Exclusive: Document sets draft pledge for leaders gathering at climate conference to increase usage of controversial fuels
Brazil will ask countries to quadruple the global use of controversial biofuels despite concerns from environmental experts, the Guardian has learned.
A leaked document seen by the Guardian sets out a draft pledge for world leaders gathering at the climate conference next month in Brazil to increase the use of biofuels in the next decade by four times compared with 2024 levels.
Brazil is the world’s second largest producer of ethanol, one of several types of biofuel. It argues in the document that biofuels – made from a wide variety of organic matter such as sugar cane in the case of ethanol – will displace fossil fuels, and that they represent a benefit to the climate and environment.
But this is disputed by green experts and campaigners, who point out that biofuel production is resulting in increased deforestation in many regions, leading to the replacement of land that is rich in species with monocultures, and reducing the land available for food production. A study by the Transport and Environment thinktank, published this month, shows that at present “biofuels are responsible globally for 16% more CO2 emissions than the fossil fuels they replace due to the indirect impacts of farming and deforestation”.
