Between 2009 and 2012, French banks granted more than 4 billion euro in loans to European producers of agrofuels, and have issued these companies stocks and bonds for a total amount of more than 3 billion euro according to new research from Friends of the Earth France and Oxfam France. The groups called on French banks to stop financing agrofuel producers – who threaten global food security and are fuelling land grabs, especially in Liberia.
Monrovia, Liberia – Palm oil companies are grabbing more than 1.5 million acres of land in Liberia and are violating the human rights of local communities, according to Liberian NGOs including Friends of the Earth Liberia.
On the eve of a United Nations meeting in Liberia, that will discuss the future of development in Liberia, Friends of the Earth International is backing the local NGOs' demands for the government to renegotiate contracts for land concessions and reassess its agricultural development strategy.
The future of green transport must not include socially and environmentally unsustainable biofuels, a coalition of environment and development campaign groups have said today in a letter to EU energy chief, Günther Oettinger.
The letter, from Friends of the Earth Europe and nine other organisations, is in response to the European Commission's draft proposal [1] on how to reform EU biofuels policy and the 'indirect land use change' (ILUC) impacts of biofuels, where agriculture has to expand to accommodate biofuels demand.
After 21 months of delay, the European Commission has drafted a framework to reform EU biofuels policy and the massive carbon emissions caused by expanding agriculture for biofuels.
The draft policy [1] aims to address so-called 'indirect land use change' (ILUC) where agriculture has to expand to accommodate biofuels demand. This happens at the expense of forests and natural habitats, and causes carbon emissions. The emissions from ILUC mean that many biofuels in Europe's cars, including soy, rapeseed and palm oil, have a worse carbon footprint than normal fossil fuel. [2]
Over 100 civil society organisations, including Friends of the Earth Europe, wrote to the European Commission calling for the full climate impact of agrofuels, including indirect land use change, to be taken into account in two key pieces of EU legislation. The full letter can be downloaded on the right.
Released on the eve of a World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, a new report reveals widespread violations of people's rights and environmental destruction from a land grab initially funded by the World Bank in Uganda.
The Friends of the Earth Uganda report provides first-hand accounts from communities forced to give up their livelihoods, food supply and access to water.
Palm oil corporations Wilmar International and BIDICO, along with the Ugandan Government and the World Bank, have funded huge palm oil expansion on islands off the coast of Lake Victoria.
A quarter of the islands have already been planted with oil palm. Most of this land belonged to local communities and indigenous peoples.
The airlines KLM and Air France vowed not to do business with Dutch company Waterland International following the publication of Friends of the Earth Netherlands report revealing the company's involvement in damaging jatropha cultivation in Java for the production of aviation biokerosene.
The report revealed threats to local food cultivation in Java, and the exploitation of farmers, following investments in jatropha from Waterland International.
As Denmark prepares to take over the presidency of the European Union in January for the first half of 2012, Friends of the Earth Europe has written a letter to the Danish Presidency calling on it to contribute to a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable future, for the people of Europe and other continents.
"The current global economic, financial, environmental and social crises present us with a challenge of historic proportions. Only an urgent, wide ranging and far reaching response can deal with this situation," the letter states.
European biofuels policies contribute to food insecurity and land grabs. Moreover, the true impacts of expanding biofuels production on deforestation and the climate are ignored in the EU policy. Vested corporate interests want to keep it that way. This press briefing explains the problems, myths and solutions.