The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will soon issue a regulation governing how carbon dioxide emissions from wood burned for energy (“biomass”) will be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
Depending on who you ask, biomass is either worse than fossil fuels and helps to destroy our forests, or it is a climate friendly substitute for fossil energy. Both views, of course, cannot be true. We need to get off fossil fuels and move to protect and grow our forests. Is it possible to have a forest biomass policy approach that is good for forests and helps combat climate change? We think so.
Forests will play a central role in any effort to address climate change. Globally, deforestation accounts for a substantial share of the 23 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the land sector. In the U.S., forests actually absorb the equivalent of about 15 percent of annual fossil fuel GHG emissions. Everyone agrees that growing trees is good for the climate; there is tremendous disagreement, however, on whether we should use some of our forest products to produce energy. If properly done, forest bioenergy can produce a win-win for forests and the climate.
CIRSD Vice President Participates at International Conference on Responsible Management Education
Belgrade, October 2025 — CIRSD Vice President Stefan Jovanović participated in the 12th Responsible Management Education Research Conference (RMERC), held last week in Belgrade. The event was organized by the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, and the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Anti-Poverty Working Group, bringing together representatives from academia, the business community, and international organizations from around the world.
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Maria Fernanda Espinosa Calls for Stronger Preventive Diplomacy as the UN Marks its 80th Anniversary
As the United Nations commemorates its 80th anniversary, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the UN General Assembly and Co-Chair of the Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative (GPDI), spoke to CGTN’s flagship program The Agenda about the urgent need to modernize the UN and make preventive diplomacy the central pillar of its peace and security agenda.
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CIRSD and NGIC Coorganize a High-Level Conference at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna
Vienna, October 21, 2025 — The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC), convened a high-level international conference titled “Shifting Grounds: The Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe in a New Global Order”, in partnership with the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.
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Vuk Jeremić Addresses the China Institute’s Thinkers Forum on the Future of the World Order
Shanghai, October 2025 — President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) Vuk Jeremić, took part in the Thinkers Forum organized by the China Institute, marking the jubilee 10th anniversary of this distinguished institution.
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