Agrofuels http://www.foei.org Press releases on resisting agrofuels. daily 1 2012-02-22T04:00:20Z Land grabs and human rights violations exposed in Liberia ahead of global development summit http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2013/land-grabs-and-human-rights-violations-exposed-in-liberia-ahead-of-global-development-summit MONROVIA, LIBERIA, February 1st, 2013 – Palm oil companies are grabbing more than 1.5 million acres of land in Liberia and are violating the human rights of local communities, warn Liberian NGOs including Friends of the Earth Liberia (SDI - Sustainable Development Institute), Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU) and Social Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development (SESDev).

On the eve of a United Nations meeting in Liberia, that will discuss a new global development framework, Friends of the Earth International is backing the local NGOs’ demands - including renegotiation of contracts for land concessions and a reassessment of the Liberian agricultural development strategy on which these concessions are based. [1] [2]

 

Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby and Indonesian Golden Veloreum have entered into long term land leases with the Liberian Government. Investigations into Sime Darby’s operations reveal that communities located in the areas allocated to the company had little warning or consultation of this land grab. Many of the inhabitants, especially women, say they have lost their farms and food sources, livelihoods, as well as culturally sacred sites to oil palm plantations. [3] [4]

 

An analysis of the contracts between the Liberian Government and the Asian companies demonstrates they are likely to be violating several Human Rights conventions ratified by Liberia. [5]

 

“Giving away land for large scale plantations is hailed as promoting the economic recovery of Liberia but in reality these plantations undermine Liberia’s basic food security and cause poverty when livelihoods are lost. Therefore allowing these plantations contradicts the Liberian Government’s own policies on reducing poverty and preventing hunger”, says SDI campaigner Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor.

 

“Allocating large swathes of fertile agricultural land to foreign companies for several decades will push people further into poverty, as local income generating activities are curtailed and peoples’ earning capacities become limited”, he adds

 

Civil society organisations are also concerned about large scale conversion of primary and secondary forest to palm oil plantations as Sime Darby expands into Gbarpolu county. They are demanding a halt to any further planting and further deforestation and environmental degradation in any of the concession areas.

 

“Forests have environmental benefits and provide multiple livelihood sources for the people, which they have now lost. Employment from the plantations is insecure; low- paid and does not contribute to sustaining livelihoods in the long term. Instead, local communities want the Liberian government and the palm oil companies to recognise their ownership of community land”, says SAMFU campaigner Robert Nyahn.

 

The UN High Level panel meeting in Monrovia brings together political leaders from around the world, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, to discuss development goals especially in Africa. Friends of the Earth Liberia will be present at this meeting to question the suitability of large scale land concessions as a development strategy in Liberia.

 

Sime Darby claims that it upholds international human rights standards and voluntary guidelines such as the UN Global Compact of which the company is a signatory. However, in its operations in Liberia, Sime Darby is violating several principles of the Global Compact as well as OECD Guidelines for Multinational Companies.

 

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

 

Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor, Campaigner, Sustainable Development Institute (Liberia) Phone: 00 35383 148 4210 (Ireland mobile) Email: ssiakor@sdiliberia.org

 

Maarten Van Den Berg, Communications Coordinator, Friends of the Earth International, Phone: +31 20 622 1369 Email: media@foei.org

 

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 

[1] In a statement released today, the three Liberian NGOs are demanding a comprehensive reform program for the agriculture sector which takes into account community livelihoods and recognizes their rights to use and benefit from community resources, to kick-start genuine development in Liberia. See statement at foei.org/simedarby

 

[2] Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will convene a high Level Panel meeting on 1st February to discuss global Sustainable Development Goals. See more information on the meeting at http://www.un.org/sg/management/hlppost2015.shtml

 

[3] A fact sheet with about the operations of Sime Darby in Liberia is online at http://www.foei.org/simedarby

 

[4] In November 2012, 150 affected community representatives met in Liberia to discuss the impacts of palm oil. See their statement at http://www.foei.org/simedarby

 

[5] A human rights-based analysis of the agricultural concession agreements between Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum and the Government of Liberia, Forest Peoples Programme 2012, available at http://www.foei.org/simedarby

]]> No publisher Denis Burke corporate power africa land grabbing plantations agrofuels agriculture 2013-01-31T16:45:00Z News Item Investors must stop land grabbing, say civil society groups http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2012/investors-must-stop-land-grabbing-say-civil-society-groups-1 LONDON (UK), November 30, 2012 – Major farmland investors such as banks and pension funds must stop facilitating land grabs, say civil society groups [1] on the eve of a global farmland investment conference in London on 3-5 December. [2] Banks and pension funds are increasingly engaging in large-scale acquisitions of land with extremely damaging consequences for local populations. The London conference will bring together funds with more than USD3 trillion in assets to explore opportunities for investments in Africa, Latin America and Russia.

The civil society groups are warning that pension funds and banks attending the conference, for instance Deutsche Bank, must ensure they do not fund risky investments that threaten the livelihoods and food sovereignty of countless local communities.

Since 2008 rising financial investments in land have contributed to more than 200 million hectares of land being taken from small farmers, fisherfolk, and other rural communities, robbing them of their means of survival. [3] Land grabbing also frequently involves violent evictions and human rights violations. Institutional investors are expected to increase by 500% their agricultural investment portfolios by 2017.

Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth International Food Sovereignty programme co-ordinator, said: “Unfortunately private investment in farmland may be seen by many as low risk and positive for developing countries. Yet they are often a disaster for local communities and the environment. Legal uncertainty and community opposition means that most farmland investments are also risky for investors.”

“Major investors such as banks and pension funds need to urgently investigate their investment portfolios and stop funding land grabs,” she added.
Earlier this year Friends of the Earth Europe released the report 'Farming money: How European banks and private finance profit from food speculation and land grabs'. The report analyses the activities of 29 European banks, pension funds and insurance companies, including Deutsche Bank, Barclays, RBS, Allianz, BNP Paribas, AXA, HSBC, Generali, Unicredit and Credit Agricole. It reveals the significant involvement of these financial institutions in food speculation, and the direct or indirect financing of land grabbing. [4]

COUNTRY EXAMPLES

LIBERIA

In Liberia, farmland investments have facilitated land grabbing. A quarter of the country - including vast swathes of fertile land- has been handed to palm oil, rubber and logging companies, preventing its use for food production. These large plantations are promoted as a means to create jobs, bring development, and increase the government’s budget. In reality they are jeopardizing the land rights of local populations, threatening local livelihoods and putting the future of one of the world’s most significant biodiversity hotspots into doubt.

This week in Liberia the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) / Friends of the Earth Liberia is holding a major conference with oil palm plantations-affected communities who are demanding to be heard and consulted.

Between 2009 and 2010 the government of Liberia allocated more than a million acres of land to transnational palm oil producers Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum Liberia without consulting or securing the consent of those living on and using the land. [5]

ETHIOPIA

In the past few years, Ethiopia allocated huge areas of fertile arable farmland to foreign investors with little consultations with the affected communities. Since 2008 more than 3.6 million hectares of land has been allocated to foreign investors. For instance, in Gambela region, an Indian company -Karuturi Global- has been allocated staggering 300,000 hectares of land depriving indigenous people of access to water, fishing and grazing grounds, traditional construction materials, and food. Like in many other cases there has been a lack of prior consent and consultation with the local people and affected communities were not consulted and did not give their prior consent these farmland investments.

“In Ethiopia and elsewhere farmland investments for instance in plantations are jeopardizing the land rights of local people, and threatening local livelihoods ,” said Nyikaw Ochalla from Anywaa Survival Organisation-ASO.

MADAGASCAR

“In Madagascar, landgrabbing is caused by foreign and domestic investors implementing agribusiness projects and setting up biodiversity conservation areas, but also developing tourism and extractive industry infrastructure” says Mamy Rakotondrainibe, from the Collectif pour la défense des terres malgaches -TANY in Madagascar.

“We are currently supporting pastoralists communities’ claims against the Italian company Tozzi Green which aims to lease 100 000 hectars in the Ihorombe region to mainly cultivate jatropha for agrofuel production” she adds.

UGANDA

A report released earlier this year by Friends of the Earth Uganda revealed widespread violations of people’s rights and environmental destruction from a land grab in Uganda. [6]


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

IN THE UK

Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Food Sovereignty programme co-ordinator, Friends of the Earth International, Tel: +44 (0)20 7566 1669 or Mobile: + 44 (0) 79 619 86956 or email: kirtana.chandrasekaran [at] foe.co.uk

Nyikaw Ochalla from Anywaa Survival Organisation-ASO Tel: +44 (0)118 9414507 or Mobile: +44 (0)7939 389796

IN CANADA

Devlin Kuyek from GRAIN, Tel: +1-514-571-7702

IN ITALY

Giulia Franchi, Campaigner Terra/Land Campaigner, Re:Common  Tel. (+39)06 92 59 31 40 – +39 06 92 59 31 41


NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] The civil society groups are: Friends of the Earth International / Anywaa Survival Organisation / GRAIN / Re: Common (Italy)

The groups are calling pension funds and other private and public financial institutions to stop speculation on land and other damaging investments in the global food chain; publicly disclose complete information about any direct or indirect financing of land acquisitions and other deals that might involve land grabbing; be subject to mandatory, prior and independent assessment of the potential impacts of investments and products on tenure rights, livelihoods, the environment and the progressive realisation of the right to adequate food. More information at : http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/press_releases/joint_statement_on_the_finance_of_land_grabs_june_2012_en_1.pdf

[2] The Global AgInvesting Europe 2012 website is: http://www.globalaginvesting.com/Conferences/Home?eventId=11

[3] See Oxfam 2011 Land and Power: The growing scandal surrounding the new wave of investments in land, http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/land-and-power- the-growing-scandal-surrounding-the-new-wave-of-investments-in-l-142858

[4] For more information visit: http://www.foeeurope.org/farming-money-Jan2012 and www.farmlandgrab.org

[5] For more information: 'Communities in Liberia meet this week to discuss options after large-scale land grab':
http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do/climate-and-energy/latest-news/2018our-future-is-now2019-communities-in-liberia-meet-this-week-to-discuss-options-after-large-scale-land-grab

[6] For more information on the Uganda case see: http://www.foei.org/en/media/land-grab

]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno food agrofuels land grabbing 2012-12-03T08:00:00Z News Item Food Crisis Talks: Governments Should Scrap Biofuels, Not Push GM Crops http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2012/food-crisis-talks-governments-should-scrap-biofuels-not-push-gm-crops ROME (ITALY) / LONDON (UK), October 16, 2012 – As Governments gather in Rome today, World Food Day, to discuss the global food price crisis, Friends of the Earth International warns in a new report [1] that agriculture donors such as the United States and United Kingdom are pumping money into genetically modified (GM) crops at the cost of farming methods better suited to tackling hunger. Since the advent of the food price crisis in 2008, some Governments have championed the ‘sustainable intensification’ of farming as a new way to increase yields without harming the environment.

The report investigates what adopting this approach has meant for donors and finds that despite its claim to support a variety of ecological farming methods, funding is still heavily skewed towards GM crops and business as usual intensive agriculture.

Friends of the Earth International Food Sovereignty program coordinator Kirtana Chandrasekaran said: “The sustainable intensification approach is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. On the surface, it favours ecological science and farmer led solutions to the food crisis, the preferred method of several UN backed studies.

Dig a little deeper and it seems to be a disguise for some Governments and donors to continue pushing GM crops onto small farmers, to further corporate interests.

This seriously challenges the credibility of Governments such as the UK and US and donors like the Gates Foundation in tackling hunger.”

Friends of the Earth International is calling on Governments to focus on agro-ecology to solve hunger and scrap biofuel targets which exacerbate food price rises by diverting food to fuel. [2]

Martin Drago, Friends of the Earth International's Food Sovereignty programme coordinator said,

“We don’t need another Summit and we don't need more GM crops. We need urgent action from Governments to fund ecological farming and an immediate halt to using food crops to fuel cars.”

The UK Government, United States and mega donor Gates foundation have spent hundreds of millions of euros funding technological solutions to the food crisis, including GM crops. The largest research project of the UK international development department is a 70 million pound grant researching GM technology. Between 2005 and 2011 the Gates foundation spent 162 million dollars on biotech projects while the US Agency for International Development 'Feed the Future' strategy emphasises GM solutions.

Yet, GM crops are not tackling the food crisis. There is little evidence that GM crops increase yields now or have the potential to do so in the future. So far, promises of crops resistant to climate change and drought are not a reality. Instead, GM crops have dramatically increased seed prices and caused large increases in the application of pesticides.

Meanwhile, small farmer led ecological approaches to agriculture are feeding the majority of the world and providing a roadmap out of hunger. Several UN backed reports have called for increased funding for sustainable family farming, agro-ecological science and strong local markets. [3]


FOR MORE INFORMATION

In Rome (Italy): Martin Drago, Friends of the Earth International's Food Sovereignty programme coordinator: martin.drago [at] redes.org.uy or Tel: +39 348 6869442 (Italian cell valid until October 19 only)

In London (UK): Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth International Food Sovereignty program coordinator, kirtana.chandrasekaran [at] foe.co.uk or Tel: + 44 79 61 98 69 56


NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] The report is available at : www.foei.org/en/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing

A summary of the report is available at: http://www.foei.org/en/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-summary

[2] See Friends of the Earth International briefing ‘Food not fuel: agrofuels, food prices and hunger: http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/agrofuels/food-not-fuel-agrofuels-food-prices-and-hunger/view

[3] In April 2008 a study by 400 multi-disciplinary scientists and several international organisations (the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, or IAASTD) concluded that agro-ecology, local trade and supporting small farmers is the best way forward to combat hunger and poverty.
For more information read the assessment at http://www.agassessment.org/

In 2009 the UN Special rapporteur on the Right to Food called for agro-ecology to be the primary way to tackle hunger and achieve the Right to Food. The report of the UN Special Rapporteur is at http://www.srfood.org/index.php/en/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1174-report-agroecology-and-the-right-to-food

]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno food agrofuels 2012-10-15T23:00:00Z News Item New report uncovers land grab in Uganda http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2012/new-report-uncovers-world-bank-funded-land-grab-in-uganda WASHINGTON DC / BRUSSELS (BELGIUM) / KAMPALA (UGANDA) 23rd April 2012: Released on the eve of a World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty [1], 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. [2]  

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.

 

The report, hi-res images and video footage are available for media preview - and under embargo until 23 April- at http://www.foei.org/media/landgrab

 

 

The World Bank had historically provided millions of dollars in funding and technical support to palm oil expansion in forested islands off the coast of Lake Victoria in Kalangala, Uganda. 

 

Nearly 10,000 hectares have already been planted covering almost a quarter of the land area of the islands. [3] While the Bank has since disassociated itself from the project, the land grabs continue. 

 

Palm oil plantations have come at the expense of local food crops and rainforests. Local people have been prevented from accessing water sources and grazing land. Despite promises of employment, locals have lost their means of livelihood and are struggling to make ends meet.

 

David Kureeba from the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) / Friends of the Earth Uganda said:

 

“People’s rights to land are being demolished despite protection for them under the Ugandan Constitution. Small scale farming and forestry that protected unique wildlife, heritage and food of Uganda is being converted to palm oil wastelands that only profit agribusinesses. The Ugandan Government must prioritise small scale ecological farming and protect people’s land rights”

 

John Muyiisha, a farmer from Kalangala, tells of how he woke up one morning to find bulldozers destroying his crops. He had been on the land for 34 years. Other community members were contracted to plant palm oil and then forced to sell their land because of debts, low income from palm oil and no food crops.

 

Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth International Food Sovereignty Coordinator said:

 

“These Ugandan testimonies show the fallacy of trying to make land grabbing work for communities or the environment. Decades of policies to privatise land and promote industrial farming from the World Bank have set the stage for a massive global land grab.

 

Governments around the world need to stop land grabbing, not just try to mitigate its worst impacts. Governments must abide by their Human Rights obligations on land and drastically reducing demand for commodities such as palm oil from the West.”

 

The project is a joint venture between global agrofuels giant Wilmar International and BIDICO, one of the largest oilseeds companies in Eastern Africa with start-up funding and policy support from International Financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Ugandan Government. [4

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

 

Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Food Sovereignty programme co-ordinator, Friends of the Earth International, Tel: +44 (0)20 7566 1669 or Mobile: + 44 (0) 79 619 86956 or email: kirtana.chandrasekaran@foe.co.uk

 

David Kureeba, Friends of the Earth Uganda / National Association of Professional Environmentalists, Tel: +256-414-530181 or mobile: +256-775-349283 / +256-718-210592

email: kureebamd@yahoo.com / kureeba@gmail.com

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

[1] The agenda of the April 24-26 Annual World Bank Conference on land and poverty is focussed on how communities can benefit from land acquisitions rather than on how they can retain access to land. http://www.landandpoverty.com/agenda/index.html

 

 

[2] The report, photo essay and video are available for media preview - and under embargo until 23 April- at http://www.foei.org/media/landgrab

 

 

[3] Kalangala islands cover 432.1 square kilometres or 43,210 hectares http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalangala_District

 

 

[4] The project is funded with $120 Million from private finance, $10 Million from the International Finance Corporation and World Bank, $19.9 Million from the International Fund for Agriculture and Development and $12 Million from the Ugandan Government

 

 

 


]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno agrofuels land grabbing 2012-04-23T01:00:00Z News Item meat and forest products consumption fuel inequalities in global land use http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2011/meat-and-forest-products-consumption-fuel-inequalities-in-global-land-use NEW REPORT: Europe and United States import millions of hectares of virtual land BRUSSELS (BELGIUM) / LONDON (UK), October 10, 2011 – More than 60 per cent of land consumed in Europe is imported while US demand for imported land increased by 100 Million hectares between 1997 and 2004, new research published today by Friends of the Earth reveals. [1]
The figures expose drivers behind land grabbing as delegates from around the world start negotiations today in Rome, Italy, on UN guidelines to regulate land grabbing. [2]

The report shows that an insatiable appetite for meat, dairy, wood and other products that require large areas of land from Europe and the United States, makes their ‘land footprint’ among the highest in the world.

Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth International Food Sovereignty coordinator said: “Rich countries are biting off huge chunks of land from across the world to fuel their high consuming lifestyles. This is depriving local communities of their ability to feed themselves. It is also exacerbating landgrabbing and land rights violations around the world, from Ghana to Brazil.”

Europe uses the equivalent of 1.5 times its own area in land. Germany and the UK are among the top land import dependent countries, each importing more than 80 million hectares a year. The EU average land consumption is 1.3 hectares per capita, while countries such as China and
India use less than 0.4 hectares per capita. The US consumes more than 3 hectares per capita, four times as much as India.

On the other hand, Brazil’s virtual land exports increased 4 times from 1997 to 2004, mainly because of exports of meat and oilseeds.
The study uses the most recent data available, from 2004, but it can be assumed that Europe and the US’s hunger for land is now even higher and rising due to the on-going increase in life-based energy sources such as biofuels and biomass.

Ariadna Rodrigo, Friends of the Earth Europe Resource Use campaigner said: “In order to reduce our land consumption and stop the harm we’re doing to other parts of the world, we need the EU to start measuring its land footprint now, and to start working out how to reduce our land use. Cutting Europe’s land use means focusing on quality of life rather than continuing to over-consume products.”

Friends of the Earth International is demanding that:

The EU and US immediately scrap any mandates or subsidies for the use of biofuels

The EU and US use on-going reforms of their farm policies to tackle their huge imports of feed and food.

The EU starts measuring its land footprint by making Member States report their land footprint annually and start taking appropriate and fair measures to reduce its land footprint

All Governments take a strong position in the UN negotiations on land tenure by opposing land grabs. Governments must instead ensure that communities’ rights and human rights and protected. They should also  promote investment in small-scale food producers, ecological production systems, and strengthen local tenure rights


NOTES

[1] The report ‘Europe’s Global Land Demand’ by Sustainable Europe Research Institute can be read at: www.foeeurope.org/publications/2011/Europe_Global_Land_Demand_Oct11.pdf

Friends of the Earth Europe and the Sustainable Research Institute have measured flows of ‘virtual land’ around the world, in order to calculate land footprints for a large number of countries and regions. The land footprint is made up of the land consumed domestically within a country plus land imported within products such as food and clothing, minus the land which is used for exports.

[2] For more information see http://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-home/land-tenure/en/



FOR MORE INFORMATION

Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Food Sovereignty programme co-ordinator, Friends of the Earth International
Tel:  +44 (0)20 7566 1669 email: kirtana.chandrasekaran@foe.co.uk

Ariadna Rodrigo, resource use campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe,
Tel: +32 (0) 2 893 10 34, ariadna.rodrigo@foeeurope.org


]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno agrofuels agriculture 2011-10-10T10:52:54Z News Item EUROPE'S BIOFUELS PLANS DRIVING SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2010/europes-biofuels-plans-driving-social-and-environmental-destruction BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, NOVEMBER 8, 2010 - Plans to increase the use of biofuels in Europe over the next ten years will require up to 69 000 square kilometres of new land worldwide and make climate change worse, a new study reveals today [1]. The report finds that an area over twice the size of Belgium will need to be converted into fields and plantations – putting forests, natural ecosystems and poor communities in danger, if European countries do not change their plans for getting petrol and diesel from food crops by 2020. The new research analyses for the first time biofuel use planned by the EU’s member states in their renewable energy plans [2], concluding that:
-Europe is set to increase significantly biofuel use by 2020 when biofuels will provide 9.5% of transport fuel – more than 90% of which will come from food crops.
-When indirect land use change is taken into account, biofuels will emit an extra 27 to 56 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year – the equivalent to an extra 12 to 26 million cars on Europe’s roads by 2020.
-Unless EU policy changes, the extra biofuels that Europe will use over the next decade will be on average 81 to 167% worse for the climate than fossil fuels.
 
Under the plans, five countries will be responsible for over two thirds of the increase in emissions. The UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France are projected to produce the most extra greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels – with up to 13.3, 9.5, 8.6, 5.3 and 3.9 extra million tonnes of CO2 per year respectively.

Adrian Bebb from Friends of the Earth Europe said: "The scale of the damage that European countries will cause with their biofuels plans is now clear – forests and nature will be destroyed on a shocking scale to fuel our cars. The resulting release of climate-damaging greenhouse gases will make biofuels a worse polluter than fossil fuels. The EU needs to urgently review the sustainability of using biofuels and ensure their use does not lead to more climate change or environmental destruction."

Laura Sullivan from ActionAid: "Biofuels are not a climate-friendly solution to our energy needs. The EU plans effectively give companies a blank cheque to continue grabbing land from the world’s poor to grow biofuels to fill our tanks rather than food to fill their stomachs. Europe’s energy policies are putting millions of people in danger, threatening Africa’s fragile food security."

The research, commissioned by a coalition of environmental and development organisations [3], includes indirect land use change impacts caused by biofuels, making it the most realistic assessment so far of the real world impacts of EU biofuels targets. It comes at a key time for EU biofuel policy, with the European Commission due to report on how to address and minimise these emissions by the end of the year.

The groups are calling on EU governments and the European Commission to review urgently the real impacts of biofuels on climate change and food security, and to prioritise energy efficiency in transport. New legislation must take account of the full carbon footprint of biofuels by introducing indirect land use change ‘factors’.

Nusa Urbancic of Transport & Environment said: "This research shows that EU biofuels targets are putting climate policy for transport in reverse gear. Until indirect land use change is fully taken into account, Europe will continue to subsidise an alternative energy that is no better than the fossil fuels it is designed to replace."

FOR MORE INFORMATION

* Francesca Gater, Communications Officer, Friends of the Earth Europe. +32 2 893 1010, francesca.gater@foeeurope.org
* Chris Coxon, Media and Communications Officer, ActionAid. +32 4 88 87 8381, chris.coxon@actionaid.org
* Alessia Pautasso, Communication & Media Officer, BirdLife International. +32 2 541 0781, alessia.pautasso@birdlife.org
* Katherine Sladden, Communications Officer, ClientEarth. +44 203 0305954, ksladden@clientearth.org
* Faustine Defossez, Agriculture and Bioenergy Policy Officer, European Environmental Bureau (EEB). +32 2 790 8814, faustine.defossez@eeb.org
* Veerle Dossche, EU Forest Campaigner, FERN. +32 2 894 4696, veerle@fern.org
* Mark Breddy, Communications Manager, Greenpeace European Unit. +32 2 274 1903, mark.breddy@greenpeace.org
* Dudley Curtis, Communications Manager, Transport & Environment. +32 2 893 0845, dudley.curtis@transportenvironment.org
* Alex Kaat, Manager Communications and Advocacy, Wetlands International. +31 6 50 60 1917, Alex.Kaat@wetlands.org


A media briefing, 'Driving to destruction', is available at: www.foeeurope.org/agrofuels/ILUC_briefing_November2010.pdf

The report, 'Anticipated Indirect Land Use Change Associated with Expanded Use of Biofuels in the EU' is at: www.foeeurope.org/agrofuels/ILUC_report_November2010.pdf
 
Notes for editors:

[1] Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).  November 2010. ‘Anticipated Indirect Land Use Change Associated with Expanded Use of Biofuels in the EU: An Analysis of Member State Performance’. Author: Catherine Bowyer, Senior Policy Analyst. http://www.ieep.eu

[2] The study analyses the 23 plans that had been submitted by October 2010 (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK). http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/action_plan_en.htm. This forms part of the EU Renewable Energy Directive.

[3] The organisations are: ActionAid, BirdLife International, ClientEarth, European Environmental Bureau, FERN, Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, Transport & Environment, Wetlands International.

]]> No publisher Marlijn Dingshoff agrofuels energy biodiversity economics 2010-11-08T11:00:00Z News Item WORLD BANK LAND GRAB REPORT COMMENT: BIOFUELS CAUSE LAND GRABS http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2010/world-bank-land-grab-report-comment-biofuels-cause-land-grabs BRUSSELS (BELGIUM) 8 September 2010 -- Commenting on a new World Bank report published today in which the Bank backs the practice of nations selling vast agricultural lands to foreign investors [1], Mariann Bassey, African food and agriculture coordinator for Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria said: “Rural communities and the environment in poor countries are being ignored in the rush for our land and resources."  

Mariann Bassey added: “A clear cause of land grabs is the demand for biofuels. This demand is transforming our natural resources into fuel crops, taking away food-growing farmland, and creating conflicts with local people over land ownership. We are suffering just so that Europe and developed nations can fuel their cars and lorries.”

 

Last week Friends of the Earth released new research showing that the scale of land grabbing in Africa for biofuel production was underestimated and out of control. [2]

 

The research found evidence that 5 million hectares of land, an area the size of Denmark, across 11 African countries, is currently being acquired for biofuels.

 

Even more land will be required for biofuels if the European Union is to reach its target of 10% of transport fuels from renewable sources by 2020.

 

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

 

Mariann Bassey, Food and Agrofuels Program Manager Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria and Food and Agrofuels Coordinator Friends of the Earth Africa, Tel: +234 7034 495940, annybassi@yahoo.com

 

Robbie Blake, agrofuels campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe, Tel: +32 2 893 1017, robbie.blake@foeeurope.org

 

Sam Fleet, communications officer for Friends of the Earth Europe, Tel: +32 2893 1012, samuel.fleet@foeeurope.org

 

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] The World Bank report “Rising Global Interest in Farmland” can be found on

http://www.worldbank.org

 

 

[2]

The report Friends of the Earth Europe (2010, August). Africa: Up For Grabs is available here 


Also available in:

 

French:

http://www.foeeurope.org/agrofuels/FoEE_Africa_up_for_grabs_2010_FRENCH.pdf

 

 

Spanish:

http://www.foeeurope.org/agrofuels/FoEE_Africa_up_for_grabs_2010_SPANISH.pdf

 

 

German

http://www.foeeurope.org/agrofuels/FoEE_Africa_up_for_grabs_2010_GERMAN.pdf

 

]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno agrofuels 2010-09-08T09:10:06Z News Item eu-brazil biofuels deal: "land-grabbing charter" http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2010/eu-brazil-biofuels-deal-land-grabbing-charter Brussels/Maputo, Mozambique, July 14 – Friends of the Earth Europe has strongly criticised an agreement expected to be announced today by EU and Brazilian leaders to expand biofuels in Mozambique. The agreement to promote biofuels in Africa to power European cars is described as "immoral and perverse." Adrian Bebb, food and agriculture campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said: “The ever-growing expansion of biofuels across the globe is not just damaging the environment but often harming people's livelihoods and access to food too. Using millions of hectares of agricultural land for jatropha and sugar-cane plantations in Mozambique, a country that suffers persistent hunger, to grow crops to power European cars, is immoral and perverse. Biofuels are not a solution to the problems of global climate change, nor energy security or poverty in Mozambique.”

 

Anabela Lemos from JA/Friends of the Earth Mozambique said: "The expansion of biofuels in our country is transforming natural forest and vegetation into fuel crops, is taking away fertile farmland from communities growing food, and creating poor working conditions and conflicts with local people over land ownership. We want real investment in agriculture that allows us to produce food and not fuel for foreign cars."

 

A new Friends of the Earth International report, ‘The Jatropha trap’, evaluates jatropha production in Mozambique and highlights the significant gap between the rhetoric and reality. [1]

 

The presidents of the European Commission and European Council, José Manuel Barroso and Herman van Rompuy, along with Brazilian premier Lula da Silva are today due to launch a partnership agreement with Mozambique to develop bioethanol and biodiesel projects at the Fourth EU-Brazil Summit in Brasilia [2]. During his visit to Brazil, Van Rompuy will also visit COSAN, one the world’s biggest ethanol producers and exporters, on Thursday (July 15).

 

The expansion of biofuel crops in Mozambique has already been widely criticised for taking away fertile farmland used by communities to grow food, poor working conditions for local workers and conflicts with local people over land ownership. Biofuel investors, mainly European and other foreign companies, have already applied for the rights to use around 4.8 million hectares of land in Mozambique - nearly one-seventh the country's available arable land.

 

Adrian Bebb continued: “European biofuels targets are what is driving this global expansion. EU policies are already causing land-grabs and deforestation across the South. Instead of doing deals to grab more land in the South, the EU should be scrapping its biofuel policy, investing in environmentally friendly agriculture and decreasing the energy we use for transport.”

 

For more information, please contact

Adrian Bebb, food and agriculture campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth Europe, Tel: +49 1609 490 1163, +49 1609 490 1163, adrian.bebb@foeeurope.org

 

Anabela Lemos, coordinator of Friends of the Earth Mozambique, +258 843106010, anabela@ja.org.mz

 

Robbie Blake, agrofuels campaign assistant at Friends of the Earth Europe, Tel: +32 (0) 2 893 10 17, robbie.blake@foeeurope.org

 

Notes

[1] Friends of the Earth have produced a report and special briefing on the situation in Mozambique.

 

‘The Jatropha trap? The realities of farming jatropha in Mozambique’ report by Friends of the Earth International is available here. 

 

‘Biofuels, Land Grabbing, the EU and Mozambique’ briefing from Friends

of the Earth Europe is available at:

www.foeeurope.org/agrofuels/FoEE_Mozambique_biofuels_briefing_July2010.pdf

 

[2] Reuters “EU, Brazil, Mozambique to sign bioenergy pact”

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE66B0SL20100712?sp=true 

]]> No publisher PhilLee agrofuels climate biodiversity 2010-07-14T14:53:11Z News Item European Transnationals Accused of Rights Violations in Latin America http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2010/european-transnationals-accused-of-rights-violations-in-latin-america Madrid, Spain, May 12, 2010 – On the eve of the May 18 Europe-Latin America and Caribbean Summit, Friends of the Earth International and other organizations will present cases of serious rights violations committed by European corporations in Latin America and promote alternatives to the food, climate and financial crisis. During the Peoples Summit 'Linking Alternatives IV' Friends of the Earth International, together with Latin American and European organizations and social movements will expose the impacts of EU policies and transnational corporations on the Latin American peoples and environment. [1]
 
The Peoples Summit will be held from May 14 to 18 in Madrid, in parallel to the official Summit of Heads of State and Government of European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean.
 
The Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT) will be held during the Peoples Summit and will hear cases of human rights violations committed by European corporations in Latin America. [2]
 
"Many major European corporations operating in Latin America are heavily involved in human rights violations and environmental destruction. We appear before the Peoples Tribunal with evidence of specific environmental and human rights violations by European transnational corporations,” said Sebastian Valdomir, International Coordinator of the Economic Justice Program of Friends of the Earth International.
 
“These violations are not addressed through existing legal mechanisms in Latin American countries because of the excessive power and undue influence that these corporations have in our countries," added Sebastian Valdomir.
 
Groups of Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC) have been submitting evidence to the PPT of abuses and violations committed by three major European transnational corporations:
 
The Spanish energy company Union Fenosa is accused of raising the price of electricity, cutting the energy supply, and persecuting community leaders who protested against the corporation in Guatemala. This case is filed by CEIBA-Friends of the Earth Guatemala, together with other Central American organizations that are also protesting against Union Fenosa's abuses in other countries in the region. In Guatemala, eight social leaders who demanded the expulsion of the transnational corporation have been murdered since October of 2009, four of them in March of 2010.
 
The Swedish-Finnish forestry corporation Stora Enso is accused by NAT/ Friends of the Earth Brazil and REDES / Friends of the Earth Uruguay, as well as other South American organizations and movements, of violating workers' rights in Brazil, of deforestation, of limiting water availability in the communities close to their plantations, of violating land laws and of lobbying - including financing political campaigns - to weaken environmental laws.
 
Swiss cement company Holcim is being accused by CENSAT Agua Viva / Friends of the Earth Colombia, CEIBA - Friends of the Earth Guatemala, and Otros Mundos - Friends of the Earth Mexico, for actions committed in these countries, including negatively affecting human health in the communities near its cement exploitation activities, environmental pollution with industrial waste and serious impacts on water supplies, subsistence farming, and the rights to land of the indigenous and peasant communities. 
The Summit of Heads of State and Government of European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to push forward strategic 'Association Agreements' between the two regions. These free trade 'Association Agreements' may be favorable for the EU but their effects on Latin American people and their environment would be disastrous. [3]
 
"The EU claims to be promoting sustainable development and social inclusion, but the policies and trade mechanisms it advocates in fact promote false solutions that have terrible consequences for the people and the environment in Latin America. For example, the European demand for agrofuels is creating havoc in the countries where large scale plantations cause big social and environmental problems, and endangers food sovereignty,” said Christine Pohl, of Friends of the Earth Europe.
 
“In particular free trade agreements and the liberalization of investments that are currently being negotiated under the EU strategy called 'Global Europe' only benefit financial capital and transnational corporations," added Christine Pohl.
 
Friends of the Earth groups are also organizing public events in Madrid to propose alternatives to EU - Latin America relations based exclusively on free trade negotiations and on producing more business opportunities for transnational corporations.
 
On Thursday May 13 Friends of the Earth groups are organizing a public event on the impacts of the European energy model in Latin America, with special emphasis on agrofuels.
 

For more information please contact in Madrid

Christine Pohl, Friends of the Earth Europe, Tel: +32-498-492563 (Belgian mobile)
 
Sebastián Valdomir, REDES / Friends of the Earth Uruguay, Tel: +34-6-47592408 (Spanish mobile valid May 12-19)
 
Blanca González Ruibal, Friends of the Earth Spain, Tel: +34-6-91471389 (Spanish mobile)
 
Teresa Rodríguez Pierrard, Friends of the Earth Spain, Tel: + 34-6-80936327 (Spanish mobile)
 

NOTES 

[1] For more information on the Alternative Summit "Linking Alternatives" please visit: www.enlazandoalternativas.org. Daily coverage of the tribunal and the Peoples Summit will be available on Real World Radio's website: http://www.realworldradio.fm
 
[2] The cases filed by Friends of the Earth will be submitted before an international panel of judges at this session of the Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT). The PPT was established in 1973 as a Tribunal that would address the institutional gaps in the international legal system. The PPT will issue a final resolution - based on the accusations, evidence, documentation and testimonies of the victims at the hearing.
 
[3] For more information on the Association Agreements between Europe and Latin America see the report 'Calling The EU's Bluff' at www.foei.org/en/calling-the-eus-bluff
]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno global europe corporate power corporates agrofuels economics plantations neoliberalism 2010-05-12T11:22:21Z News Item world bank accused of promoting land grabbing http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2010/world-bank-accused-of-promoting-land-grabbing WASHINGTON, US, April 27, 2010 – Friends of the Earth International warned today that voluntary principles on land acquisitions announced by the World Bank and supported by the UN will legitimize and promote land grabbing in Asia, Africa and Latin America. [1] The warning was issued as the World Bank released at an April 26-27 Washington meeting its voluntary principles to protect rights, livelihoods and resources during large scale land acquisitions by foreign investors in these continents.

These principles have been supported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the International Fund for Agricultural Development .

Millions of people's livelihoods are being destroyed by land grabbing, especially those of peasant farmers, indigenous peoples and fisherfolk. Land grabbing takes place when states and the private sector buy up millions of hectares of land in Asia, Africa and Latin America to produce food and fuel mainly for export.

The World Bank claims that these acquisitions will promote agricultural investment. In reality they will further entrench corporate agriculture for profit and destroy local livelihoods. Land grabbing is also proven to further marginalize small food producers, and local communities who already make up the largest part of the 1 billion people suffering most from hunger and poverty. [2]

Despite years of declining investment in peasant agriculture and the promotion of free trade policies that prioritise industrial agriculture instead, most of the world is still fed by small scale agriculture. Land grabbing undermines small scale agriculture, which jeopardizes our ability to feed the world now and in the future. [3]

Friends of the Earth International Chair Nnimmo Bassey from Nigeria said:

"The UN has shown that the best way to feed our population is through existing, peasant based ecological agriculture. Yet the World Bank and UN agencies support principles which legitimize a new form of colonialism with grave dangers for millions of local livelihoods and the environment. If the UN is serious about ending hunger then it must heed its own advice, stop the advance of agribusiness in Africa and implement food sovereignty immediately."

Large scale corporate agriculture is one of the leading causes of environmental damage, responsible for about half of all global greenhouse gas emissions, habitat destruction from land clearance and huge use of fossil fuels and natural resources.

The focus of industrial agriculture on producing commodities such as animal feeds and agrofuels for export to rich countries rather than food for local populations means it has led to widespread inequality and malnutrition. [4]

Friends of the Earth Uruguay Director Karin Nansen said:

"Industrial production of soy, meat and agrofuels in South America means land grabbing is already taking place. Local communities are violently evicted from their land while agribusiness report record profits by taking control of local resources.  More grabbing of farmland will intensify this violence against people’s sovereignty and also condemn us to ever rising deforestation and climate emissions."

Friends of the Earth International is demanding an end to all forms of land grabbing, which governments and international institutions can achieve by :

Equitable access to land and natural resources - keeping land in the hands of local communities and implementing genuine agrarian reform

Supporting agro-ecological peasant, smallholder farming, fishing and pastoralism, including participatory research and training programmes so that small-scale food providers can produce ample, healthy and safe food for everybody.

 

Overhauling farm and trade policies to embrace food sovereignty and supporting local and regional markets

 

Promoting community-oriented food and farming systems hinged on local people's control over land, water and biodiversity

 

Enforce strict mandatory regulations that curb the access of corporations and other powerful actors (state and private) to agricultural, coastal and grazing lands, forests, and wetlands

 

Halting the expansion of industrial corporate led agriculture and ensure food sovereignty - peoples’ right to control their own seeds, lands, water and food production through just and ecological systems; which ensures enough, diverse, nutritious, locally produced and culturally appropriate food for all.

For more information contact

In English
Kirtana Chandrasekaran, FoEI Food Sovereignty Program Co-coordinator
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7566 1669 and +44 (0) 79619 86956 (UK mobile)

In Spanish
Martin Drago, FoEI Food Sovereignty Program Co-coordinator
Tel: (+ 5982) 9022355 – 9082730 and Uruguayan Mobile: (+ 598 99) 138559

NOTES

[1] The principles were announced at the World Bank conference detailed at http://go.worldbank.org/67YHA6L0K0

See a copy of the principles at

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/214574-1111138388661/22453321/Principles_Extended.pdf


[2] See “Seized: The 2008 land grab for food and financial security" GRAIN Oct 2008 http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=212 and

“The Great Land Grab” Oakland Institute, 2009 www.oaklandinstitute.org/pdfs/LandGrab_final_web.pdf

[3] Peasant farming feeds at least 70% of the world’s population see “Who feeds us?” ETC group Dec 2009 http://www.etcgroup.org/upload/publication/pdf_file/ETC_Who_Will_Feed_Us.pdf

[4] According to the FAO 1 billion people mostly in the poorest countries suffer from hunger while the same number suffer from obesity in the industrialized world

]]> No publisher PhilLee agrofuels biodiversity corporate power 2010-04-27T13:35:00Z News Item 'CERTIFIED' PALM OIL NOT A SOLUTION http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2009/certified-palm-oil-not-a-solution KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA November 3, 2009 -- Certifying palm oil is not a solution to the environmental damage and human rights violations caused by oil palm plantations, said Friends of the Earth International today during the meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Malaysia.

“The certification of palm oil by the RSPO does not halt deforestation, it does not halt the expansion of damaging oil palm plantations and it does not benefit local communities. Basically it fails to deal with the causes of the palm oil problems,” said Friends of the Earth International Agrofuels Campaign Coordinator Torry Kuswardono from Indonesia.


Small but quickly growing quantities of palm oil are being certified by the RSPO. The certification of palm oil is seen by many as a way to make the palm oil industry look 'responsible' or 'sustainable'.


“Certifying palm oil as responsible or sustainable makes consumers feel good and encourages increased consumption, which is precisely the root cause of the problem” added Torry Kuswardono from Indonesia.


“Since palm oil has major carbon footprint, any talk of 'certified' palm oil must take this issue seriously, but the RSPO is not doing that. Instead of adopting voluntary schemes like the RSPO, national governments should pass and enforce laws to control the damaging expansion of palm oil. They should also critically assess if palm oil can still play a role in current or future poverty alleviation programmes. We believe it is part of the problem, not the solution," said Teguh Surya, Head of Campaign Department of WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia.


“Instead of using the certification smokescreen, stakeholders should address the real problem, which is the increasing and unsustainable demand for palm oil, especially as agrofuel,” he added.


Essentially, RSPO companies are subjected to technical principles and criteria, but social and environmental issues of oil palm cultivation are largely framed within flawed political processes, poor governance and unsustainable market demand.

Understood within this context, the RSPO is a voluntary certification process for a market premium and membership that may be able to add a much sought after and totally misleading 'green tag' to the industry. Moreover, it provides certification without having to actually address some of the most very basic, structural issues that gave rise to the adverse impacts of oil palm cultivation.

Friends of the Earth International therefore does not regard the RSPO as a credible certification process as it is only a limited tool of technicality which is not able to adequately address the horrendous impacts of oil palm cultivation on forests, land and communities.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

IN MALAYSIA


Torry Kuswardono, Friends of the Earth International Agrofuels Campaign Coordinator and Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI); tel: +62- 811 383 270 (Indonesia mobile number) or email torry@walhi.or.id or torry@walhi.or.id


IN INDONESIA

Teguh Surya, Head of Campaign Department of WALHI / Friends of the Earth Indonesia Tel: +62-811 820 4362 (Indonesia mobile number) or email teguh.surya@gmail.com


IN EUROPE

Adrian Bebb, Friends of the Earth Europe agrofuels Campaigner: Tel: +49-1609 49 01 163 (german mobile number) or email adrian.bebb@foeeurope.org



Friends of the Earth International is the world's largest grassroots environmental federation with 77 national member groups in 77 countries and more than 2 million individual members and supporters.





*BACKGROUND INFORMATION*

*1. The problems of certification of palm oil*

Certification as a means to make the palm oil industry sustainable fails to deal with the root causes of the problem. The destruction caused by the expansion of palm oil is caused by the excessive and irrational use of vegetable oil, either as a foodstuff, industrial oil or agrofuel. Sustainable production can only be achieved by halting the increased demand and over-consumption in order to create sustainable levels of demand.


Some of the biggest environmental and social problems are caused by the actual expansions of palm plantations. No certification scheme has so far come up with a solution to the deforestation, habitat loss and social conflicts caused by displacing agricultural activities elsewhere from these expansions. It is likely that this will never be solved by certification.

Wider societal problems created by the expansions fall outside of
certification schemes and need to be addressed urgently. Rising
land prices as a result of the expansions cause great harm, as
does the rising price of food as a result of the displacement of
local food production.


In many producer countries there are high levels of corruption, weak governance, little land use planning or formal land ownership and a disregard to the right of local and indigenous peoples. Within a context of little transparency and likely ineffective monitoring it is highly unlikely that certification schemes will be fully implemented and there is big potential for fraud.


Certification schemes are mainly developed to please consumer markets in the North. These schemes therefore run the danger of persuading the public that palm oil is sustainably produced, therefore giving support to their continued use and deflecting from the real causes of the problems. Likewise they can be used by industry to fend off criticism without them addressing the unsustainable nature of their business.


Voluntary market-based mechanisms are no replacement for strict legislation and will not be able to fully influence the behaviour of the global oil palm market. The lack of political will to strictly regulate the oil palm commodity market allows companies to “pick and mix” whether they participate and can manage certified estates at the same time as being involved in uncertified estates. They can also be minor shareholders in estates involved in malpractices.


*2. The RSPO is full of loopholes*


The full implementation of the RSPO will not guarantee sustainability. It is unlikely that a certification scheme can be comprehensive enough to deal with the issues at stake. For example, with the RSPO:


   *      There is no credible verification process and plantations have
     already been certified despite serious breaches of RSPO Principles
     and Criteria.

   *      Most palm oil is produced by large corporate groups that own
     hundreds of thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations. RSPO
     does not require all producers to get the entirety of their estate
     certified at once. Companies need to have a 'realistic and
     adequately' ambitious plan for certifying their other plantations,
     if they have ownership of more than 51% of that plantation, but
     since RSPO has not set a timeline for this, RSPO members can avoid
     taking any steps towards the certification of their land.

   *      The already weak criteria adopted by the RSPO membership in
     November 2005 have since been significantly watered down in the
     national interpretation processes, such as on matters pertaining
     Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Social Impact Assessments.
     And all plantations established before 2007 can now become
     certified, even though they have been grown on previous forest lands.

   *      RSPO has also failed to come up with appropriate standards for
     greenhouse gas emissions associated with plantation development
     and management. In addition, RSPO has failed to undertake a study
     on alternatives for the toxic pesticide paraquat used all to
     commonly in plantations.

   *      It will be possible for companies to expand with unsustainable
     large-scale monocultures, as long as there are no High
     Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) areas converted after 2007.

   *      The RSPO does not have any sanctions against violations of the
     criteria at the plantation level.

   *      There is no permanent monitoring body. Only when there is a
     written complaint a grievance panel is established to conduct
     investigative research and provide recommendations for action by
     the RSPO.

   *      The Grievance Panel is composed of Executive Board members who are
     stakeholders rather than mediators or arbiters. The capacity of
     NGOs and local communities to respond to failures of the RSPO
     would be crucial when there are environmental or social problems
     at a plantation. But their capacity is limited.

   *      RSPO will allow its certified palm oil to be traded through
     different chains of custody schemes, from “identify preserved” to
     “book and claim”. This means that RSPO certified palm oil will be
     mixed with palm oil from other sources, making it virtually
     impossible for a purchaser to be sure that the palm oil is not
     linked to rainforest destruction or any other environmental
     degradation and social conflict.


Ultimately, RSPO will be endorsing as sustainable the cultivation of vast areas of oil palm monocultures from recently converted natural forests, even where they encroach into local communities customary land and forests, isolating them into small enclaves. In effect, any forest is allowed to be converted into oil palm plantation under the process so long it is not defined as a High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF), despite the fact that such forests have regeneration potential or that communities claim customary rights over them.



*3. Impacts of oil palm on people and the environment *


Oil palm expansion occurs throughout the tropics at unprecedented rates. Asia is aiming for around 30 million hectares of palm monocultures (compared to approximately 12 million at present). There are also plans for large-scale expansions in Central and East Africa (for instance in Congo: 3 million hectares) and in Latin America (for instance in Columbia: 3.5 million hectares). The emergence of palm oil for the production of agrofuels (for transport and power generation) further promotes the expansion of the palm oil industry.


Expanding the area dedicated to palm oil plantations creates enormous problems that threaten biodiversity, forests, climate, the environment and communities.


Impacts on people

   *      Large areas of land are appropriated from communities by private
     corporations backed up by a lack of transparency, corruption and
     other unlawful activities in the licensing and development of oil
     palm plantations;

  *      Land prices increase due to the expansions resulting in land being
     unaffordable for most people;

   *      Large monocultures have adverse impacts on local natural water
     cycles and can cause severe pollution of water sources, increasing
     the likelihood of fires and floods and limiting the access to
     clean water for local communities;

   *      In many cases, oil palm monocultures are converted from logged
     over forests as a result of unsustainable logging practices that
     have earlier caused the depletion in timber resources. Such
     forests however still contain valuable resources to local
     communities who claim customary rights over them and with a proper
     conservation strategy is able to self-regenerate;

   *      A general failure to recognize and respect the right of indigenous
     and local peoples.

   *       Food sovereignty is undermined by occupying land that has been
     used to grow food for local consumption and diverting it to grow
     crops for export.

   *       Poor working and living conditions for plantations workers as well
     as small holders, and enormous vulnerability to price fluctuations.

   *       While the palm oil industry prides itself for providing employment
     and producing an important world commodity, far more people are
     likely to be adversely affected by its expansion, from indigenous
     and rural communities, plantation workers, smallholder farmers to
     other stakeholders who are confronted by environmental
     degradation, increases in food prices and the decline in their
     nation’s agricultural output, to name only a few.


Impacts on the environment

   *       Widespread deforestation is destroying biodiversity and pushing
     some species to the brink of extinction.

   *       Huge levels of greenhouse gas emissions are released from
     deforestation and draining of peatlands.

   *       Unsustainable monoculture farming leading to the destruction of
     biodiversity and pollution of the environment through the use of
     dangerous pesticides and other agrochemicals such as paraquat.

   *       Environmental undervaluation of forests and peat lands.



*4. Solutions advocated*


Friends of the Earth International (FOEI) is calling for wider policy mechanisms that control demand and encourage a more sustainable use of land that guarantees food sovereignty and the protection of natural resources. FOEI does not support the use of palm oil as a fuel and either transport or energy production. In addition FOEI calls for Governments to adopt concrete and consistent policies and legal reforms in order for them to address effectively the sustainability challenges of the oil palm industry.


Wider policy mechanisms that go beyond certification are needed that control demand, especially where it depends increasingly on resources based in developing countries, and encourages a more sustainable use of land that guarantees food sovereignty and the protection of natural resources.


Real solutions to the energy and climate crisis need to be introduced that reduce the demand for fuel such as a modal shift to public transport, cleaner cars and energy efficient electricity production and use. Palm oil as an energy or transport fuel must be banned.


Friends of the Earth International believes governments are key to creating the solutions and should be made accountable to adopt concrete and consistent policies and legal reforms in order for them to address effectively the sustainability challenges of the oil palm industry.


To that effect, we call for policies and laws to:


   *      Prevent expansions of oil palm plantations that involve forest
     conversions, violations of local community rights, affect food
     sovereignty and other forms of environmental degradations, human
     rights abuse and economic and social injustices;


   *      End poor governance through serious improvements in public
     accountability, transparency in decision-making and eliminate
     inconsistencies and contradictions in policy and law. Reform must
     be initiated in favour of environmental and social sustainability,
     including ensuring that rights of communities and labourers are
     well-protected;


   *      Ensure that full legal recognition is given to indigenous
     communities through policy and land reform initiatives which must
     be able to address concerns on reparative mechanisms;


   *      Ratify and nationally implement all existing international
     conventions, treaties, declarations and other international laws
     on indigenous peoples, biodiversity, forests, climates, labour and
     hazardous toxics ;


   *      Introduce strict laws on the use of pesticides and waste management;


   *      Reject incentives and targets that promote large scale agrofuel
     production as a solution to the climate change problem. Such
     incentives must instead be diverted to research and produce
     genuinely renewable, efficient and sustainable energy sources;


   *      Promote a sustainable agricultural policy that encourages
     environmentally-friendly farming practices, increases agricultural
     diversity and the consumption of local production instead for
     export. Increase government support for practises such as
     diversification of production and stimulation of local production
     for local markets that contribute to food security and food
     sovereignty in producer and consumer countries.


]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno biodiversity logging agrofuels impacted communities forests plantations agriculture 2009-11-04T12:25:24Z News Item Halt to Palm Oil Investments Welcomed http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2009/halt-to-palm-oil-investments-welcomed Jakarta, Indonesia, September 11, 2009 -- Friends of the Earth International welcomed the announcement by the IFC, the World Bank's private sector arm, that it will stop all palm oil investments.
“Investments in large-scale oil palm plantations lead to deforestation and human rights violations”, said Torry Kuswardono of Friends of the Earth Indonesia/WALHI. “We are encouraged that the World Bank Group is finally recognizing the problems, and we hope that other banks will follow suit.”

The World Bank Group statement was unveiled in a letter from its president Robert Zoellick, responding to an appeal from Indonesian and international NGOs. [1]

The 28th August letter announces suspension of all World Bank private sector arm funding for palm oil until a revised strategy for the financing of this troubled sector is in place.

A coalition of local and international NGOs, spearheaded by the UK organization Forest Peoples Program, [2] had previously filed a complaint at the IFC's internal watchdog, the Compliance Advisory Ombudsman office (CAO) about a series of loans to palm oil giant Wilmar International.

A joint report by three NGOs (Friends of the Earth Netherlands, Kontak Rakyat Borneo and Gemawan), which examined Wilmar's plantations in Sambas, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, found that the company is working with dubious licenses, and is entangled in land rights conflicts and illegal logging activities. [3]

The complaint triggered an audit by the CAO, which concluded that the IFC had violated its own procedures, and that commercial interests had overruled the IFC's environmental and social standards. [4]

In his letter, World Bank Group President Zoellick states that “until we have a new strategy in place, IFC will not approve any new investments in palm oil. I have also asked IFC to review the environmental and social performance of all portfolio investments in palm oil.” [5]

“This assessment should be applied to other monoculture agrofuels plantations. We encourage other banks to follow the World Bank's step and review such investments," said Friends of the Earth International's Torry Kuswardono.

This was the second blow to the agrofuels sector this week. On Wednesday, Friends of the Earth International welcomed the banning by the UK Advertising Standards Authority of an advert by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council claiming palm oil is “sustainable”. This was the result of an earlier complaint filed by Friends of the Earth International. [6]

A note on agrofuels

Friends of the Earth groups from Indonesia to Colombia have fought for years for an end to destructive large- scale palm oil plantations and their financing. The large- scale expansion of palm oil plantations is responsible for the destruction of forests and peatlands, high carbon dioxide emissions, and land grabs from indigenous peoples.

Palm oil is prominent not only in the food and cosmetics industry, but is increasingly used as a biodiesel, despite its substandard environmental record. European and US mandatory targets for the use of biofuels are a major driver behind the unsustainable expansion of oil palm plantations.

Friends of the Earth International strongly opposes the use of edible oils for energy purposes, and denounces agrofuels such as palm oil as a false solution to climate change.


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Torry Kuswardono, Friends of the Earth International Agrofuels Campaign Coordinator and Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI); +62- 811383270 or torry@walhi.or.id


NOTES TO EDITORS

[1] The news and the letter are online at: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0909-palm_oil_ifc.html

[2] See http://www.forestpeoples.org

[3] The July 2007 report ‘Policy, Practice, Pride and Prejudice: Review of Legal, Environmental and Social Practices of Oil Palm Plantation Companies of the Wilmar Group in Sambas District, West Kalimantan, Indonesia’, by FoE Netherlands/Milieudefensie, Lembaga Gemawan en Kontak Rakyat Borneo, is available at:
http://www.milieudefensie.nl/globalisering/publicaties/rapporten/policy-practice-pride-and-prejudice.pdf

[4] See http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/uploads/case_documents/Combined%20Document%201_2_3_4_5_6_7.pdf

[5] See http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0909- palm_oil_ifc.html

[6] See http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do/forest-and-climate-change/grassroots-highlights/2009/halting-misleading-palm-oil-ads

]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno agrofuels plantations 2009-09-18T11:48:30Z News Item NEW REPORT CASTS DOUBT OVER BIOFUELS ‘WONDER CROP’ JATROPHA http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2009/new-report-casts-doubt-over-biofuels-2018wonder-crop2019-jatropha LONDON (UK) / MBABANE (SWAZILAND), 28 May 2009 -- Biofuels produced from the crop jatropha may be competing with food production for land and water, according to a new report released today by two Friends of the Earth groups as the Jatropha World Summit begins in Ghana. The report – “Jatropha – wonder crop?” – investigates claims made by UK biofuels company D1 Oils about jatropha.

Amid concern about the impacts of large-scale biofuel production – fuelled by the EU’s biofuel targets - D1 Oils has promoted jatropha as a wonder crop that doesn’t compete with food and can grow almost anywhere.

The report draws on experience from Swaziland where D1 Oils has been growing and promoting jatropha as a wonder crop because of its ability to grow on poor quality land.

Although jatropha does grow in semi-arid lands, yields in these conditions are very unlikely to be high enough for farmers to make a profit. In water-scarce Swaziland, some farmers growing jatropha for D1 Oils have found that the crop needs regular watering. Other farmers have turned land that was recently used for growing food over to jatropha production.

The report also raises concern about the way D1 Oils has promoted jatropha to farmers. Some farmers could not read or understand the contracts they signed and were not left copies. D1 Oils’ claims about the development opportunities that jatropha will bring to rural communities has been brought into question by other studies which have found that jatropha is unlikely to be the mainstay of farmers’ incomes.

Friends of the Earth biofuels campaigner, Hannah Griffiths said

“It is shameful that this so-called wonder crop is replacing food production in a country where two thirds of the population depend on food aid.

“D1 Oil’s claims about jatropha don’t marry up with the experiences of the African farmers growing the crop.

“The EU must assess of the damage being done by jatropha as part of its biofuels review next year – and D1 Oils should stop producing it until they’ve properly assessed its social and environmental impact.”


Sicelo Simelane from Yonge Nawe / Friends of the Earth Swaziland said:

“Jatropha is being pushed as one of the new miracle crops for African small farmers to produce fuel and dig themselves out of poverty. But the reality is that biofuel developments are firmly controlled by Northern companies which are taking over our land at an incredible pace, and are bringing about serious socio-economic and environmental impacts on our communities, food security, forests and water resources. Our governments urgently need to stop and think before delivering our continent to the fuel demand of foreign investors.”

Contact

In London:  Nicky Stocks, Friends of the Earth press office
+44-20 7566 1649 (UK number)

In Swaziland: Sicelo Simelane, +268 404 7701 / 1394 (Swazi number)

Notes to Editors


1. The report “Jatropha – Wonder Crop? Experience for Swaziland” was produced jointly by friends of the earth swaziland and friends of the earth england, wales and northern ireland and is available to download here 

2. Jatropha originates in South America but has been introduced widely to Asia and Africa, where it is traditionally used for hedges and oil from the seeds are used for soap. Jatropha curacas, the variety being promoted for biofuel, is a bushy shrub that produces seeds which contain a non-edible vegetable oil that can be used for biodiesel

3. One of the key drivers of biofuel production is demand for biofuels from Europe and the United States, promoted as a measure to tackle climate change. Despite social and environmental concerns and unproven climate benefits of biofuels, the EU has set a target of 10 per cent road of transport fuel to come from biofuels by 2020. Producers worldwide are gearing up to supply this demand. The rising price of petroleum and a desire for energy security are also spurring countries to look at the
potential for domestic use.

4. Friends of the Earth england, wales and northern ireland believes the environment is for everyone. We want a healthy planet and a good quality of life for all those who live on it. We inspire people to act together for a thriving environment. We campaign on a range of issues including climate change, biodiversity, waste, transport and food.

For further information visit www.foe.co.uk

5. Yonge Nawe (siSwati for “You too must conserve”) / Friends of the Earth Swaziland is a public interest NGO working to prevent and reduce the impacts of inappropriate development on the environment and people.  We believe everyone should enjoy a good quality of life.  We campaign on the most important issues impacting socio-economically disadvantaged communities within Swaziland – those communities typically unable to participate in debates about development that will dramatically affect their lives.  For further information visit www.yongenawe.com

]]> No publisher PhilLee agrofuels 2009-05-28T20:45:00Z News Item World Forests Rapidly Disappearing http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2009/world-forests-rapidly-disappearing ROME, ITALY, MARCH 16 -- In a reaction to the alarming data released today in the 2009 State of the World’s Forests report by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Friends of the Earth International and the Global Forest Coalition, two leading networks of environmental and Indigenous Peoples' Organisations, called on world governments to take immediate action to halt deforestation and forest degradation.  

Deforestation rates continue to be shockingly high in many countries despite increased awareness that forests -which host more than 70% of terrestrial biodiversity- play a key role not only in sustaining the livelihoods of more than one billion people but also in mitigating climate change.


The environmental networks called on the FAO Committee on Forestry to stop promoting plantations and urged governments to immediately halt the conversion of forests into biofuel plantations in their countries.


Governments should also recognize urgently Indigenous Peoples’ territories, promote community-based forest management and restoration, ban illegal logging and related trade, and implement immediate deforestation moratoria.


The FAO report notes that the expansion of large-scale monocultures of oil palm, soy and other crops for agrofuel production has been a key factor in the failure to halt deforestation.


The report also states that "the potential for large-scale commercial production of cellulosic biofuel will have unprecedented impacts on the forest sector."


"If cellulosic biofuel leads to a strongly increased demand for wood, it will have a dramatic impact on the world's forests, especially in regions like Africa and Asia, which are already facing increased pressure on forests due to the failure to combat illegal logging and the rapidly rising demand for wood in general," said Andrey Laletin, chairperson of Friends of the Siberian Forests and focal point for North and Central Asia of the Global Forest Coalition.


Another driver for deforestation is illegal logging - 20% of the timber supply comes from illegal sources. "Europe remains one of the main markets for illegal timber despite a 2003 EU action plan to combat illegal logging and related trade. Strong legislation to halt illegal timber trade and to decrease Europe's devastating impact on the world's forests should be adopted as a bare minimum – there is no time to lose," said Friedrich Wulf from ProNatura / Friends of the Earth Switzerland.


According to the FAO report, illegal logging could increase due to the global economic crisis, as it might cause a contraction of the formal forestry sector.


An additional worrying trend is the massive replacement of forests by large-scale tree plantations in many countries.


"Plantations are not forests", said Isaac Rojas, coordinator of the Forest and Biodiversity Program of Friends of the Earth International. "All over the world, plantations destroy the lands and livelihoods of local communities and Indigenous Peoples, as well as biodiversity and water resources. They also store far less carbon than natural forests."


"As they provide very little employment for rural people, tree plantations are also a major cause of rural depopulation and a further shifting agricultural frontier, thus causing the destruction of forests elsewhere," said Simone Lovera, managing coordinator of the Global Forest Coalition.


"By actively promoting monoculture tree plantations, FAO itself is partly responsible for this global trend of replacing biologically diverse forests with straight rows of usually non-native trees," she added.


FOR MORE INFORMATION

 

In Rome: Simone Lovera and Andrey Laletin - Global Forest Coalition: Tel: +31-6-15 34 53 79 (Dutch cell)


In Rome: Friedrich Wulf, Pro Natura / Friends of the Earth Switzerland: Tel: +49-176 85 32 25 10 (German cell)


In Costa Rica: Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth international: + 506-83 38 32 04 or 506-22 68 60 39 (Costa Rican numbers)

 

]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno agrofuels biodiversity agriculture forests 2009-03-16T14:00:00Z News Item MALAYSIAN PALM OIL GREENWASH REPORT http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2008/malaysian-palm-oil-greenwash-report PENANG (MALAYSIA) / BRUSSELS (BELGIUM), October 7, 2008 – Malaysian palm oil exported for use in food, biofuels and cosmetics is far from 'green' – contrary to claims by Malaysian palm oil producers – shows the new report “Malaysian Palm Oil: Green Gold or Green Wash?” released today by Friends of the Earth groups. The 60-page long report examines the case of the vast Malaysian State of Sarawak, which is developing large-scale plantations at breath-taking speed having overexploited its timber resources and depleted its forests.

 

The executive summary of the report is online here  

 

The full text of the report is online here

 

"This report exposes the misleading claim of the Malaysian palm oil lobby that its palm oil is sustainable. Earlier this year the British advertising watchdog ruled that  Malaysian palm oil ads claiming that the oil is sustainable were misleading the public. It is high time for Europe to limit its demand for palm oil products and halt the use of edible oils for energy use," said Paul de Clerck, Friends of the Earth International Corporates Campaigner.

 

Sarawak plans to more than double its 2007 levels of oil palm acreage by 2010, taking it to a total of 1.3 million hectares.

 

"An acceptance of Malaysia's palm oil claims will legitimise further tropical deforestation, human rights violations against indigenous peoples and the suppression of public participation in government decision making," said Friends of the Earth International chair Meena Raman. Meena Raman, who is also SAM / Friends of the Earth Malaysia Honorary Secretary, has been barred from entering Sarawak since 1994.

 

The main findings of the report include:

 

1. Oil palm plantations are being expanded at the expense of tropical forests, contrary to claims by the Malaysian palm oil lobby.

 

2. The 'carbon debt' of palm oil is huge when the plantation is developed on peat soils and/or at the expense of forests.

 

3. In Sarawak plantation companies regularly practice open burning to clear land for planting, even on peat soils, contributing to regional air pollution (haze) and to the faster release of greenhouse gases into the

atmosphere.

 

4. Virgin forests promised to the Penan indigenous communities of Sarawak have never materialised, contrary to the claims of the Malaysian palm oil

lobby.

 

Further information

 

EUROPE:

Paul de Clerck, Corporates Campaigner for Friends of the Earth International: Tel: +32-494-38 09 59 (Belgian mobile)

 

Anne van Schaik, Globalisation campaigner, Friends of the Earth Netherlands / Milieudefensie: Tel: +31-6-29 59 38 77 (Dutch mobile)

 

Kenneth Richter, Biofuels Campaigner, Friends of the Earth England Wales and Northern Ireland: Tel: + 44-20-75 66 16 71 (UK office number)

 

PENANG, MALAYSIA

Meena Raman, Friends of the Earth International chair and SAM/Friends of the Earth Malaysia Director: Tel: +60-12 43 00 042 (Malaysian mobile)

]]> No publisher Niccolo Sarno communities agrofuels biodiversity forests 2008-10-07T16:35:00Z News Item