International stakeholders at the European Parliament will gather to discuss future biofuel policies at a high-level seminar on Tuesday, December 4, organized by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
European Union biofuel policies, and subsidies that drive production, are under criticism for their impacts on the environment and food security.
The meeting takes place at a time of intense discussions in European policy circles on limiting the use of food-based biofuels for transport. Under a proposal recently published by the European Commission, food-based biofuels would contribute no more than 5 per cent of the renewable energy used for transport by 2020. Overall, the EU is seeking to meet 10 per cent of its transport fuels needs from renewable energy by the same year.
“The success of biofuels has been achieved in many instances at a high economic and social cost,” said Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of Nestlé SA, one of the world’s largest food companies. “These include substantial subsidies from already overstretched government budgets, increased food insecurity and depleted freshwater sources.”
The seminar is co-hosted by GLOBE EU and Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and vice-chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety of the European Parliament.
“Rational policies should be based on understanding the real impacts of government support to biofuels on the environment and the society,” said Sirpa Pietikäinen, MEP and chair of GLOBE EU. “The spiralling food versus fuel debate is just one example of how the real impacts may differ from intended designs.”
Mark Halle, director of IISD-Europe, said overcoming the political barriers to reforming biofuel subsidies in the EU is a key part of the challenge. “The economic case against inefficient subsidies in the biofuel sector is proven. The challenges lie with the political economy.”
To inform the discussion, IISD’s Global Subsidies Initiative has prepared a policy brief, Cultivating Governance: Cautionary tales for biofuel policy reformers, which investigates the challenges of designing and implementing good biofuel policies. The policy brief pays particular attention to how policies can be effected by pressure from various interest groups.
The paper stresses that biofuel subsidies often aren’t the best policy to achieve the objectives of green innovative development and climate change mitigation. It recommends governments give priority to placing a price on carbon as a more effective option.
The global biofuels market was valued at US$83 billion in 2011, according to Clean Edge, a research and advisory firm. The International Energy Agency reports that global subsidies to biofuels amounted to US$24 billion in the same year. The largest share of subsidies, US$11 billion, was provided in the EU, followed by US$8 billion in the U.S.
Source: IISD
For more information on: IISD
37 Trackbacks
you should explore different options. you could…
become active in a couple of forums that have to do with the subject of your blog. most forums allow you a signature link and this should be a link back to your blog.another option is to use article marketing to…
create persuasive articles for your blog which…
will help in attracting hordes of readers to your site. this will give you the liberty to concentrate on other important aspects of your business marketing plan.business blogging is a cost effective marketing tool. you can make your blog an interactive…
to make your writing creative. you can…
post pictures of yourself, your band, or your adored musicians so that you will be inspired all the time. embellishments can also add up beauty and depth to your song books. creativity is an important aspect in song writing. start your…
to hire a web designer. blogging may…
offer a cheaper way to get the business name out on the internet. furthermore, businesses can update the blog themselves. it is quicker than contacting the web designer and discuss what the changes are.nowadays, internet has become more around the worl…
of contacts telling them about your blog….
then whenever you send out email blasts to this database add a link to your blog or to the rss feed so they can easily subscribe.*email signature: make sure that you have a link to your blog and/or the rss feed…
your blog faster if your blog contain…
different content which is very helpful to the visitors.some of the most successful blogs have very narrowly defined readership. writing for a niche audience, who often won’t have many other specialist media outlets, makes it easier to attract readers…
found in a soon to be released…
training series called “the $15k per month formula”. if you’ve found this excerpt valuable imagine what the entire series contains. so, you’ve just finished creating your very first blog and now, you’re wondering how you can write your very first …
on these types of titles. the blog…
post also has the chance to be indexed by search engines for both products.pros and cons titles, are good for a review type blog. readers attracted to this type of title because it does not appear to as a sponsored review….
good idea. therefore, it would be better…
to charge a tank of gas or small grocery bill and half to two thirds of the balance for a few months. once your credit begins to improve you should reserve your credit for emergency or larger purchases only.find the right…
reader as much value as possible. you…
want to link to other blog posts that you have written that will help the reader even more. link to high-traffic blog posts that are valuable by other authors and link to your affiliate links that will help them as well.9)…
be able to use widgetbox widgets.so, i…
did a search for a more user friendly, more accessible blog with greater functionality and more potential to maximise traffic. i signed up for quite a few and then i found something that said – try blogger. so, i did. i…
dofollow links and also have higher page…
rank. by higher pagerank, i am talking anything more than page rank two.the guideline is that you simply should only contribute comments whenever your response is really informative. 90% of blogs utilize no follow tag so leaving comments just to get…
end users need to be educated on…
the technological advancement. this needs to be done in a non-technical manner as everybody does not understand the technical jargon. this is where technical writing comes into picture. technical writers write articles that explain technology in a mann…
person interesting and want to know more…
about their thoughts and opinions and this will normally prompt you to interact with the blogger too.i know from personal experience that i will post comments on a website blog to state my thoughts, perhaps provoke a response and be part…
will show up on your credit report,…
you may be surprised to find out your credit is actually better than before you filed. furthermore, filing for bankruptcy can actually benefit your credit standing by erasing your debts and delinquency status. an even better advantage is that you can…
brands, businesses, etc, the more they will…
be inclined to take your words seriously. the reason for this is that you have proven your trustworthiness and credibility and other people know that they can count on you to be honest and to always steer them in the right…
more depth to your content because such…
images are known to generate quality traffic.do not keep your readers waiting bloggers love to find new contents every time they visit the web. it is therefore very important to write quality articles regularly to generate and keep the interest of…
of good online courses you can take…
to become skillful as a copywriter. angela booth is an excellent instructor to consider.5. e-mail messages. among the best methods to earn money on the internet is to build an e-mail list.internet marketers will pay you to write messages that may…
content writer’ and similar key terms that…
will show you relevant results for the best writers.alternately, you can also type in specific queries, like ‘seo writer india’ if you want to outsource your seo content writing project, or type in ‘quality seo article writing, australia’ to find s…
body, and conclusion. stick to a keyword…
density of two percent. this will ensure that your posts don’t get flagged for spam.4. be funny. the one thing that separates a professional blogger from a newbie is the ability to relate with the people who read their content. make…
guest write-ups is to eventually get subscribers…
to your blog. does not matter if it is your webpage, landing page, or else, it ought to be well-thought to be able to catch you extra subscribers. have other people to donate their valuable ideas as well as knowledge to…
articles, and other written publications are not…
necessarily the works of the best writers, but the most persistent ones. if one is good in writing, yet does not go through all means – and that is a lot – to get his work out into the world, he…
writing. this practice will improve your vocabulary,…
which is very important for writing well. moreover, if your eyesight is week, find a good pair of glasses. as if you will read without any aid, your eyes will feel the stress soon, and you will feel tired. to avoid…
in conclusion, don’t use lists too frequently….
contingent on the style of your list (lists can be resource overviews as well), it’s possibly a simple article to compose a weblog.all through the course of data mining, you might have gathered a impressive amount of materials. collecting these (doesn…
good thing to show a list of…
comments that were never approved to show that lean comment, much like lean articles or any content for that matter has a slim-to-none chance of getting approved.i had never posted anything like this before, but i was approving some comments is…
pages earning you money all at once.blogging…
also offers some good money to writers. blogger.com and wordpress offer great opportunities for writers to earn money and finally even put up their own domains.using the google adsense program, you can earn money from your blog. also the promotional pr…
always keep in mind is that web…
visitors will be attracted to your site depending on the quality of content you provide. therefore, decide on what to write and how to go about it. creativity is very important, because you must write posts that will grab the attention…
proposals. but if you do all the…
tips i’ve mentioned earlier, i can guarantee you that you’ll have better chances of getting this whole endeavor work to your advantage. if for some reasons your posts were rejected by some bloggers, look for other bloggers who are willing to…
your website elsewherenowadays it’s quite normal for…
shops to have their website emblazoned on their front window or the sign board above the door. add your website onto your receipts, business cards and anywhere else that potential customers can see it. this is easy to do and gets…
in your belly. going to a spot…
in your room where you could be inspired to write could be ideal. face towards the wall of your room where a nice picture frame of waterfalls is hung. this could be a good source of inspiration when you are writing…
forgiving about their “okay writing” but if…
the “really great writing” is not as good as they expect, most readers will readily admit to not enjoying this particular book as much as others.what is the other thing about great writing? it has its foundations in the frist bit…
than someone else’s content. never allow yourself…
to be placed in a box. your ideas need to be truly compelling to other people.you have the poweras a content writer, you have a tremendous potential to influence other people. the more valuable information you share with other people on…
writing their full-time job, and more times…
than not, they will not write quality content you are looking for. bidding websites have thousands of freelance writers who bid low on projects hoping to write for you. there are many writers in third world countries who will write your…
a large number of reasons why entrepreneurs,…
organization leaders, or business owners would opt to choose a professional promotions company as opposed to devising, implementing and creating advertising campaigns on their own. the entrepreneur or owner may conduct the planning on their own, but th…
best ways to get traffic to your…
blog for free, and i highly recommend you doing this. to find a forum in your niche, go to google and type in “[your niche] forums”. a lot of results will come up. you want to join the forums that allow…
to make money in, but it’s definitely…
possible to make money in these niches. for your sake though, you probably don’t want to enter into these niches. you will be better off in a small niche that doesn’t have a lot of competition, and that is very responsive.if…
build an audience and start making friends….
use industry demographic data from authoritative sources such as quantcast and comscore. write good blog posts and promote them. mix in a few personal related posts now and then. encourage your followers to share your content. post your articles on app…