Participatory wealth ranking
Bio-fuelling poverty: why the EU renewable-fuel target may be disastrous for poor people
Perverse effects of the EU’s renewable energy roadmap
Authors:
R. Bailey
Publisher:
Oxfam, 2007
The European Commission (EC) published its Renewable Energy Roadmap in January 2007, proposing a mandatory target that bio-fuels must provide ten percent of member states’ transport fuels by 2020. This briefing paper examines the implications of this policy on the livelihoods of the poor.
The authors contend that this target is creating a scramble to supply bio-fuels in the South, posing a serious threat to vulnerable people at risk from land-grabbing, exploitation, and deteriorating food security.
They conclude that in addition to environmental standards, the EC must develop social standards which apply to all biofuels irrespective of their origin, such that:
- all workers enjoy decent work as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO)
- feedstock cultivation does not adversely impact on local communities or indigenous peoples
- men and women smallholders are treated fairly and transparently
- the right to food is preserved.
