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'Spend biofuel subsidies on saving forests'
The Government should stop subsidising biofuels to tackle climate change and instead use the money to stop the destruction of rainforests and peatland, a think tank said today.
The "misjudged" biofuels targets had led to an increase in food prices and deforestation and should be abandoned, the report said.
The 550m annual cost in lost revenue from the Government's aim of using biofuels to make up 5 per cent of fuel sold on UK forecourts could be better spent on avoiding deforestation, the Policy Exchange report said.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) target would save 2.6-3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
But investing in preventing the destruction of peatland or rainforests could result in a "50 times greater amount of avoided emission" because the habitats act as a store of carbon.
The right-leaning think tank said tropical deforestation contributes around 20 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions – similar to the amounts generated by the USA and China.
Ben Caldecott, head of the environment unit at Policy Exchange and editor of the report said: "The research is clear – if developed countries spent the same amount of money on preventing deforestation and the destruction of peatlands as they do on misguided biofuel subsidies ($15bn), this would halve the total costs of tackling climate change.
"In addition to this, the protection of these habitats yields a plethora of valuable eco-system services, particularly in the poorest countries."
He added: "In the UK alone, biofuel subsidies cost 550m annually. In 2005, a similar investment in preventing deforestation and peatland destruction could have offset the equivalent of up to 37 per cent of all UK CO2 emissions.
"In the UK we can dramatically increase funding for forest and peatland projects domestically and with key partners, especially in South-East Asia, as well as lobbying at an international level for the right global policies."
Shadow Environment Secretary Peter Ainsworth said: "It is becoming increasingly clear that unless we find a practical solution to the problems caused by deforestation the battle against climate change is in danger of being lost."
A Government-commissioned investigation by Professor Ed Gallagher last month concluded that "uncontrolled expansion" in the industry could actually lead to an increased climate change threat if rainforests were felled to make way for biofuel crops.
Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said the Government would consult on slowing the rate at which the RTFO was introduced, to delay reaching the 5 per cent target from 2010-11 to 2013-14.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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