The Secretariat of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP), which was launched at the 14th Session of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development in May 2006 in New York, opened for business on September 25, 2006. The Secretariat's mandate is to facilitate a global political forum to promote bioenergy and to encourage the production, marketing and use of "green" fuels, with particular focus on developing countries.
In the short term, the Secretariat will update the inventory of existing networks, initiatives and institutions dealing with bioenergy and identify any gaps in knowledge. It will also assist the partners in identifying and implementing bilateral and multilateral projects for sustainable bioenergy development and support the formulation of guidelines for measuring reductions in global warming greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the use of biofuels.
 Current Partners of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) are: all G8 Countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, U.S.A.), China, Mexico, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the UN Foundation, the European Biomass Industry Association (EUBIA) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Italy and Mexico were respectively appointed as Chair and Vice-Chair of GBEP's Steering Committee for the next two years.
For further information, visit: www.fao.org