Climate change

Land used for European biofuels could feed 120 million people daily

March 9, 2023

CO₂ benefits of biofuels pale in significance to simply giving land back to nature, while using just 2.5% of the land for solar panels would produce the same amount of energy

Europe currently wastes land the size of Ireland on crops for biofuels which is an obstacle to tackling the climate crisis and food security, a new study shows. The study commissioned by Transport and Environment (T&E) shows that this land could be used to feed 120 million people or, if given back to nature, could absorb twice as much CO₂ as is supposedly saved by powering cars with biofuels. Using an area equivalent to just 2.5% of this land for solar panels would produce the same amount of energy.

Maik Marahrens, biofuels manager at T&E, said: “Biofuels are a failed experiment. To continue to burn food as fuel while the world is facing a growing global food crisis is borderline criminal. Countries like Germany and Belgium are discussing limiting food crop biofuels in response. The rest of Europe must follow suit.”

Julie Bos, EU climate justice policy advisor at Oxfam, said: “The EU’s biofuel policy is a catastrophe for hundreds of millions of people who are struggling to find their next meal. Not only does it surrender vast swathes of cropland to fuel cars, but it also pushes food prices even higher. European countries must once and for all stop burning food for fuel.”

According to the research, land cultivated to grow crops for biofuels could be used to provide the calorie needs of at least 120 million people [1]. It would be more than enough to cover the 50 million people that the UN says are “in emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity.” With world fertiliser prices sky-high and the UN-brokered deal that allowed shipments of grain out of Ukraine in the balance, the organisations call on European governments to prioritise food over fuel.

This is made worse due to biofuels’ questionable climate benefits. Crop biofuels consumed in Europe require a total of 9.6 million hectares of land – an area larger than the island of Ireland (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) [2]. If this were returned to its natural state, it could absorb around 65 million tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere – nearly twice the officially reported net CO₂ savings from biofuels replacing fossil fuels.

Using the land for solar farms would also be far more efficient. You need 40 times more land to power a car using biofuels compared to an electric car powered by solar energy, the analysis shows. An area just 2.5% of the land currently dedicated to biofuels would be needed for solar to produce the same amount of energy, leaving the rest available for rewilding or growing food.

“Right now we surrender vast swathes of land for crops that we simply burn in our cars. It’s a scandalous waste. This land could feed millions of people or, if given back to nature, provide carbon sinks rich in biodiversity. Crop biofuels are probably the dumbest thing ever promoted in the name of the climate,” concludes Maik Marahrens.

The EU has set itself targets to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity in its Nature Restoration Law. With biofuel feedstocks taking up a good chunk of Europe’s croplands, ending the use of land for biofuels could be an important step to achieving this goal.

Notes to editor

[1] If the land now fully dedicated to biofuels for consumption in Europe (5.3 Mha) would be used for growing wheat.

[2] This figure refers to the total area needed to grow the crops used for Europe’s biofuels consumption. A share of these crops is going into ‘co-products’, mainly animal feed. The following numbers given on food and carbon sequestration in this press release refer to the area allocated to biofuels, only (5.3Mha), excluding the area allocated to co-products (4.3Mha).

Biofuel Obligation bill scrapped by Government

February 8, 2023

In reaction to the recent announcement that the Sustainable Biofuels Obligation Bill has been dropped by the Government Nicky Henry, Climate Justice Lead at Oxfam Aotearoa said:

“Oxfam is delighted that the government listened to the advice and scientific evidence that biofuels mandates are harmful as they take food and land away from people.

“This is a win for us all, but especially for the farmers, families, and communities we work with across the Pacific and beyond. We know that there are better ways we can reduce emissions and we look forward to seeing the government step up in other areas. Oxfam calls the government to urgently invest in better public transport, electric cars, and to price agriculture emissions properly.”

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Notes:

The bill was before the Environment Select Committee who heard oral submissions about it on 1 February 2023. Citizen-powered environmental and global justice groups including Don’t Burn Our Future, Oxfam Aotearoa, 350.org, Environment and Conservation Organisations Aotearoa, Climate Justice Taranaki, the National Women’s Council and the Vegan Society opposed this bill in their submissions. Fossil fuel companies including BP, Mobil and Gull were supportive of it.

Reaction: Lawyers for Climate Action v Climate Change Commission verdict

November 23, 2022

The NZ Climate Action Network, a network of individual organisations that work together to tackle climate change, react to the Lawyers for Climate Action v Climate Change Commission verdict:

Cindy Baxter, Coal Action Network Aotearoa spokesperson said:

“What’s shocking in this decision is the Court’s ruling that the 1.5˚C warming limit in the Zero Carbon Act is not legally binding. We call on the government to change the Act accordingly, and on the Climate Change Commission to deliver advice as to how we get there, which it clearly has not done.

“The central issue in this court case is the creative accounting around emissions deployed by the New Zealand Government, an accounting system that makes our 2030 emissions reduction target look like a 50% cut when in fact it’s only 22%. We need more transparency around our accounting system.”

Christine Rose, Greenpeace senior agriculture campaigner said:

“This case has highlighted this government’s failure to actively protect the basic right of a safe and stable climate for all. Intensive dairying threatens this right, being to New Zealand what coal is to Australia and tar sands are to Canada. If this Government is serious about tackling the climate crisis, it must do what we already know will cut climate pollution from intensive dairying: phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, substantially reduce stocking rates, and support farmers to shift to more plant-based regenerative organic farming.”

Nick Henry, Oxfam Aotearoa climate justice lead said:

“The law may not have forced the government to act consistently with the science today, but ultimately, the science will force us to act or suffer the consequences. Emissions must be cut in half globally, quickly, to avoid devastating impacts on all of humanity.  

“We can only limit the worst impacts of climate destruction – the impact to homes, to the food we grow, and the places we love – if we take action at the scale necessary to keep global heating to within 1.5 degrees.

Dr Jim Salinger, Wise Response Society deputy chair said:

“We know that climate change is here. What was a river delta and the breadbasket of Pakistan is now a lake; a third of the country is under water and millions of people are displaced. Closer to home, Nelson has suffered one-in-a-hundred-year flooding accompanied by slips, erosion, wastewater pollution, and losses of hundreds of homes and other infrastructure that will take decades to fix.

“Dangerous climate extremes will continue to become more frequent and more extreme with each fraction of a degree the mean global surface temperature rises. New Zealand has committed to doing its part to mitigate climate change. This means real action to cut emissions, across all sectors of society, and it means calculating our carbon budgets using internationally respectable accounting methods.”

Together, these organisations call on the government to revise its emissions budgets in line with the science, and to urgently bring in the following policies to cut emissions: 

A proper price on agricultural emissions that will reduce pollution in line with the science of 1.5°C 
A significant reduction in synthetic nitrogen fertiliser use and a $1 billion investment in regenerative, organic farming   
No new fossil fuel vehicles by 2030, and free public transport for community service cardholders, under 25s and tertiary students 
Ending new oil, coal and gas exploration on Aotearoa soil and seas or extensions of current permits.

Loss and damage fund at COP27 a monumental win, if properly funded

November 21, 2022

Responding to the final communiqué of the COP27 climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, Gabriela Bucher, Oxfam International’s Executive Director, said:

“The establishment of a loss and damage fund is a monumental achievement for vulnerable developing countries and communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis. They have been calling for funding to cope with the devastating impacts of climate change for over 30 years.

“Given the urgency on the ground, the fund must be operationalised as soon as possible. Rich countries largely responsible for warming our planet should immediately mobilise substantial new and additional resources to pay for climate-related damage in vulnerable countries.

“In East Africa, nearly 40 million people are experiencing climate-induced hunger. Recent catastrophic floods in Pakistan have inflicted more than US$30 billion in damages and economic losses and left 10 to 12 percent of the country’s land area under water, affecting more than 33 million people. The list of extreme weather events and disasters is growing, as are the devastating impacts on communities.

“While we applaud the establishment of the loss and damage fund, we remain deeply concerned about countries’ failure to agree on an equitable and urgent phase-out of all fossil fuels. The world is on track for a catastrophic 2.8°C of warming.

“Rich countries, especially the US and those in the EU, have failed to use their power and resources to meet their fair share of responsibility and their moral and legal obligations. Rich countries and many middle-income countries that have the ability to do so are not transitioning away from fossil fuels fast enough to keep warming below 1.5°C, leading to more losses, damages and suffering. Rich countries are not providing the necessary finance to support developing countries to leapfrog to renewable energy.

“Rich countries have broken their US$100 billion climate finance promise and successfully blocked language at COP27 that would have required them to compensate for earlier shortfalls through increased climate finance in subsequent years. Climate finance is needed in the trillions for adaptation and mitigation. Given their responsibility for the climate crisis, rich countries at least could have provided a clear roadmap on how to deliver the US$600 billion they had promised between 2020 and 2025.

“We are also dismayed by the discussions to enhance the Gender Action Plan, which was at the heart of the UNFCCC processes for gender-responsive climate action. Gender was only marginally mentioned, if at all, in the climate talks’ decisions.

“The climate crisis is about inequality and injustice. Communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis are bearing the heaviest brunt of climate-induced disasters, in addition to multiple crises including conflict, loss of livelihoods, and economic shocks. World leaders must push political differences aside and put the needs of these communities first.”

Popular NZ fashion brands get 5 star rating from Oxfam

November 17, 2022

Today Oxfam Aotearoa launched the world-famous campaign, What She Makes. The campaign is about asking fashion brands to pay the women overseas who make our clothes a living wage.

Oxfam Aotearoa engaged with four New Zealand founded brands, Glassons, Hallenstein Bros, Kathmandu and Macpac, and two international brands H&M and Lululemon. Today Oxfam released the results of the first step in the process: a credible commitment towards paying workers in their supply chain a living wage.

Glassons, Hallenstein Bros, and Macpac came out on top with a 5 star rating. H&M received 4 stars, Lululemon received 3 stars and New Zealand brand Kathmandu received 2.5 stars.

Oxfam Aotearoa’s What She Makes Lead Tracy Decena said:

“We want to create a race to the top between fashion brands – starting with a real, credible public commitment towards paying the women overseas who make their clothes a living wage. It’s encouraging to see New Zealand founded brands leading the race. Even though some brands did better than others, we want to acknowledge that every brand made some progress. Yet, there is much more to be done, and you can bet we’ll be there supporting and pushing these brands towards the end goal.

“The women making our clothes often work up to 12 hours a day and then extra overtime, but because they make as little as 65 cents an hour, they don’t have enough money for decent housing, food or healthcare – let alone any savings. We are working to change this.

“We encourage our supporters, fashion lovers, and anyone who believes poverty can be a thing of the past to join us by signing the pledge and demanding fashion brands to do better.”

The What She Makes Brand Tracker

For rating and rationale head to https://www.oxfam.org.nz/what-she-makes-brand-tracker/

Our ask of New Zealanders

Oxfam Aotearoa will be asking Kiwis to let brands know they want them to do better, and to stand with the women who make their clothes. They can start by joining the campaign and signing the pledge through: https://www.oxfam.org.nz/what-she-makes-sign-the-pledge/.

Our ask of the brands

The What She Makes campaign calls on clothing brands that sell clothes here in Aotearoa New Zealand to make sure the garment workers in their supply chains are paid a living wage. Oxfam Aotearoa will work with six brands: Glassons, Hallenstein Brothers, H&M, Kathmandu, Lululemon, and Macpac. We asked them to take the first step of their living wage journeys: commit to paying workers in their supply chain a living wage. We’ll work with the brands to get them to there, and publish their progress (or lack of progress) regularly.

Oxfam reaction: NZ wins Fossil of the Day award at COP27

November 15, 2022

Climate Action Network International has awarded the New Zealand government the Fossil of the Day award at COP27 for opposing an agreement to establish a loss and damage finance facility this year.

This comes less than a week after the Government repurposed $20 million of its existing climate finance for adaptation and mitigation, for loss and damage.

Oxfam Aotearoa’s climate justice lead Nick Henry said:

“This is one award not to be proud of. Our government blocking urgently needed action on loss and damage is frankly not what we expect from a government that says it’s at the leading edge of loss and damage funding.

“Our government should be standing with Pacific nations at COP27 who are calling for a global fund to address the loss and damage they are experiencing due to climate change. This is a global problem that communities on the frontlines are experiencing right now. A decision is needed now, not in a year.”

Oxfam in the Pacific’s project coordinator in Vanuatu George Koran says that it is indigenous communities who suffer from rich governments’ inaction:

“We see the impacts of climate destruction across the Pacific, in Vanuatu and now even in Aotearoa. People in the most vulnerable situations, those who do not have the capacity to adapt, suffer the consequences. The New Zealand Government say they understand the urgent need for loss and damage funds, and yet, we are not seeing any real action. It’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul – we need new and additional funding from our neighbours to fight this crisis.”

Henry said: “We call on the New Zealand Government to back-up their acknowledgement that loss and damage needs funding by supporting a new loss and damage finance facility. This will help ensure that finance to address loss and damage is accessible and sustained and is delivered in accordance with the principles of climate justice. New Zealand can pledge our $20 million allocation to the new facility.”

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