With a goal of publishing Version One principles in June, the international Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels gathered input from North American stakeholders in a series of outreach meetings this winter organized by the new RSB Americas Coordinator Matt Rudolf. Comments were sought on the principles outlined in Version Zero, which is also available for comment online at www.bioenergywiki.net. "There's a real feeling internationally that there's a need for standards that [nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)], environmental groups and the biofuels community will feel good about," Rudolf said. "If someone is going to claim this is a sustainably produced biofuel, there is something to base that claim upon."

In anticipation of implementing global sustainability certification, the RSB made changes to its governance structure in January. The open membership will be organized into 11 chambers representing stakeholder groups, including farmers, biofuel producers, biofuel distributors, the financial community, rights-based and environmental NGOs, rural development and food security organizations, climate change organizations, trade unions, indigenous smallholder farmer organizations, and an
11th chamber representing governments, certifiers and consultants. Each chamber will elect two members to a governance board that will be a decision-making body based on consensus.