European Commission expected to approve seven certification schemes for biofules without public scrutiny

The European Commission is expected to tomorrow (19/7/11) release the names of seven voluntary certification schemes approved to certify biofuels according to the ‘sustainability criteria’ set out in the Renewable Energy Directive. This follows a lawsuit filed by environmental law organisation ClientEarth, Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE), FERN and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) against the Commission’s refusal to provide access to information regarding the approval of such schemes.

This was the third time the Commission has been sued for lack of transparency on biofuels. For more information see notes to editors.

Janet Pritchard, Climate & Forests Programme Leader, ClientEarth, said: "The way that this has been handled underlines the Commission’s practice of shutting out meaningful public participation in the development of its biofuels policy. These schemes are expected to play a role in ensuring compliance with the Renewable Energy Directive’s sustainability criteria, yet we still have no specific information about the substance of the applications submitted by these schemes or the standards against which they were assessed in order to be approved.

“Today’s announcement still does not provide the transparency required by the Aarhus Convention, which guarantees all EU citizens and environmental organisations the right to participate in environmental decision-making and the right to information necessary for effective participation.”

One of the schemes approved is the highly controversial Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS). This scheme, an initiative of the soy industry, has been strongly criticised by environmental organisations.

Robbie Blake, Friends of the Earth Europe’s campaigner on biofuels, said: “Industry-led schemes to certify crops like soy biofuels as ‘sustainable’ or ‘responsible’ are highly controversial and are likely to mislead the public.

“The approval of weak schemes such as the Round Table on Responsible Soy makes a mockery of any attempts to make EU biofuel policy sustainable. The public will be conned and the EU will endorse the ’greenwashing’ of large-scale soy monocultures damaging people and planet. This scheme will not prevent deforestation from happening in South America, fails to protect local communities, and even allows the use of genetically modified soy. Endorsing such schemes shows a real need for public scrutiny, not secrecy, around the issue of biofuels."

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