EU renewables policy: doubts and flaws

TNI

January 2008

The European Commission’s draft EU Renewable Energy Directive, published today, ignores numerous recent warnings on the environmental and social damage of its proposed 10 per cent target for agrofuel use in the transport sector by 2020.

Major flaws in the Renewables directive include:

The agrofuel target will cause expansion of monocultures, at great cost of livelihoods and ecosystems.

Major flaws in the Renewables directive include:

The agrofuel target will cause expansion of monocultures, at great cost of livelihoods and ecosystems. Displacement and other macro-impacts are not addressed, therefore making any set of criteria ineffective

Most environmental issues (water use, soil degradation, etc.), and all social issues (land conflicts, human rights abuses, working conditions, etc) are excluded from the proposed 'sustainability criteria'

Non-liquid biomass (wood, palm kernel) are excluded from criteria altogether for the next few years.

Where GHG savings are concerned, the Commission actually excludes the implementation of greenhouse gas saving criteria until 1 April 2013 for all agrofuels produced by installations that were operational in January 2008.

Voluntary schemes and bilateral and multilateral agreements may be taken as proof that environmental sustainability criteria have been fulfilled; but these voluntary schemes are not necessarily widely supported by civil society in producer countries, and would now be used to legitimise the expansion of plantions by certifying agrofuels and agro-energy.

Member States are not allowed to set stronger or broader sustainability criteria.

The minimum greenhouse gas saving criteria for bioliquids and other agro-fuels, has been set at a very low level of 35% greenhouse gas saving.

Doubts raised about EU renewables policy

UK Parliamentary committee calls for caution

On Monday 21 January 2008, the UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee called for a moratorium on agrofuel targets because of fears that some agrofuels emit more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, and that habitats such as tropical rainforests are being destroyed in order to plant the new crops. It argues that the Government should instead concentrate on the use of sustainable biofuels such as waste vegetable oil and the development of more efficient biofuel technologies that could have a role to play in the future once they have been shown to be sustainable.

See paragraph 4 of the EAC announcement

Full report

UK Royal Society

On Monday 14 January 2008, the UK Royal Society published a report in which scientists counselled caution, noting that current policies on biofuels risk “failing to deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from transport and could even be environmentally damaging”.

Royal Society Report

JRC study puts policy effectiveness in doubt

An unpublished study by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the EU notes that estimated costs to taxpayers could reach 65 billion euros by 2020; the costs could easily outweigh any real benefits as regards tackling climate change. [note]

Ref: Biofuels in the European Context – Facts, Uncertainties and Recommendations, JRC working paper, December 2007

Environment and Development Commissioners express concerns

Doubts have also within the European Commission. Development Commissioner Michel expressed support for the call by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Jean Ziegler for governments to impose an international moratorium on setting targets for the increased use of agrofuels. Environment Commissioner Dimas admitted to the BBC that the environmental and social problems caused by agrofuels "are bigger than we thought they were".

BBC news report quoting Stavros Dimas

Louis Michel interview

Land use change major cause of GHG emissions

According to the Stern Review, GHG emissions from agriculture were 14 per cent of the global total in 2000, long before biofuels were on the EU's agenda. Stern found that land use change, of which a major proportion is due to deforestation, accounted for 18 per cent of emissions. This means that biofuels and biomass for electricity have the potential to add massively to the very emissions they are meant to reduce. Ongoing work at University of California Berkeley indicates that emissions caused by land use changes and the ‘displacement’effect will be far greater than previously admitted.

University of California report

Traffic growth will cancel out any gains
Meanwhile the growth of EU road traffic shows that any benefits from agrofuels would instantly be swallowed up by traffic growth, especially if the European Parliament caves in to pressure from the car industry to have more time to reduce CO2 emissions. The expansion of industrial agriculture to produce agrofuels will further reduce climate benefits from the use of agrofuels, if any.

Times newspaper report

Press release: Renewables Directive: agrofuel target is ‘irresponsible and unsustainable’

This briefing was issued by:
Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network
Biofuelwatch
Corporate Europe Observatory
Grupo de Reflexion Rural
Econexus
Ecoropa
GM Freeze (UK)
Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations
Munlochy Vigil
NOAH - Friends of the Earth Denmark
Rettet den Regenwald
Salva la Selva
Transnational Institute
World Rainforest Movement