At the meeting of the ITRE Committee on 28th November, MEPs will be voting on the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED, 2016/0382/COD). In the letter here below, the main environmental NGOs in Brussels express their concern about the adoption of a new target for crop based biofuels, in the form of a new target for renewable energy in transport.
The organisations point out that such a target would effectively reverse all progress made to date towards a more sustainable and effective policy. The reliance of the EU on biofuels made from food and feed crops to green its transport sector has led to an overall increase in emissions, because of the displacement of agriculture onto new land or reduced reforestation (indirect land use change or ILUC). At the same time the policy has had adverse impacts on the environment and people globally while diverting significant resources from better alternatives, such as renewable electricity.
