Many developing country regions are well predisposed to take advantage of the potential of bioenergy both for the purpose of domestic energy use, realising savings on import substitution, as well as by benefiting from exports. Yet, 38 out of 47 of the world's poorest countries remain net oil importers, with 25 of these importing all of their oil.

There, however, are many uncertainties as to how the potential of bioenergy could be harnessed in a sustainable manner. The global demand for energy is extremely huge and can hardly be met by supply from bioenergy. It is therefore critical that policies and mechanisms are in place, which would ensure that meeting such a demand would not lead to further environmental degradation such as deforestation and loss of biodiversity and adverse impacts on food security.

Several international trade issues need to be better understood in terms of their contribution to advancing a sustainable bioenergy agenda - market access for bioenergy, the question of which subsidies should be allowed and which should not, the need for and merit of having social and environmental standards as well as certification schemes.

This event aims to generate innovative thinking and engage key stakeholders in addressing this vast range of opportunities and challenges, assess sustainability challenges and try to identify viable solutions for harnessing the potential of bioenergy as a means of enhancing access to cleaner energy, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and contributing to income generation for improving rural livelihoods.