A coalition of environmental groups is suing the European Commission over its refusal to release documents that allegedly contain previously undisclosed information on the negative impact the widespread use of biofuels in the EU is having on climate change.
At issue in the
lawsuit - brought by
ClientEarth, Transport & Environment, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), and
BirdLife International - is the future regulation of
biofuels in the
European Union.
By 2020, member states will have to meet 10 per cent of their
transport energy needs through
renewable sources – much of this is expected to come from the increased use of biofuels.
The coalition argues that a consequence of biofuels
production is the conversion of
forests and other natural areas into cropland to replace the croplands lost to biofuels production. It says this indirect land-use change (ILUC) creates significant greenhouse gas emissions.
The coalition believes the European Commission holds documents that contain scientific evidence of these impacts and the lawsuit - ClientEarth v Commission - is challenging its failure to release them.
Pieter de Pous, senior policy officer at the EEB claimed: "The papers released so far give the strong impression that the Commission is preparing to present the studies' findings in a way that supports previously taken decisions, rather than assessing the real implications of these decisions and correcting them."
Nuša Urbančič of Transport & Environment, added: "Current EU biofuels policy guarantees that Europe will use lots of biofuels, but it doesn't guarantee reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; in fact it seems likely it will make things worse.
Call for "full transparency" about impact of biofuels"The first step to fixing this broken policy must be full transparency about what the true impacts are. That's why this legal action is so important."
ClientEarth staff lawyer Tim Grabiel points out that member states are currently in the process of drawing up their Renewable Energy Action Plans and it had originally been expected that the 140 documents the Commission is currently withholding would have informed this work.
"If this information had been forthcoming, this would have given the public, environmentalists and other stakeholders the opportunity to scrutinise it," he said.
He added that this would have prevented a reliance on biofuels that member states might ultimately find is misplaced "because biofuels are achieving less than we envisioned in terms of greenhouse gas reductions."
The coalition has been calling for the release of the documents since last October but it claims that European Commission refused to turn them over by the statutory deadline, instead informing the coalition of its right to sue.
EC position on biofuels described as "astounding""The public's right to this information is a fundamental principle of European law. That the Commission should choose to deny our rights on such a critical issue as the science underpinning our climate policies is astounding," said Grabiel.
"It is regrettable that the Commission's consistent obstructionism compels us to go to court."
The coalition's application will be reviewed by the Registrar of the General Court of the European Union, and later served upon the Commission, after which it will have two months to respond. A hearing date has yet to be set.
Related news: Green policy newsGreen transport newsRelated links: www.clientearth.orgwww.transportenvironment.orgwww.eeb.org