BIOFUELS TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE ? CONTROVERSY RAGES ON

Controversies still rage on the inclusion of biofuels from monocultures , as a way to mitigate the effect of climate change. Those against this step maintain that ‘’large scale biofuels do not mitigate global warming, but make it happen even faster as rainforest and other ecosystems are rapidly being destroyed to make way for vast monocultures to grow crops for cars in rich nations.’’

Campaigns have been held and awareness programmes put in place over the years. The Aberdeen Campaign Against Climate Change held in 2007 was one of such outings designed to oppose the rich nations belief that biofuel expansion is a positive response to global warming. Activists recognise the genuine contributions of wind, solar and marine energy sources as solutions to climate change.  But NOT biofuels !!!. According to them, it’s the global South that suffers, insisting that intensive agriculture and deforestation are major contributors to global warming and biofuels threaten to greatly increase  those emissions. Poor countries already suffer extreme weather conditions and rising temperature caused mainly by fossil fuel emissions from rich nations. Now, they are seeing their farmlands, forests and pasture lands transformed into vast monocultures as Europe and the US try to solve their energy problems at the expense of the global South. Some of the captions of protesters include ‘’Deforestation for biofuels fuels climate chaos’’, ‘’Biofuels destroy forests and fuel climate change’’ and ‘’One tank of fuel is equal to one year ‘s food’’. For example, US demands for biofuel from corn increased the price of corn in the world market, just as the price will rise sharply as the demand for soya biodiesel grows

What steps are being taken by the global South to ward off devastation and danger on their land , that fuel comfort in the North ??

What’s your take ???

Source=Aberdeen Campaign Against Climate Change, 2007