PEFC RED II certification receives official recognition by the European Commission

20 January 2025 PEFC system news

The European Commission has officially recognised PEFC as a RED II compliant certification scheme. Companies in the forest biomass supply chain and energy producers from forest biomass fuels will be able to use PEFC RED II certification to comply with RED II obligations.

More specifically, PEFC RED II certification has been formally recognised by the European Commission (EC) to demonstrate the compliance of consignments of biomass fuels derived from forest biomass, ligno-cellulosic processing residues from forest related industries, and ligno-cellulosic waste with the sustainability criteria laid down in Article 29(6) and (7) of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). 

The decision was published on 20 December 2024 in the Official Journal of the European Union.

PEFC RED II certification has also been recognised to provide accurate data on greenhouse gas emissions savings for the purpose of Article 29(10) of RED II, as it ensures that all relevant information from economic operators upstream in the chain of custody is transferred to the economic operators downstream in the chain of custody. 

This Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/3181 recognising the PEFC RED II scheme has the validity of five years until 21 December 2029.

PEFC RED II certification

PEFC RED II certification enables PEFC chain of custody certified organisations seeking RED II compliance to obtain a PEFC RED II certificate and use the PEFC certification scheme to demonstrate that the forest biomass, ligno-cellulosic processing residues from forest related industries, and ligno-cellulosic waste they use meets the relevant RED II sustainability criteria. 

Organisations that are not yet PEFC chain of custody certified and wish to use the PEFC RED II tool as evidence to meet their RED II obligations, will be able to obtain a PEFC chain of custody certificate and a PEFC RED II certificate at the same time.

Discover the benefits of PEFC RED II certification to your business:

In December 2024, we held a special webinar highlighting what PEFC RED II certification involves for current and potential certificate holders, as well as highlighting the benefits that this new certification offers companies in the forest biomass industry. 

If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording below:

Recognition process and next step

Before gaining the formal recognition at the end of 2024, we achieved the positive technical assessment of the PEFC RED II standards by the EC on 11 October 2024.

With PEFC’s recognition, the availability of RED II voluntary tools (list to be updated shortly) that cover forest biomass has increased, allowing businesses to choose among the schemes that will best address their respective needs. 

Looking ahead, the EC has progressed with the implementation of the RED III directive, a successor of RED II, and invited the recognised voluntary schemes to start transitioning towards RED III requirements by submitting updated scheme documentation. As a recognised voluntary scheme, we are in the re-evaluation process under RED III. We anticipate that this process will take a considerable amount of time, although the precise duration is yet to be determined.

Stay up to date on the latest PEFC RED II news

Visit the PEFC RED II website for all the latest news, PEFC RED II tools, dates for upcoming webinars, and recordings from previous webinars.

If you want the latest PEFC RED II information mailed directly to your inbox, you can sign up to the PEFC Technical Matters newsletter.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn, where we post all the latest PEFC RED II news.

Finally, if you have any questions or queries, you can reach out to us at red@pefc.org and our experts will be able to get back to you.