Oxfam slams biofuel industry for lobbying EU policy

In Belgium, the European Union must overhaul its current bioenergy policy, which is based on getting fuel from plants, because the industry is linked to the eviction of thousands of people from their lands, out-competing food crops, and creating more not less pollution, says Oxfam.

A new Oxfam report says that a powerful industry lobby has captured EU policy and is resisting its reform. The report tracks the impact of this policy and details cases of communities suffering from loss of land and rights abuses in Tanzania, Peru and Indonesia linked to the ever increasing demand from Europe for crops to produce energy.

The EU is due to review its bioenergy policy in a month’s time. It must end the use of biofuels produced from food or energy crops and food by-products, the anti-poverty organization says.