EU must stop bio-fuelling injustice and hunger in Africa
Brussels, 28/02/2012 -- The European Union's biofuel policy continues to threaten food security and increase land grabs in Africa, shows a new report '(Bio)fuelling injustice: Europe's responsibility to counter climate change without provoking land grabbing and compounding food insecurity in Africa,' released today in Brussels by the EuropAfrica platform and FIAN International.
The report is released as the EU is set to review its biofuel policy in 2012 in line with environmental/ecological impacts.
“Imported industrial biofuels for European renewable energy exacerbate land grabs in Africa and fuel violations of the right to food,” said Nora McKeon, coordinator of EuropAfrica. “The EU has to realise that its energy and agricultural policies have global impacts, often affecting the most vulnerable in poor countries. Decision makers cannot ignore the evidence; it’s time for a total re-think of biofuel policy.”
The report shows that 66% of the land grabs in Africa, some 18.8 million hectares, are intended for biofuel production. Among the biggest investors are companies from Europe, as case studies from Senegal and Mali show, with European investments likely to increase further.
Despite contrary claims, the EU is highly dependent on imports. Already in 2008, the EU imported almost 40 percent of its biofuels or biofuel feedstock.
“The European Union’s biofuel policy explicitly encourages increased production worldwide, imposing an export-oriented industrial farming model on food insecure countries,” Roman Herre of FIAN explained. “The policy does not provide any protection from land grabs in countries affected by hunger, which should be discouraged from producing biofuels destined for the European Union.”
The study further finds that the EU and its Member States violate their human rights obligations by not having conducted an adequate assessment of the impact of the biofuel policy on human rights and by not regulating European companies and financial actors. The analysis shows that the EU violates its own principle on Policy Coherence for Development.
“We want to grow food for people in Africa, not for fuelling cars in Europe, said Marius Dia of CNCR (Conseil National de Concertation et de Coopération des ruraux du Sénégal), the National Council for Dialogue and Cooperation of Rural Senegal. “The switch to biofuel crops in Senegal has been a failure. Productivity has fallen sharply since we started trying the Jatropha biofuel crop, and many farmers are feeling cheated. We call on the European Union to drop its renewable energy target for biofuels until measures are in place which ensure that the right to food is not violated.”
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Notes to Editors
The report presented at the launch event on Februrary 28 is co-sponsored by the EuropAfrica platform, composed of European NGOs and the regional farmers’ platforms of West, Central and East Africa (ROPPA, PROPAC and EAFF), and by CONCORD, the European confederation of relief and development NGOs. The agenda can be found here. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, will lead the presentations at the launch event.
What is EuropAfrica?
EuropAfrica – Towards Food Sovereignty, is a campaign that connects African farmers’ platforms of West, Central and East Africa (ROPPA, PROPAC and EAFF) and European NGOs (Terra Nuova, Centro Internazionale Crocevia, Collectif Stratégies Alimentaires/CSA, Vredeseilanden, Practical Action, Glopolis). It supports the attainment of food sovereignty, both in Africa and in Europe, without impeding the food sovereignty of others. www.europafrica.info
What is FIAN ?
FIAN (FoodFirst Information and Action Network) is an international human right organisation organization that has advocated for the realization of the human right to food for more than 25 years. www.fian.org
What is Policy Coherence for Development (PCD)?
Policy Coherence for Development is about ensuring that the aims and objectives of EU development co-operation policy are not undermined by other EU policies.
Article 208 of the Lisbon Treaty: “The Union shall take account of the objectives of development co-operation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries”