About

DBC was established under the Covenant ‘Duurzaamheid Biomassa’ (Biomass Sustainability), which is part of the Dutch Energy Agreement.

DBC's objective is to promote and accomplish certification among small forest owners (defined as smaller than 500 hectares, or 1200 acres) in North America. This effort supports the agreed goal in the Covenant to reach 100% FSC or equivalent certification of woody biomass.
To reach this goal DBC has designed and implemented a Stimulation Program focused on promoting certification and providing support to small forest owners. In its function and all its activities, DBC is bound to the applicable antitrust and/or competition laws.

The Dutch Energy Agreement was signed in 2013 by a total of 47 stakeholder groups committing themselves to reaching a 14% share of renewable energy in 2020 (and 16% in 2023). Amongst the different measures, it was agreed to deploy biomass cofiring in coal power plants to a maximum of 25 petajoules (PJ) per year.
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The Biomass Covenant (2015) defines sustainability criteria that apply for biomass used in cofiring, and presents  a timeline for reaching 100% FSC or equivalent certification. To support the reaching of this target, the Covenant called for the energy companies to establish DBC to promote and accomplish certification of small forest owners in North America, given that much of the biomass supply for cofiring comes from the US and Canada.