New evidence on the impacts of a proposed EU law devised to cut emissions from diesel and petrol production overturns claims by the oil industry that the law would not save greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Cash-strapped EU Member States spent €10bn in 2011, a sum as big as the Cyprus bailout, in support of the biofuels industry, a new study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reveals. This public support was necessary to sustain the 4.5% market share biofuels had in 2011 – slightly below the 5% freeze proposed by the European Commission half a year ago.
Ahead of this Friday’s Ministerial Council meeting, a new study of the Dutch biofuels market published today by CE Delft reveals that a shift to biofuels with low indirect land-use change (ILUC) [1] emissions can significantly improve the environmental performance of biofuels sold on the market.
With today’s biofuel proposal [1], the European Commission has acknowledged the climate impact of biofuel emissions from indirect land-use change (ILUC) [2] but does not tackle it. The proposed obligation to monitor ILUC emissions from biofuels will not solve the key environmental issue of halting production of unsustainable biofuels that are, in some cases, more harmful to the climate than fossil fuels, Transport & Environment says.
Leading environmental law organisation, ClientEarth, is suing both the Council of the European Union and the European Commission over their failure to uphold EU transparency rules. The legal actions come as the European Union threatens to weaken its commitment to openness during a review of its own transparency regulations. The lawsuits indicate that a lack of transparency is becoming endemic among EU institutions.