Member states must follow the European Parliament's lead and oppose the European
Commission's proposal to boost the use of biofuels in transport fuels to 10% by 2020, as part of the EU's Renewable Energy Directive, international agency Oxfam said today.
The EU
Energy Council meet tomorrow (10 October) and its decision will be vital if Europe is to step back from the brink of promoting first-generation biofuels, which are proving so harmful to millions of
people in developing countries.
"Member States must place the needs of poor people and the environment before those of powerful industrial and agricultural lobbies," said Luis
Morago, head of Oxfam's EU office. "Biofuels were meant to be an alternative to oil - a secure source of new transport energy. But instead they are helping to worsen climate change and
stealing crops and land away from food production, destroying millions of livelihoods in the process."
If produced under strict conditions, biofuels may offer some opportunities for
sustainable development, but the Commission's proposals for sustainability standards have fallen far short of what is required. Oxfam calls on EU member states to show the same bold leadership
on biofuel sustainability as the European Parliament, which recently approved a Directive that included comprehensive standards to protect the environment and vulnerable people's land and human
rights, plus a mid-term review that would allow forthe 10% target to be scrapped or reduced if it was found to be harming people's food security.
MEPs also voted to reduce
biofuels' share of the 10% renewable transport target to 6%, with the remainder to come from non-food competing second-generation biofuels such as those from municipal waste, or from electric
cars.
A growing number of international institutions, including the World Bank, IMF and FAO, have identified biofuel policies as one of the main drivers of the current global food crisis which
is estimated to have cost developing countries over â¬218bn ($300bn) in one year, more than three times what they have received in aid, and pushed over 100 million women, men and
children into poverty.
The final agreement between Parliament and member states, which should lead to a redefinition of Community legislation on biofuels, is expected in late 2008 or early
2009.
 / Ends
 For more information:
 Angela Corbalan, Oxfam's EU Media &
Advocacy Officer, + 32 2 231 16 63, + 32 473 56 22 60, angela.corbalan@oxfaminternational.org.
More from the Oxfam Press Office at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/news
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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