A group of shipping companies and the environmental organisation NABU are calling on the IMO to remove “unsustainable biofuels” from its list of alternative fuels.
“Biofuels are a fatal mistake that must be stopped as soon as possible. Fuels from cultivated land will not stop the climate crisis but will exacerbate the biodiversity crisis,” states a recent letter from NABU.
So-called biofuels compete with food production and require vast amounts of land, often leading to the destruction of intact ecosystems. “These areas are not only particularly rich in biodiversity but also serve as massive carbon reservoirs, such as tropical rainforests, which fall victim to land consumption. This completely undermines the supposedly positive climate balance of biofuels and turns it into its opposite,” says Daniel Rieger, NABU Head of Climate and Environmental Policy.
According to a NABU press release, the German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd also opposes the use of biofuels derived from agricultural crops in shipping. Hapag-Lloyd, together with Norwegian Hurtigruten, Höegh Autoliners, and other companies, has signed a letter to the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO), warning of the dangers in collaboration with NGOs.
“Biofuels should not be used”
Director of Decarbonisation at Hapag-Lloyd, Arne Maibohm said, “We at Hapag-Lloyd agree with environmental NGOs that biofuels from agricultural raw materials should not be used. Decarbonisation is a shared goal, and it must be based on thorough life cycle assessments while protecting biodiversity and ensuring food security. Incentives for decarbonisation should focus on scalable, sustainable solutions that support both people and the planet rather than those that harm ecosystems or local communities.”
Without clear criteria for fuels, new regulations could lead to palm oil, for example, becoming the cheapest fuel option to meet new emission standards. – HANSA.news global
