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New report shows EU biofuel policy likely to cause worldwide environmental destruction

06-05-2008

The EU’s biofuel policy is likely to cause large-scale environmental harm across the world, according to a new report [1] published today by BirdLife International [2]. The report is coming out ahead of revised proposals for sustainability standards in European legislation which remain disappointingly weak.

The report presents real life cases, from across the world, where the production of biofuel feed stocks is leading to the clearing of natural habitats. It examines the potential for future damage by analysing these case studies against the “sustainability standards” [3] proposed by the European Commission, which are supposed only to allow “sustainable biofuels” to be allowed into the EU market.

The results of BirdLife’s analysis show that even the most severe cases of environmental destruction would still be considered as “sustainable” under the proposed EU legislation. This means that if the target (10% of all fuels will be biofuels by 2020) goes ahead as planned, the EU will be responsible for further precipitating the global sustainability crisis.

"The Commission claims that the biofuel target will be met in a sustainable way, our report clearly shows that this is not the case. EU governments must look reality in the face and make a U-turn on this deeply flawed policy" —Ariel Brunner, EU Agriculture Policy Officer

The major failing of the Commission proposal is that it ignores indirect effects of biofuel production such as increased consumption of EU oil-seed rape driving up demand for South-East Asian palm oil or US corn ethanol subsidies driving soya expansion in the Amazon.

The standards would also fail to protect key wildlife habitats such as set-aside [4] in Europe or precious wetlands such as the Tana River Delta in Kenya.

BirdLife launched its study ahead of Wednesday’s Council discussions (COREPER) where the sustainability standards will be on the agenda. Leaked documents [5] suggest that the Council is unlikely to bring significant improvements to the Commission’s proposal criticised in the report.

BirdLife International urges the Council not to green-wash a self-defeating and illogical biofuel target by adopting fake sustainability standards. Therefore, BirdLife calls upon EU decision makers to:

Drop the 10% biofuel target
Focus on reducing transport use
Enforce strict efficiency standards on cars
Force oil companies to clean up their fossil fuels (by phasing out flaring and by not using tar sands [6] and investing in more efficient refining technology)
Adopt strong sustainability criteria for all bioenergy, whether used for transport or heating or electricity. These standards should include a minimum of 60% of greenhouse gas savings, and need to be accompanied by effective social and environmental criteria
Indirect land use change, which means, biofuels displacing food production which then move into natural habitats such as rainforest, should not be ignored but factored into the sustainability standards.

Ariel Brunner, EU Agricultural Policy Officer, stated: “The Commission claims that the biofuel target will be met in a sustainable way but our report clearly shows that this is not the case. EU governments must look reality in the face and make a U-turn on this deeply flawed policy.”

Click here to download the report.

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ENDS

Contact

Ariel Brunner, EU Agriculture Policy Officer, BirdLife European Division, Brussels, ariel.brunner@birdlife.org, +32 2 280 08 30

Herlinde Herpoel, Media & Communication Officer, BirdLife European Division, Brussels, Herlinde.Herpoel@birdlife.org, +32 494 542 844

Notes for the editor

[1] The report ‘Fuelling the ecological crisis – six examples of habitat destruction driven by biofuels’ can be downloaded by clicking here.

[2] BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. BirdLife Partners operate in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide. BirdLife International is represented in 43 countries in Europe and is active in all EU Member States.

[3] Biofuels are to account for 10 per cent of transport fuels by 2020 under the draft Renewable Energy Directive.

[4] The set-aside scheme is a system whereby in the past land was taken out of production to reduce the risk of food surpluses, which proved to be an opportunity for environmental benefits

[5] The Council working party’s draft sustainability standard document

[6] Tar sands: non conventional source of oil mainly exploited in Alberta, Canada. Fuel produced from Tar sands causes greenhouse gas emissions which are several times higher than fuel from conventional oil.