Thu, 14 Jun 2012 01:00 GMT
Europe's demand for biofuels could drive up food crop prices by as much as 36% by 2020, helping to push millions more into hunger, a new report from ActionAid reveals.
But despite this and other widespread evidence that biofuels are a major contributor to global hunger, the G20 will yet again avoid the issue when it meets in Mexico next week.
Biofuelling the Global Food Crisis shows that prices of key agricultural commodities such as corn, wheat and vegetable oils will escalate sharply in response to EU biofuel policies, hitting the world's poorest the hardest.
By consigning biofuels to history, leaders at next week's G20 summit could take a giant leap towards stopping the world's poorest from going hungry.
Clare Coffey, policy advisor at ActionAid UK says: "Biofuels will be the elephant in the room at the G20 summit as no-one there is prepared to speak out on the subject.
"Yet by getting rid of biofuel mandates David Cameron and other world leaders could at the stroke of a pen, tackle a key factor behind world food price rises and volatility.
"The powerful biofuels lobby has persuaded world leaders to ignore the scientific facts and not to rock the boat, but all the evidence is making world leaders look increasingly irrational for refusing to address the issue", Coffey continued.
EU biofuels use is expected to reach the equivalent of nearly 30 million tonnes of oil by the end of this decade, driven by a mandatory target for 10% of renewable energy in transport fuels by 2020.
If that happens, the impact on food price rises will mean millions more people facing terrible choices - either cut back on nutritional intake or stop paying for basic social services such as education or health.
As a growing body of evidence emerges about the detrimental effects biofuels mandates are having on agricultural commodity prices and food security in developing countries, it is the perfect opportunity for the G20 to commit to decisive action that serves the global interest.
Instead, G20 leaders are divided over the issue, with the EU, US, Brazil and others resisting any attempts to weaken their biofuels industries, while the rest of the world pays dearly for price rises and volatility that biofuels are helping to induce.
Coffey continued: "The G20 must acknowledge the significant role of biofuels in worsening global food security. A billion people around the world are already malnourished. EU and other countries are sleep-walking their way to a global food security disaster."
No comments:
Post a Comment