European Parliament calls for phase out of vegetable oil biofuels within 3 years

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have approved a resolution calling on the European Commission to phase out the use of vegetable oil for biofuels, ideally by 2020.

The resolution has received support from MEPs across the political spectrum. It calls for an end to incentives for rapeseed, palm oil and soy based biofuels, claiming the ingredients cause deforestation and peatland damage. The resolution also suggests a single certification scheme should be introduced for palm oil entering the EU market. 

Katerina Konecná, a Czech MEP and member of the GUE (Confederal Group of the European United Left), drafted the resolution calling on the EU to strengthen environmental measures to prevent palm oil-related deforestation and phase out the oil as a component of biodiesel. The report also suggested that products should be certified for the socially responsible origin of their palm oil.

Following the recent debate over Konecná’s resolution the European Parliament voted 640 to 18, with 28 abstentions, to approve the resolution.

“This is Parliament’s first resolution on this issue and it is up to the Commission how it acts upon it. But we cannot ignore the problem of deforestation, which threatens the Global Agreement on Climate Change COP21 and UN Sustainable Development Goals”, said Konecná after the resolution was passed.