Critics see problems in EU plan to shift to biofuels
The EU plans to require that a growing percentage of European cars shift to biofuels to ease pressure on the environment; critics charge plan may harm farmers in developing countries
The European Union wants to fight global warming by shifting to biofuels — but a leading aid agency urged the European Union yesterday to ensure that its plans do not hit farmers in poor countries expected to grow the crops needed to run Europe’s cars. Oxfam says the EU should drop its target to ensure 10 percent of its transport fuel comes from energy crops if it cannot guarantee that imports meet environmental and social standards. “EU plans to increase the use of biofuels could spell disaster for some of the world’s poorest people,” Oxfam warned in a statement, saying the energy crop boom could drive farmers off their land. “Ensuring sustainability must come before the 10 percent target, which should not be set in stone,” it said. Critics of the biofuel plan agree.
AP reports that a study from the international aid agency says the EU goal to increase biofuel use by 2020 risks triggering a land grab in Asia, South America, and Africa which could see poor farmers lose their livelihood, lead to the exploitation of workers on large plantations, and reduce the land available for food production. “In the scramble to supply the EU and the rest of the world with biofuels, poor people are getting trampled,” said Robert Bailey, an Oxfam policy adviser. The Oxfam report said the increase of biofuel production could help fight poverty if well managed. It urged the EU to introduce safeguards to protect land rights, ensure labor standards and maintain food security. Yearly checks on the environment and food supply should be introduced and the EU goal should be shifted or changed if biofuel production is proving harmful.
EU officials said the 27-nation union is drawing up economic, social and environmental standards to ensure its green fuel plan does not harm producing nations. “Biofuel should be developed in such a way so that it does not impact negatively on developing countries,” said Barbara Helfferich, environment spokeswoman for the European Commission. Several experts have expressed doubts about the expected biotech boom. Jean Ziegler, the UN independent expert on the right to food, called last week for a five-year moratorium on biofuel production to stop what he called a growing “catastrophe” for the poor. On a visit to EU headquarters in July, though, Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said biofuels offered an opportunity to countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean to claw their way out of poverty.
