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The European Commission on July 5-6,2007,conducted an international workshop on biofuels, drawing people from various sectors like academics, representatives of NGOs and other groups to discuss how to develop an international approach to biofuel production, use and trade. Debates addressed five key issues: policies to support biofuels; development of international trade in biofuels, environmental risks and benefits of production and use, biofuels and developing countries and research activities in biofuels. Parallel to this,there has been a widespread protest by more than 100 NGOs against the UK and EU Biofuels policy as released in a Joint Press Release by Biofuelwatch and Econexus. Those protesting have raised the following concerns: · the UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO)consultation (by which biofuels blended from a variety of sources may be more harmful are forced on the consumers) must be reopened. · the EU must abandon plans to abolish “set-asides to plant biofuels plants ” in 2008  The NGOs have expressed concern on the growing attention to biofuels, the implications of which are quite serious for the developing countries. Biofuels compete directly with food for agricultural resources, and their expansion has already resulted in rising food prices which threatens the food security of the world's poorest communities. The biofuel crops being used as monoculture often involve intensive use of pesticides and fertilisers, and in many cases run the risk of genetically modified contamination. This threatens biodiversity along with other environmental hazards. The plan to promote monoculture and the increasing hold of large landowners threatens the human rights of small farmers and indigenous peoples across the Global South.
In continued support to the NGOs ’ advocacy move,,37 environmental and human rights groups have called upon Members of the European Parliament to drop support for a 10 per cent mandatory biofuel target. They warn that bio-fuel targets are already linked to serious social impacts in the South, such as rural depopulation, land conflicts, and human rights violations. Not to be left behind in the current global craze, India too has embarked on biofuel programmes and is in the process of preparing a policy to accelerate development. At the international level, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, in consultation with industry, is drawing up ‘standards ’.The main proposal seems to be to divert production away from primary forest to “degraded wastelands ”– even though those wastelands are very often community or small farmers ’ lands –or to logged forest rich in biodiversity compared to the green deserts of oil-palm plantations.
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