EU CLIMATE CHANGE PACKAGE AND THE INDIRECT EFFECTS OF BIOFUELS

That this House welcomes many aspects of the EU Climate Change Package; notes however that its undertakings fall far short of what the EU would have to do in a world effort to avoid dangerous climate change; is disappointed that the Council of Europe obtained the removal of a requirement, drafted by MEPs, that biofuel sustainability criteria account for indirect land use change (ILUC) emissions caused, despite assurances by the Government that the UK was seeking that these criteria address the indirect effects, and despite the warning by the EU Joint Research Centre that EU biofuels are currently likely to increase, not reduce, world emissions overall if the ILUC emissions are all counted; further notes that biofuels with such outcomes are strongly encouraged in the Package, both by the renewable transport energy target and the revised EU fuel quality directive; has similar concerns over EU use of non-waste vegetable oil as a biofuel for power generation, also incentivised by the Package; welcomes the focus on deforestation in the recent UN climate talks; and seeks the abolition of incentives for biofuels to the extent that their total costs, including in terms of indirect emissions, deforestation and hunger, exceed the benefits.