The World Bank Group (WBG) Forest Action Plan FY16-20 aims to integrate the sustainable management of forests fully into development decisions and define priorities for WBG interventions in the period of 2016-2020. Key actions relevant to wood energy are as follows:

The WBG aims to support modernization of the wood energy sector in developing countries. To do so, a coordinated approach is needed to transform this sector, and actions need to be taken all along the value chain, from the promotion of sustainable production of wood to the dissemination of clean cookstoves. The WBG has recently launched a program on Efficient, Clean Cooking and Heating, under the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program.

This area of intervention is of particular importance in Africa and South Asia. With the right blend of political will, carefully targeted technical and financial support, and a renewed focus on enabling frameworks, the next 5–10 years could be a turning point for the wood-based energy sector. Important new developments include the emergence of new, cleaner cooking solutions (stoves and fuels), innovations in business models, and increased support for the clean cooking agenda from the public health community, governments, and development partners.

In countries in Europe and Central Asia, the WBG will continue supporting expansion of the use of wood-based energy as an alternative and clean source of energy. In Belarus, for example, the Biomass District Heating Project ($90 million) is scaling up the efficient use of renewable biomass in heat and electricity generation, by investing in biomass boilers and wood chipping equipment in some municipalities. This is complemented by the Belarus Forestry Development Project ($43.5 million), which is investing in modern harvesting equipment and wood chippers, to increase the production of woody biomass from forests, through utilization of currently under-thinned young and mid-aged forests and an increase in the use of felling waste for the production of woody biomass.