A new study has found that an area over four times the size of Swaziland (69 000 square kilometres) will need to be converted into fields and plantations to meet Europe's planned bio fuel use. And that's bad news for Africa's forests, natural ecosystems, and poorer communities which are already under threat.
Laura Sullivan from ActionAid: “The EU plans effectively give companies a blank cheque to continue grabbing land from the world’s poor to grow biofuels to fill our tanks rather than food to fill their stomachs. Europe’s energy policies are putting millions of people in danger, threatening Africa’s fragile food security”.
Research findings
Banner Action during EU Africa Summit in Lisbon
Activists occupy and erect banners on the cable car supports, along the waterfront in Lisbon, Portugal. Banners reading: ‘Save the Climate, save African forests’ are displayed in view of the building where a joint summit of African and European leaders is being held.
The new research analyses for the first time biofuel use planned by the EU’s member states in their renewable energy plans [2], and concludes that:
The research, commissioned by a coalition of environmental and development organisations [3], comes at a key time for EU biofuel policy, with the European Commission due to report on how to address and minimise these emissions by the end of the year.
Biofuel no better than fossil fuel
The groups are calling on EU governments and the European Commission to review urgently the real impacts of biofuels on climate change and food security, and to prioritise energy efficiency in transport. New legislation must take account of the full carbon footprint of biofuels by introducing indirect land use change ‘factors’.
Nusa Urbancic of Transport & Environment said: “This research shows that EU biofuels targets are putting climate policy for transport in reverse gear. Until indirect land use change is fully taken into account, Europe will continue to subsidise an alternative energy that is no better than the fossil fuels it is designed to replace.”
Greenpeace's Forest Campaigner, Rene Ngongo, said: "This abuse of our forests gives rise to global warming, which marginalises many families and communities that depend on the forests' resources for their survival. Depleting them is not an option. Now's the time for more sustainable solutions, the time to think about the future."
NOTES:
[1] Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP). November 2010. ‘Anticipated Indirect Land Use Change Associated with Expanded Use of Biofuels in the EU: An Analysis of Member State Performance’. Author: Catherine Bowyer, Senior Policy Analyst. http://www.ieep.eu
[2] The study analyses the 23 plans that had been submitted by October 2010 (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK). http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/action_plan_en.htm. This forms part of the EU Renewable Energy Directive.
[3] The organisations are: ActionAid, BirdLife International, ClientEarth, European Environmental Bureau, FERN, Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, Transport & Environment, Wetlands International.
A new study has found that an area over four times the size of Swaziland (69 000 square kilometres) will need to be converted into fields and plantations to meet Europe's planned bio fuel use. And that's bad news for Africa's forests, natural ecosystems, and poorer communities which are already under threat.
Laura Sullivan from ActionAid: “The EU plans effectively give companies a blank cheque to continue grabbing land from the world’s poor to grow biofuels to fill our tanks rather than food to fill their stomachs. Europe’s energy policies are putting millions of people in danger, threatening Africa’s fragile food security”.
The new research analyses for the first time biofuel use planned by the EU’s member states in their renewable energy plans [2], and concludes that:
The research, commissioned by a coalition of environmental and development organisations [3], comes at a key time for EU biofuel policy, with the European Commission due to report on how to address and minimise these emissions by the end of the year.
The groups are calling on EU governments and the European Commission to review urgently the real impacts of biofuels on climate change and food security, and to prioritise energy efficiency in transport. New legislation must take account of the full carbon footprint of biofuels by introducing indirect land use change ‘factors’.
Nusa Urbancic of Transport & Environment said: “This research shows that EU biofuels targets are putting climate policy for transport in reverse gear. Until indirect land use change is fully taken into account, Europe will continue to subsidise an alternative energy that is no better than the fossil fuels it is designed to replace.”
Greenpeace's Forest Campaigner, Rene Ngongo, said: "This abuse of our forests gives rise to global warming, which marginalises many families and communities that depend on the forests' resources for their survival. Depleting them is not an option. Now's the time for more sustainable solutions, the time to think about the future."