Agrofuels during the CBD in Bonn

Aktionsbündnis , 11.05.2008 20:21

An overview of agrofuel related background information, actionplans, workshops, statements, press releases and links to active organisations.

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From the 12 until the 30 of may the 9th UN summit of the Convention on Biological Diversity CBD) is taking place in Bonn. The participants will talk about the accessibility of biological diversity, crops and genetic resources, about natural reserves and the rights of indigenous people. But biological diversity has also a lot to do with the agriculture. Huge areas of nature are turned into new arable land. Large monocrops replaces smallholders all over the world and the introduction of genetic manipulated organisms is continuing despite of a broad resistance from both consumers and farmers. Large scale production of agrofuels is an clear example of this unsustainable agriculture and it's introduction is the opposite of protecting biological diversity.
For this reason there is a lot of attention to this theme during the CBD.

Main critics
Social and ecological effects of the large scale introduction of agrofuel (just three out of many arguments)
1) Agrofuel is competing with food production; It is part of the 'Food crisis' the newspapers are writing out every day. The price of rice has been doubles in a few months while grain became 130% more expensive in 2007. Also for example maize and soy became more expensive. This is disastrous for the millions of poor in the world, also because all multinationals misuse the opportunity to increase their profits.
2) Large scale production of agrofuels is not at all be done in a sustainable way. It is done as monoculture with a high use of harmful pesticides and artificial fertilisers. The often the soil gets exhausted and becomes vulnerable for erosion. The production of energy crops is misused for the introduction of GMO's because of a smaller resistance as with food production.
3) Small farmers loose their land and livelihood while the mainly big landowners and multinational corporations are involved in the production. On 200 hectares with diverse agriculture about 40 families were able to make a living. The same areal of soy provides a job for one person. The expelling of people that is necessary for this change is done with a lot of intimidation and violence.

Agrofuel is no solution for the climate and energy problems.

Often climate change is used as an argument to introduce agrofuels as a replacement of fossil fuels. But the reduction of CO2 is very limited and sometimes even negative due to energy use in the production and the deforestation that goes together with the growing demand for agriculture land.

The World Bank, the IMF and many governments forced the agricultural sector to liberalise. The result is that food became a commodity to speculate with. The profits of food companies and investors were sky rocketing in the past years. This will be the same for the production and trade of agrofuels. It will be the rich people in the 'West' that can pay those prices to eat, drive and fly, while world wide the poor will not be able to pay their food.

Actions

Tuesday 13 May: Regarding the signing of the agreement between Brazil and Germany, an action is being organised, on 13 May in BONN (as the agreement has been signed that day). Hopefully a report will be published here soon.

Sunday 18 May: Agrofuel action day. To link the issue discussed at the conference with the normal people in Bonn (and the rest of Germany / Europe) there will be an action in the streets in the centrel of Bonn. With theatre if will be made clear that people have to choose between food and fuel. A SEED is coordinating this action with the help of the german Aktionsnetzwerk globale Landwirtschaft.
Meeting point: 10: 00, Oscar Romero Haus, Bonn
Contact: soy (at) aseed.net

Workshops and side-events
will be added here soon


News:

* Press release Rettet das Regenwald on agrofuel deal Germany Brazil: “Stoppt Gabriels geplantes Agrarenergieabkommen mit Brasilien”.  http://biotech.indymedia.org/or/2008/05/7003.shtml
With as next development: Umweltministerin Silva tritt direkt vor Merkels Besuch zurück:  http://biotech.indymedia.org/or/2008/05/7115.shtml

* Joint NGO press release: Sustainability Criteria and Certification of Biomass – greenwashing destruction in pursuit of profit.(18 March 2008).  http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/files/a15-pr-1.pdf


Background information

(general)
* Grains Agrofuel resource page, including a link to their Seedlinks special,  http://www.grain.org/agrofuels/
* Biosprit macht Hunger (thematic newsletter from INKOTA) ( http://www.inkota.de/aktuelles/inkota_zeitungsbeileger_ansicht.pdf
* "Agrofuels: Out of the frying pan into the fire". Cases about soy, oil palm and sugarcane.  http://www.aseed.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=426&Itemid=107
* "Myths of the Agro-fuels Transition", Food First.  http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1711
* "The Geopolitics of Agrofuels", Position Paper of the Global South on Food Sovereignty, Energy Sovereignty and the transition towards a post-oil society.  http://www.wrm.org.uy/subjects/biofuels/Quito_Manifest.html
* "Agrofuel from the soy desert" (on inefficiency, pressure on land, conflict with food and meat production).  http://www.aseed.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=208&Itemid=107

(corporate lobby)
* Industry Pushes For 25% Agrofuel Target.  http://www.corporateeurope.org/sra.html
* Paving the way for agrofuels. EU policy, sustainability criteria and climate calculations.  http://lasojamata.org/en/taxonomy/term/57

(agricultural model)
Refugees of the Agro-export model (brochure).  http://lasojamata.org/en/node/93


Overview of statements:

* Ulenkrug / Aktionsnetzwerk globale Landwirtschaft (in german)
 http://www.aseed.net/pdfs/ThesenAGROFUEL-aktionsnetzwerk.pdf
* (brazilian) Small farmers & peasants: For food and energy sovereignty,  http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuelwatch/message/1260
* Quito declaration from local communities (Equador)  http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/docs/quito_declaration.pdf. This resulted in the longer manifest / position paper "The Geopolitics of Agrofuels" that is mentioned above.

* Native people: "Native People Warn U.N. of Biofuels Disaster"
 http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42196

* NGO's "Call for an immediate moratorium on EU incentives for agrofuels, EU imports of agrofuels and EU agroenergy monocultures",  http://www.econexus.info/agrofuel_moratorium_call.html

critical voices from unexpected directions:

* UN: "Zeigler's successor De Schutter calls for targets to be dropped."
 http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/05/02/america/OUKWD-UK-FOOD-UN-RIGHTS.php
* UN Secretary-General calls on world leaders to attend Food vs Fuel summit; new UN Food head calls biofuels a 'scandal'.  http://biotech.indymedia.org/or/2008/05/7120.shtml

Agrofuel actions from the past few months:

* Gent April 17: Activists block Cargill
 http://www.aseed.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=552&Itemid=211
* Berlin April 17: Agrofuels create hunger!
 http://www.viacampesina.org/main_en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=515&Itemid=33
* London April 15: Protest against Brown on biofuels
 http://www.campaigncc.org/biofuels.shtml
* Brussel March 13: Blockade at World Biofuels Market
 http://www.aseed.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=535&Itemid=211

More links:
Biofuelwatch:  http://www.biofuelwatch.org
A SEED:  http://www.aseed.net/soy
INKOTA:  http://www.inkota.de
La Soja Mata:  http://lasojamata.org