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Agrofuels: only 48 hours to take action!!! Send an URGENT message to the French President Sarkozy Tense negotiations to agree the European Union's policy on agrofuels are coming to their final stages in Brussels. On Wednesday night representatives of the European Parliament, the Commission and the French Presidency will try to conclude a deal that will massively increase the use of agrofuels in the EU. This will be bad news for the environment, for people and also for the climate. One key part that is still not decided is whether to include all the greenhouse gas emissions caused by land use change due to agrofuels. If, as the French President and Commission want, we forget about these emissions and deal with them at a later date then agrofuels will seem better for the climate than they really are. However, if we take into account emissions from, for example, deforestation to make more farmland to grow agrofuels then suddenly the true picture emerges - agrofuels are nearly always bad for the climate! Instructions: A draft message that you might want to use is below: Dear President Sarkozy We are writing to urge you to act as a real European President and ensure that the full impacts of agrofuels are taken into account in the proposed Renewable Energy Directive. In particular we call on you to include ALL greenhouse gas emissions caused by increasing the use of agrofuels, especially through converting land and forests to farmland, either directly or indirectly. Research shows that these emissions can be significant and can make agrofuels worse for the climate than conventional oil. We need real solutions to combat climate change and not false policies that damage the environment, impact on the poorest in society and create more emissions. Please use your last weeks as President of the European Council to create effective European policies to avert climate change.
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