Urgent Agrofuels Action: Write to your MEPs!
The European Parliament is about to vote on agrofuels. If you live in the EU, please write to the MEPs for your area.
An example letter is given below.
What's the problem with agrofuels?
Bad for the climate
When the impacts of indirect land use change (ILUC) are accounted for, most agrofuels mean more, not less, carbon emissions. When peatland is considered, palm oil from Indonesia becomes one of the dirtiest fuels around, far more carbon intensive than fossil diesel. Existing agrofuels policy ignores this.
Land-grabbing, human rights abuses, conflicts
Millions of hectares of land are being grabbed from communities in countries like Indonesia to meet Europe's growing demand for agrofuels. Indigenous Peoples' right to Free Prior and Informed Consent is not respected. Security forces are brought in to deal with community opposition to landgrabbing by large companies, leading to violent conflicts and human rights violations.
Bad for biodiversity and environment
Indonesia's precious forests and biodiversity are under serious threat from massive palm oil expansion – driven partly by Europe's agrofuels demand. Endangered orangutans lose their habitats as forests are converted into palm oil. Illegal burning creates smog choking Indonesia and nearby. Intensive agriculture and chemical use on plantations causes river pollution, water scarcity, soil degradation and health problems for plantation workers.
Don't make business or development sense
Huge agrofuels industry subsidies paid for by Europe's tax payers created only 3600 direct jobs across Europe in 2011, while leading to forest destruction and higher GHG emissions. This contradicts EU economic and political efforts aimed at reducing Indonesian deforestation. Growing public concern about negative impacts makes agrofuels a risky business investment and undermines the EU's duty to conduct "responsible development".
What can you do about it?
If you live in the EU, please write to your MEP and urge them to use their vote to secure:
- Accounting of all CO2 emissions resulting from agrofuel crops, with crop-specific ILUC factors applied to the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED) as well as the Fuel Quality Direcive (FQD). This is the best policy option to dis-incentivize agrofuels (like palm oil) that are counter-productive in reducing CO2.
- A halt to the rapid expansion of agrofuels, with a robust cap, the lowest possible (i.e. 5% or less) applied to the RED and the FQD.
Please also ask them to push for these next steps:
- An independent social and environmental impact assessment of EU agrofuels policies on countries such as Indonesia – with a view to developing mandatory sustainability criteria to exclude any agrofuels or agrofuel feedstocks imported into the EU that do not meet environmental and human rights standards, and fair trade principles.
- Policy steps towards a phase out of all land-based agrofuels, and a phase out of subsidies, to bring their consumption down to zero as soon as possible.
- The introduction of policy incentives which put our transport onto a genuinely green path. Overall, policies which focus on greenhouse gas reductions, big energy savings, and modal shift in transport will be a more effective means of climate change mitigation, without the social and environmental costs of agrofuels.
For a full briefing on agrofuels and Indonesia by to Earth, 11.11.11. , Watch Indonesia!,Friends of the Earth Europe, WALHI, Sawit Watch and Misereor click here.
| Example letter: NB Your region will have several MEPs representing it. To find contact details for your region's MEPs follow the link below. Click on your country on the map and find your region from the drop-down constituencies" list. Click on each individual MEP to get their email address. This is on the lower right-hand side of the page. Start here. Dear [MEP name],
I am writing to you about the parliamentary vote on agrofuels in Strasbourg next week. I am concerned by the severe social and environmental impacts, including human rights impacts, of Europe's agrofuels policies in supplier countries such as Indonesia. As an EU citizen, I am also concerned to hear that the EU has invested between Euros 5.5 bn 6.9 bn of tax payers' money in subsidies for the agrofuels industry. I urge you to support policy amendments, which ensure: - Accounting of all CO2 emissions resulting from agrofuel crops, with crop-specific ILUC factors applied to the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED) as well as the Fuel Quality Direcive (FQD). This is the best policy option to dis-incentivize agrofuels (like palm oil) that are counter-productive in reducing CO2.
- A halt to the rapid expansion of land-based agrofuels, with a robust cap, the lowest possible (i.e. 5% or less) applied to the RED and the FQD.
I would also urge you to push for these next steps:
- An independent social and environmental impact assessment of EU agrofuels policies on countries such as Indonesia – with a view to developing mandatory sustainability criteria to exclude any agrofuels or agrofuel feedstocks imported into the EU that do not meet environmental and human rights standards, and fair trade principles.
- Policy steps towards a phase out of all land-based agrofuels, and a phase out of subsidies, to bring their consumption down to zero as soon as possible.
- The introduction of policy incentives which put our transport onto a genuinely green path. Overall, policies which focus on greenhouse gas reductions, big energy savings, and modal shift in transport will be a more effective means of climate change mitigation, without the social and environmental costs of agrofuels.
I look forward to hearing from you on this urgent matter,
Yours sincerely,
[your name and address]
Please email us at mailto:dte@gn.apc.org?subject=agrofuel%20MEP%20campaign%20letterto let us know you have sent a letter, and also please send us a copy of any reply you receive from your MEPs. Thank you very much! |
For further information about the campaign contact: dteproguk@gn.apc.org
September 3rd, 2013
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