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Submission to the European Commission regarding indirect land use change due to biofuels
Language(s):
English , Contact person:
Jill Heyde
, Author(s): Wetlands International, Birdlife, ActionAid, T&E, BEEB, Friends of the Earth Europe, Oxfam
This is the joint submission of the EU Biofuels Coalition on the Issue of indirect land use change (ILUC) in relation to the growing demands for biofuels.
Description:
This submission is made to the European Commission, following the EU document with options for dealing with greenhouse gas emissions from Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) due to biofuels.
The increase in demand for biofuels due to the EU biofuels directive will lead to an increased global demand for ethanol and vegetable oils (biodiessel). Production of these may not all take place in newly reclaimed areas like forests and wetlands, but the increase in demands will lead indirectly to loss of ecosystems.
Till example
The demand in the EU for biodiessel will mostly be met by the domestic rapeseed production. The food sector, that used to use rapeseed oil, is as a result turning to palm oil. Production of palm oil leads to massive deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia and to the loss of peatswamps [ link], causing biodiversity and carbon losses.
Additional policies
To address these effects of the EU biofuel directive, the European Parlimanent has requested the European Commission to develop additional policies (in process in 2009 - 2010, to submit to the European Parliament by December 2010). Attached the recommendations on this of the network of NGOs including Wetlands International.