USA Africa Dialogue Series - What are biofuels? What's the problem with them?

Our limited resources – land and water – are being used to make biofuels for our petrol tanks when they should be used to grow much needed food in a world where one in eight people go to bed hungry every day. As wealthy countries demand ever more food for fuel, food prices soar and millions go hungry, while a global land rush means farmers are often forced off their fields in brutal land grabs to make way for more biofuels, destroying livelihoods and exacerbating poverty and hunger even further.

Oxfam is calling on governments to scrap the rules and laws that divert food from those who need it the most and put it in fuel tanks. The full impact of biofuels on both people and the planet, including food price increases, land grabs, and indirect land use change, must be accounted for. Far more climate friendly and cost effective strategies to reduce emissions from transport exist, such as setting higher efficiency standards for cars, and creating better transport systems.

Now in Europe, there is an excellent opportunity to make things right as our leaders will decide on reform of EU biofuels policy in the coming months. They must listen.