Current ambitions for the use of biofuels are expected to lead to a massive increase in demand for palm oil and soybean oil by 2030, increasing deforestation and leading to a significant rise in CO2 emissions, warns a report published on Tuesday 10 March by the Rainforest Foundation Norway, a foundation active in the field of rights-based rainforest protection.
The report indicates that, due to the development of biofuels, total demand for palm oil could increase by 61 million tonnes by 2030 and for soybeans by 41 million tonnes, an increase of 90% and 75% respectively of current production.
According to Chris Malins, author of the study, this increase would lead to deforestation of about 7 million hectares and thus increase global CO2 emissions by an estimated 11.5 billion tonnes, more than China's current annual emissions from burning fossil fuels.
"The EU and the US have introduced measures to avoid palm oil-based biofuels due to high deforestation risk, but globally demand for high deforestation risk biofuels is still increasing" deplored Mr Malins.
His colleague Nils Hermann Ranum, for his part, urged policy makers and industries around the world to " halt the use of high-deforestation risk feedstock for biofuels, like palm oil and soy ".
See the report: http://bit.ly/2Q3eEHP (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)