Can EU Not?

The best at being the worst? The EU certainly is – having claimed their first Fossil of the Day for COP22. In an astounding suggestion; the EU proposed the utilisation of biofuels, during negotiation on agriculture, in order for them to to meet their 1.5°c target.

If the proposal itself wasn’t astounding enough the actual logistical implications of what the EU was suggesting was more so. In order to effectively utilise biofuels, the EU would need land the approximate size of Africa to grow enough biofuel material. However, with the level of urbanization that EU member countries have, the task of biofuel production would fall to the Global South. This scenario is problematic for a number of reasons, first Global South is already facing climate impacts, where they need their land for their own mitigation, adaptation and relocation purposes. Not to mention, it’s no longer the 1700’s and the Global South isn’t just a vast land open for pillaging by the Global North.

The bizarre nature of the EU’s proposal is further undermined by the fact that they don’t need biofuels, let alone biofuels as a transition fuel source. The EU is fiscally capable of funding their energy transition to renewables without relying on biofuels. For their attempts to make others carry their climate burden, the EU has found themselves the winner of Fossil of the Day.