forests

A bad day for the climate as biofuel legislation kicks in

Posted by jamie — 15 April 2008 at 6:39pm - Comments

So, today the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) comes into effect and we'll all be using more biofuels as a result. Regular readers will know that this exciting piece of legislation will see 2.5 per cent of our petrol and diesel coming from food crops, and that we have been asking everyone to send emails to transport secretary Ruth Kelly asking her to postpone the RTFO. Now we need to see that she abandons so if you haven't expressed your concern about this already, you can still do so.

Brazilian government gets busy in the Amazon

Posted by jamie — 15 April 2008 at 5:20pm - Comments

Following our action in France last month - when the crew of the Arctic Sunrise blocked a shipment of timber from the Brazilian Amazon - efforts have been stepped up in the country of origin to prevent illegal timber being exported in the first place.

The Brazilian government's environmental agency, Ibama, has seized a shipment of timber in the first check on exports by authorities in two years. The cargo vessel in question - the BSLE Express - would have been en route to Europe but has been detained in Santarem since March 27. So far, inspectors have confiscated 732m3 of wood which were travelling with false papers; papers that were economical with the truth when it came to the species of timber present in the shipment.

New biofuels law "incredibly reckless" - Greenpeace

Last edited 14 April 2008 at 2:41pm

Plan is too weak to stop environmentally damaging crops being pumped into British tanks

14 April, 2008

The introduction of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) tomorrow could seriously undermine the UK's claim to leadership on climate change and increase emissions from the transport sector, according to Greenpeace.

The group claims that new rules to oblige motorists to pump biofuels into their tanks will drive rainforest destruction and could actually accelerate global warming.

Help mark April Biofool's Day

Posted by jamie — 8 April 2008 at 12:21pm - Comments

We had Fossil Fool's Day last week with plenty of action around the country to highlight the dangers posed by coal, but the dreadful punning doesn't stop there. Continuing the theme, next Tuesday is April Biofool's Day which admittedly falls on the 15th rather than the 1st, but that's because the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) - which will overnight increase our consumption of biofuels - begins to make its presence felt.

On the day, the good folks at Biofuelwatch and the Campaign against Climate Change are organising a protest outside the home of a certain Mr Gordon Brown, Number 10 Downing Street. You can join the crowds outside Number 10 from 6pm and further details are on the websites of both organisations. If you can't get there, you can still do something - write to transport secretary Ruth Kelly with your concerns about this rush towards biofuels.

Meanwhile, concerns about biofuels are rising up the political ladder, as last week UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called for a review on global biofuel policies. Our government currently has the indirect impacts with biofuels under review but the results aren't due for some time, and certainly not before Biofool's Day next week.

Greenpeace, Google Earth and global awareness

Posted by bex — 8 April 2008 at 9:39am - Comments

Google Earth

Google Earth launches a new layer

Images have a way of penetrating the mind and conveying information more immediately and powerfully than reams of words and, as far as images of our planet go, they don't come much more powerful than Google Earth.

The application - which has already done its fair share of enabling people to use technology for the good of the planet - has launched a new Outreach programme, encouraging us at Greenpeace and other organisations to use the application to spread global awareness.

Undercover video throws light on illegal timber trade

Posted by jamie — 2 April 2008 at 10:19am - Comments

The undercover experts down the road at the Environmental Investigation Agency have released this short video exposing the trade in illegal timber from the forests of Laos. Shady deals and corruption allow large amounts of dodgy lumber to be processed in Vietnam and Thailand, where it's made into products like garden furniture for export to (among other places) the UK. Yet another reason why we need laws in Europe to ban the import of illegal timber.

Biofuels 'splash and dash' scam - Greenpeace reponse

Last edited 1 April 2008 at 2:21pm
1 April, 2008

Reacting to news that biofuel companies are profiting from a process known as "splash and dash" (1), Greenpeace senior forest campaigner Belinda Fletcher said:

"Shipping biofuels back and forth across the world for tax breaks is just one more example of the way this industry pretends to be green while actually contributing to climate change.

Letter to Ruth Kelly regarding biofuels and the RTFO

Last edited 24 March 2008 at 4:07pm
Publication date: 
24 March, 2008

A coalition of some of Britain's biggest environmental and development groups has warned the Government that its biofuel policy risks doing more harm than good in the fight against climate change and global poverty. The organisations are demanding that ministers delay the introduction of legislation which would see biofuels pumped into every tank in the country from April 15th 2008. 

Download the report:

Leading environmental and development groups attack government's biofuel plans

Last edited 24 March 2008 at 10:34am

NGOs echo words of top DEFRA scientist and demand biofuel obligation be postponed

24 March, 2008

A coalition of some of Britain's biggest environmental and development groups have sent a joint letter (1) to Government warning that the UK's biofuel policy risks doing more harm than good in the fight against climate change and global poverty.

The intervention intensifies pressure on the Government following a BBC interview in which Professor Bob Watson, DEFRA's chief scientific advisor, cast serious doubt on the plans and insisted that it would be "insane" if the policy ended up having the opposite effect to the one intended. (2)

Problems at the pump as new biofuel law draws closer

Posted by jamie — 24 March 2008 at 10:00am - Comments

A car speeding along a road

In a few weeks' time on Tuesday 15 April, every fuel company in the UK will be obliged to include a certain amount of biofuel in their petrol and diesel supplies. This is because, to comply with EU policies, the government has decreed we will all be using biofuels whether we want to or not but as you're probably aware, a lot of people have severe concerns about this.

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