Today, 10 Greenpeace activists unfurled a banner in the ruins of
Peru's Machu Picchu, calling for action -- "DANGER BIOFUELS: SAVE
THE FOREST, SAVE THE CLIMATE"; sending a message to officials
attending the V Summit as well as to those who will attend the
United Nations Biodiversity Summit in Bonn, Germany in four days'
time (2).
In 2003, the European Union agreed that by 2010, 5.75 per cent
of fuels in the EU should come from biofuel; and in 2007 it was
proposed that by 2020, it be mandatory for 10 per cent of all fuel
in the EU to come from biofuel.
"Because the EU has set a biofuel target above its production
capacity, it is looking to Latin America to become a key biofuel
supplier. This will increase environmental degradation across the
region and divert land to growing crops for fuel rather than food,"
said Juan Carlos Villalonga, Greenpeace Argentina Political
Director.
The use of food crops such as corn, soya, rape seed or sugar
cane for the production of biofuels, contributes to the reduction
of arable land available adding pressure, either directly or
indirectly, on tropical rainforests and savannahs.
"The EU must reject these dangerous biofuel targets and focus
instead on ensuring its sources for biofuel are sustainable and do
not threaten forests and other natural land critical to fighting
climate change. By pushing for biofuels as a quick solution to
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, governments in industrialised
countries are creating more problems than solutions," said Wolfgang
Richert Bioenergy Policy Advisor at Greenpeace International.
Greenpeace is calling for the EU and Latin American Summit to
adopt sustainability criteria for the growing of biofuels. To
qualify as sustainable, biofuels must produce at least 60 per cent
fewer greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuel equivalents; not
cause direct or indirect land-use changes; be produced
environmentally and socially responsibly; and must not threaten
food security, particularly in developing countries.
In Latin America and the Caribbean deforestation rates are
amongst the world's highest, with 64 million hectares of forest
destroyed between 1990 and 2005. The destruction of tropical
forests worldwide accounts for approximately 20 per cent of global
greenhouse emissions each year, more than is produced by the entire
global transport sector.
Other contacts: Corinna Hoelzel, Forest Campaigner, Greenpeace Germany (in Lima. Peru): +49 1718 787 833Michael Meyer-Krotz, Action Coordinator (in Cuszo. Peru): +49 1718 780 787Emiliano Ezcurra, Media Officer, Greenpeace Argentina: + 54 11 4551 8811; +54 9 11 6588 4323Wolfgang Richert, Policy Advisor Bioenergy, Greenpeace International: +31 615 093 586
Notes: (1) The V Summit of Heads of State and Government of Latin America, The Caribbean and the European Union takes place on Friday 16 May in Lima, Peru and will be attended by heads of state and government representatives from 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries and 27 European Union countries. The summit will focus on sustainable development including the environment, climate change and energy, as well as poverty, inequality and inclusion.(2) Forest conservation and biofuels are high on the United Nations Biodiversity Summit’s agenda. The Summit is being held in Bonn Germany (19-31 May). In addition to strict controls on biofuel production, Greenpeace is calling for the adoption of a financing mechanism to stop the destruction of tropical forests.