carbon feedstocks.
- Technology development and scale-up, fostering innovation and technology transfer across participating countries.
- Sustainable supply chain creation, promoting the development of sustainable sources of carbon for the chemical industry, and enhancing transparency and traceability in supply chains.
- Market development and demand stimulation, aligning product standards and certification schemes to promote global trade in sustainable materials.
The Declaration also emphasizes collaboration with existing initiatives such as the Integrated Biorefineries Mission under Mission Innovation, and establishes a Coordination Committee to monitor progress and facilitate dialogue among participants.
This Declaration is the result of the consultation carried out among all Platform members, and is one of the first outcomes of the new Action Plan of the Platform. The future role of Biochemicals and Biomaterials in the Bioeconomy is relevant, and it requires being regulated in the different contexts and to be developed at scale, ensuring the most GHG-performing and sustainable solutions are promoted, commented the Chair of the CEM Biofuture Platform Initiative, Professor David Chiaramonti of the Politecnico di Torino, Italy.
