The human cost of biofuel is risingYour HungerFREE biofuel campaign guideAct now to stop the UK government biofuelling poverty.

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The cost of biofuel

The biofuel story

The campaign so far

A few years ago, biofuels were touted as the miraculous answer to our energy shortages and climate change woes. They even promised to bring development to poor countries where biofuel crops could be produced on cheap land.

Governments and industry alike ran out to jump on the biofuel bandwagon. Whilst governments began setting huge targets for the amount of biofuel required in petrol and diesel, companies started buying up land to grow them in poor countries.

But in the last few years the evidence has mounted to expose biofuels as disastrous for both poor people in developing countries and the environment.

In light of this, we expected governments, including the UK’s, to rethink their support for biofuel. But they are ignoring the facts and continue to promote biofuel as both a solution to climate change and a force for rural development in poor countries.

A few months later, they responded to your demands with the good news that they would not be committing to massive increases in biofuel use just yet. They were delaying the decision, they said, because of concerns over the potential of biofuels to save greenhouse gas emissions and would be consulting on their biofuel plans in early 2011.

The Department for Transport’s consultation on the future of biofuel policy has now arrived. There is a danger that they could decide to more than treble the target for the amount of biofuel in UK petrol and diesel.

However, there is also a real chance that they could scrap the target altogether and instead turn their attention to genuine solutions to lowering emissions from transport.

It is absolutely vital that we take this opportunity to demand that they scrap the biofuel target. We must act now to stop the biofuel bandwagon hurtling us all towards a humanitarian and environmental disaster.

Did you know that 3.5% of all UK petrol and diesel is already made up of biofuel? So whether you’re on the bus or in your car, you have no choice but to burn biofuel.

In January 2010, more than 12,000 ActionAid campaigners contacted the Department for Transport urging them to put the brakes on increasing the amount of biofuel in UK petrol and diesel.

Asmana Alhassan, a farmer from Ghana who lost his land to a biofuel company.PHOTO: AcTIOnAID

Industrial biofuels are made from crops such as wheat, maize, soy, sugar and palm oil. They are produced on a huge scale and are used to fuel our cars as well as to generate heat and power.

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The cost of biofuel

What’s wrong with biofuels?Industrial biofuels hurt the world’s poorest people in many ways:

Local impacts – how biofuels are affecting the communities where they’re grownHuge government-set biofuel targets are providing an incentive to foreign biofuel companies to oust poor farmers from their fertile land.

The scale of the current land grab is astonishing. In just five African countries, 1.1 million hectares have been given over to biofuels. That’s an area the size of Belgium! All of the biofuel produced on this land is for export, meaning none of it will increase access to energy in developing countries. This land grab is leaving local communities in the developing world stranded, unable to grow their own food or afford the food in their local market.

Biofuels are also affecting people’s access to the natural resources they rely upon. Water is diverted away from wells and into irrigating the biofuel crop, and villagers are no longer able to enter the forests that have sustained them for generations. Foreign biofuel companies are routinely breaking the promises they make to communities to provide local improvements and jobs.

Last year, 90% of UK biofuels were imported, mostly from Europe, the US and South America. If the government trebles our target, it’s most likely that the extra biofuel will come from developing countries meaning more communities will suffer these devastating consequences.

Global impacts – how biofuels are pushing people into hungerIn 2008, global food prices rose dramatically causing a world food crisis that led to riots in more than 30 countries. Many experts, including some at the World Bank, cited industrial biofuels as one of the main causes. ActionAid estimates that an extra 30 million more people were pushed into hunger as a result of biofuels during this crisis.

But this is just the start. As more governments adopt huge biofuel targets, food prices are set to rise again and the Un’s Food and Agriculture Organisation is warning of another looming food crisis. In the last six months of 2010, the prices of wheat and corn both increased by a whopping 50%. For poor families in the developing world, who can spend as much as 80% of their total income on food, even a small rise in the price of staple foods is catastrophic.

There are already almost 1 billion people living in hunger. If all global biofuel targets (including the UK’s) are met then hundreds of millions more people could be hungry by 2020.

Environmental impacts – how biofuels are making climate change worseMost industrial biofuels release more greenhouse gasses than the fossil fuels they were designed to replace. This means that biofuel targets will actually make climate change worse.

This is largely due to the ‘land use change’ (or land clearance) needed to make way for the vast biofuel plantations popping up all over the developing world. When carbon-rich habitats such as forests or peatlands are cleared to make way for biofuels, huge amounts of greenhouse gasses are released. If a hectare of Indonesian rainforest is converted to a palm oil plantation, it will take 423 years of burning that palm oil (as an alternative to fossil fuel) to see any climate change benefits.

Biofuels present a false solution to the climate crisis and are diverting much needed political attention and financial support away from genuine ways of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

And again the world’s poorest people take the brunt of it as the impacts of climate change hit developing countries first and hardest.

Jacquilina Manhique, a farmer in Mozambique, on her land that was grabbed by a biofuel company.PHOTO: JAMES OATWAy/PAnOS/AcTIOnAID

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In order to tackle climate change, in 2009, the European commission passed a law which stated that, by 2020, 10% of all transport fuel in member states must come from renewable sources. Unfortunately, this has become a de facto biofuel target. Many governments, including the UK’s, have created national laws setting targets for the percentage of our petrol and diesel that must be made up of biofuel.

As a result, what should be a tool to reduce climate change has become an implement of disaster.

ActionAid is calling for the Department for Transport to scrap the target for biofuel use in transport. The UK government must not ignore the science and tie us into using another unsustainable fuel source that is wreaking havoc in the developing world.

Instead, they must invest in genuine solutions to climate change by supporting non-biofuel renewable energy in transport, including electric cars. It is vital that they also work to lower our emissions by investing in public transport, improving the fuel efficiency of cars, promoting walking and cycling and encouraging people to reduce the number of journeys they take.

The cost of biofuel

What are we calling for?ActionAid is tackling the driving force behind the rush for biofuels – government-set targets aimed at increasing the amount of biofuel used in transport.

ActionAid activists campaigning against biofuels outside the European Parliament in 2010.PHOTO: AcTIOnAID

Industrial biofuels aren’t only having negative impacts on people in the poor countries where they are grown. Here in the UK, air pollution from planned biofuel power stations will increase the risk of respiratory and heart disease in surrounding communities.

Currently, 84% of all biofuels imported to the UK are grown in Europe, the US and South America. If the government sets huge new targets for biofuels in transport, the proportion of biofuels coming from developing countries will have to increase substantially.

How do I explain the campaign?

• Biofuelsaremadefromagriculturalcrops,veryoften food crops.

• Biofuelsarepushingupfoodpricesandsoareforcing more people into hunger. Hundreds of millions more people could be hungry by 2020 because of biofuels.

• Biofuelcompaniesaregrabbinglandfromlocalcommunities in poor countries. This is threatening their ability to feed themselves and make ends meet.

• Mostbiofuelsreleasemoregreenhousegassesthan the fossil fuels they were designed to replace.

• WecanstopthisdisasterbydemandingthattheUKgovernment scraps the target for biofuels in transport. They are currently considering their policy so we need to act nOW.

Talking about the biofuel campaign and answering people’s questions can be tricky. Here are a few tips on what to say to friends, family and the general public:

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1. Tell the Department for Transport to scrap their biofuel target

By sending a text

Your text will join thousands of others in a global text petition. Simply, text the word ACTION plus your message against biofuels to 82727. Don’t forget to add your name and postcode to the text like this...

ACTION Biofuels are harming people in poor countries. Scrap the target. Joanna Bloggs, C13 9PQ

By sending a letter

Politicians tell us that a personal letter from a member of the public really does have more impact. Use this campaign guide to write a letter to Norman Baker MP, urging him to scrap the biofuel target.

To help you get started, you might like to include some of the bullet points in the ‘How do I explain the campaign?’ section in this guide.

If you would like more information, visit www.actionaid.org.uk/biofuels and check out our Q&A or call us on 01460 23 8047.

Please send your letter by the end of May to:

Norman Baker MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Department for Transport Great Minster House 76 Marsham Street London, SW1P 4DR

2. Help spread the word

Ask your friends and family to take action, and spread the word in your community. You can order more materials or our ready-to-use biofuel presentation by emailing campaign@actionaid.org or calling 01460 23 8047. You can also download the presentation or forward the link to our online action at www.actionaid.org.uk/biofuels.

3. Donate so we can bring the campaign message to the decision-makers’ door

We would like to take the message that biofuels are harming people in poor countries directly to the people with the power to scrap the target. That’s why we want to take adverts on as many buses as possible that pass the Department for Transport as well as on the bus stop right outside. We need to raise £8,057 to pay for the adverts. Please help make sure they can’t ignore our message!

To donate visit www.actionaid.org.uk/biofuels.

4. Lobby your MP

Getting your local MP onside is a key way to influence the Department for Transport’s decision. All MPs hold regular surgeries where constituents can come and talk to them about pretty much whatever they want!

If you are interested in going to talk to your MP about biofuels then please email campaign@actionaid.org or call us on 020 3122 0521.

Most MPs will know less about biofuels than you do, so don’t worry that you’re not an expert. ActionAid staff will be really happy to help you prepare for the meeting so do get in touch.

5. Help us create a noise online

Some people still think that biofuels, because of their friendly sounding name, are a good thing. That’s why we need to spread the word that biofuels are harming both people in poor countries and the environment.

Please visit www.actionaid.org.uk/biofuels and forward our online action to all your friends and family. Post a link to it on Facebook or Twitter.

You can also visit www.actionaid.org.uk/debate to find the latest news on biofuels from bloggers, experts and ActionAid campaigners.

Take Action

The cost of biofuel

We’ll be campaigning until the close of the Department for Transport’s consultation at the beginning of June. That gives us six weeks to convince Norman Baker MP, the man in charge of biofuel policy, that he must scrap the target.

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The cost of biofuel

Kwame SarpongKwame is a father of six from a village in Senegal. He used to have a six-hectare plot of land where he grew millet, groundnuts and beans. A European biofuel company came to his village and promised everyone that if they gave up their land they would all get well-paid jobs on the company’s biofuel plantation.

Like many of his fellow villagers, Kwame gave up his land and began working for the company. But after just two months they began to reduce his monthly salary. Soon, his salary was half of what he had been promised and was too little for him to be able to support his family.

not long after, the company fired Kwame and everyone else from his village and brought in workers from elsewhere.

“ I lost my land. They did not respect me. They betrayed me.”Kwame Sarpong, Senegal.PHOTO: AcTIOnAID

Anisia ChareAnisia used to farm three different plots of land growing maize, beans, sweet potatoes and other staple foods. She had worked on the land for many years, depending on it to feed the 15 people in her household.

In 2008, she heard that a British biofuel company was coming to her local area to grow sugar cane to make biofuel. Soon after, Anisia was told that all three of her plots of land would be given to the biofuel company but that she would be compensated. Despite the fact that the amount of money she would receive was not discussed, Anisia felt that she had no choice but to accept it. The company eventually gave her $100 – barely enough for one month’s supply of rice.

Some other farmers were so angry that they refused to accept the money but it made no difference and the company took their land anyway.

“ We want our land back – we don’t want the money the company has because it is not enough to feed all of us. We want to earn our living on our own farms like we have always done.”

Anisia Chare, smallholder farmer, Mozambique.PHOTO: JAMES OATWAy/PAnOS/AcTIOnAID

If you have any questions, please get in touch. Thanks for your support and happy campaigning!

Email campaign@actionaid.org Call 01460 23 8047 Twitter @actionaidliz Facebook www.facebook.com/actionaidukActionAid is a registered charity, number 274467. Published February 2011.

The human cost of biofuel

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