BioFuels Watch: Environmental Groups Condemn IPCC Call For Large Scale Biofuels as a Climate Disaster In The Making
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 4, 2007
2:16 PM
|
CONTACT: BioFuels Watch
Almuth Ernsting, Biofuelwatch, UK: +44 -(0)1224 324797
|
| |
|
IPCC Assessment report: Environmental Groups Condemn IPCC Call For Large Scale Biofuels as a Climate Disaster In The Making
|
| |
The IPCC Assessment Report Four has made a compelling case on what global warming means to the planet this century. It is the IPCC´s strongest warning yet that
drastic cuts in
carbon emissions are vital if we are to avoid a catastrophic acceleration of
climate change.
Environmental groups are, however, deeply concerned that the IPCC's Summary for
Policy
Makers on climate mitigation, released earlier today, includes a recommendation
for large-
scale expansion of biofuels from monocultures, including from GM crops, even
though
monoculture expansion is a driving force behind the destruction of rainforests
and other
carbon sinks and reservoirs, thus accelerating climate change. The IPCC also
recommend
the expansion of large-scale agroforestry monoculture plantations. These plantations,
which
will include GM trees, are similarly linked to ecosystem destruction. Monoculture
expansion
is a major threat to the livelihoods and food sovereignty of communities many
of which are
already bearing the brunt of climate change disasters caused largely by the fossil
fuel emissions
of industrialised countries.
Almuth Ernsting of Biofuelwatch stated: "It is already clear that the burgeoning
demand for
biofuels that has been created to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is actually
increasing
them by deforestation in the tropics and accelerating climate change. So far,
only 1% of
global transport fuel comes from biofuels, yet already biofuels cause steep rises
in grain and
vegetable oil prices, threatening the food security of poor people and spurring
agricultural
expansion into forests and grasslands, on which we depend for a stable climate".
The IPCC recommend second generation GM biofuels, which are widely believed to
be at
least 10-15 years away from commercialisation. There are serious concerns about
the risks
involved in technologies which will rely heavily on GM microbes and fungi for
the refining
process, as well as GM crops and trees.
Mayer Hillman, senior fellow emeritus at Policy Studies Institute said: "There
is an inherent
and acutely serious problem within the report. On the one hand, it leaves us
in no doubt to
how vital conservation of the planet´s ecosystems and carbon sinks are to averting
the worst
predictions made in the previous sections of the report. On the other, it proposes
the large
scale use of the biosphere to satisfy demand in the transport and energy sectors."
Simone
Lovera, managing coordinator of the Global Forest Coalition, a worldwide coalition
of NGOs
and Indigenous Peoples Organizations added: "It is difficult to see how an emphasis
on
protecting rainforests and curbing deforestation is compatible with using biofuels
as a
solution to climate change when there are no policy instruments that guarantee
biofuel
expansion without accelerating deforestation."
The IPCC report would appear to suggest that the climate can be stabilised at
a safe level
without reducing growth. The signatories to the press release believe that only
large-scale
reductions in energy use in the industrial nations, together with investment
in sustainable
forms of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, can avoid the worst
impacts of
climate change.
Contacts:
Almuth Ernsting, Biofuelwatch, UK: +44 -(0)1224 324797 (mornings and evenings);
01224
553195 (afternoons).
Simone Lovera, Global Forest Coalition (Paraguay office) +595-(0)21-663654 (English, Spanish and Dutch)
Anthony Jackson, Munlochy Vigil, UK +44-1381-610740
Helena Paul, Econexus,, UK +44-(0)20 7431 4357
1. For details of the signatory organisations see:
Global Forest Coalition: www.wrm.org.uy/gfc ;
Biofuelwatch: www.biofuelwatch.org.uk;
Global Justice Ecology Project: www.globaljusticeecology.org ;
Grupo de Reflexion
Rural:
www.grr.org.ar ;
Rettet den Regenwald e.V.: www.regenwald.org ;
Econexus: www.econexus.info;
Munlochy Vigil: www.munlochygmvigil.org.uk ;
Noah: www.noah.dk/english.html ;
Corporate Europe Observatory: www.noah.dk/english.html;
Gaia
Foundation: http://www.gaiafoundation.org/
2. Indonesia´s biofuel plans, are set to expand Palm Oil production 43-fold [tinyurl.com/33lb7r] and threaten most of that country´s remaining rainforests
and peatlands.
If those plans are implemented, up to 50 billion tonnes of carbon are likely
to be released into
the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of over six years of global fossil fuel
burning would
clearly stand in the way of our common objective of stabilizing the climate before
feedback
mechanisms make this impossible.
3. NASA have shown that the rate of Amazon deforestation directly correlates
with the world
market price of soya [tinyurl.com/2pfga4] That price is expected to rise sharply
as demand
for soya biodiesel grows. Soya expansion is linked to deforestation not just
in the Amazon but
also elsewhere, including the Pantanal, South America´s Atlantic Forest and a
portion of the
Paranaense forest in Paraguay and North of Argentina. In Argentina, more than
500000 ht of
forest land were converted to soya plantations between 1998 to 2002 [tinyurl.com/28upep].
4. Governments like the Brazilian government claim that they will only expand
on degraded
lands. The Brazilian National Agro-energy Plan has qualified no less than 200
million
hectares of Brazilian territory as "degraded" and thus suitable for the expansion
of biofuel
monocultures. However, most of these so-called "degraded" lands are either biologically
rich
dry forest or grassland ecosystems that form the livelihood basis of Indigenous
Peoples and
other local communities, or lands that are used for cattle ranching or small-scale
subsistence
farming. If these lands are taken over by biofuel plantations, cattle ranches
and small farms
will be forced to move further into the Amazon and Atlantic forests and other
precious
ecosystems, causing accelerated deforestation.
5. From The UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report:
"human actions are depleting Earth´s natural capital, putting such strain on
the environment
that the ability of the planet´s ecosystems to sustain future generations can
no longer be
taken for granted. At the same time, the assessment shows that with appropriate
actions it is
possible to reverse the degradation of many ecosystem services over the next
50 years, but
the changes in policy and practice required are substantial and not currently
underway."
"Although individual ecosystem services have been assessed previously, the finding
that 60%
of a group of 24 ecosystem services examined by the MA are being degraded is
the first
comprehensive audit of the status of Earth´s natural capital." http://www.maweb.org/en/Article.aspx?id=58
6. The main GM crops (soya, maize and oilseed rape) are already being used for
biofuels,
leading to competition between food/animal feed and fuel production, notably
with maize in
the US. There is strong evidence [tinyurl.com/35o36j] of the genetically modified
RR soya
undermining food sovereignty and security in Argentina and being linked to accelerated deforestation and biodiversity losses, including in the Gran Chaco forest, which
remained
fairly intact prior to the advent of GM soya. GM soya depends on widespread
use of
pesticides, which encourages herbicide-resistant weeds. For further information
about the
negative impacts of GM crops, including cross pollination and GM contamination,
see
www.econexus.info and www.gmfreeze.org .
7. The US Department of Energy website [tinyurl.com/2phn7z] details the fundamental barriers to producing cellulosic ethanol which yields more energy than is used
in the refining
process. It is not known whether those barriers can ever be overcome. The aim
of cellulosic
ethanol research is to create GM plants with reduced lignin, and to create enzymes
through
GM technologies which can effectively break down cellulose and hemicellulose,
fundamental
building blocks of plants, on which all higher life forms depend. No risk assessment
has ever
been carried out. For further information, see tinyurl.com/2vhzow.
### |
|
Printer Friendly Version
E-Mail This Article
