Over the past couple of years the RSPB has been working with our colleagues in BirdLife Europe to get reform of Europe's regressive biofuels policy. We've also had our work cut our supporting partner organisations, such as Nature Kenya, fighting damaging biofuel developments that are coming forward in response to this policy - like the Dakatcha woodlands, which were threatened by a jatropha plantation (pictured).
This week, EU Ministers had the chance to put restrictions in place to limit the damage of biofuels. Sadly, they didn't take the opportunity. Here's some thoughts from Melanie Coath, the RSPB's biofuel expert, about the decision:
Today saw the collapse of efforts to prevent the use of biofuels which damage wildlife and harm the climate. EU Ministers failed to agree a deal that would have ruled out some of the worst biofuels. Instead, we have an outcome that panders to the most regressive voices: the vested interests of the biofuels industry and those European Governments that support them. The indirect impacts of biofuels can be just as damaging as the direct impacts. When biofuels production displaces food production, this can result in the destruction of natural habitats such as forests and grasslands to make way for new food production. It also results in significant carbon emissions, rendering those biofuels useless in the fight against climate change – which is what they are subsidised for in the first place. Ministers had the opportunity today to limit this damage by restricting the proportion of biofuels produced from food crops and taking account of any carbon released from the displacement of food crops by biofuels. Today's outcome was very disappointing to the RSPB and other environment and development NGOs who have been campaigning hard to get a solution to this problem. We urgently need a more ambitious deal which really addresses the issue. We will be calling on the next Presidency of the European Council to secure this as soon as possible.