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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Friends and Foresters, PCA -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> I thought you might find this note of
interest as the food vrs. fuel is an issue in Nevada with our pine nuts. I
hope it is discussed at the Agroforestry confrence in Georgia. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Biomass] FAO, World Bank, IMF,WTO call for end to
subsidies + mandates for biofuels</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
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<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px; MIN-HEIGHT: 14px"><BR></DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="WORD-WRAP: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space">This
is quite amazing!<BR>
<DIV><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
<DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0px; MIN-HEIGHT: 14px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span
color=#000000><BR></FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV text="#663366" bgcolor="#ffffff"><B>Intergovernmental organisations
(including FAO, World Bank, IMF, WTO) call for end to subsidies and mandates
for biofuels on grounds of food security.</B><BR><BR>See excerpt below, and
page recommendation 6 (page 26) of this report: <A
class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf">http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf</A>
- ahead of G20 discussions in Paris in June.<BR><BR>It's not been picked up
up in media much (yet) - it's from a leak - but given that it's from FAO,
IFAD, IMF,OECD, UNCTAD, WFP, the World Bank, the WTO, IFPRI; this is pretty
significant!<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SMALL><B>Reducing policy conflicts between food
and fuel</B><BR><BR>Between 2000 and 2009, global output of bio-ethanol
quadrupled and production of biodiesel increased tenfold; in OECD
countries at least this has been largely driven by government support
policies.<BR><BR>Moreover, trade restrictions by favouring domestic
sources of raw material for biofuels do not maximise expected
environmental benefits. Biofuels overall now account for a significant
part of global use of a number of crops. On average, in the 2007-09 period
that share was 20% in the case of sugar cane, 9% for both oilseeds and
coarse grains (although biofuel production from these crops generates
byproducts that are used as animal feed), and 4% for sugar
beet.<BR><BR>With such weights of biofuels supply-demand balance for the
products concerned, it is not surprising that world market prices products
(and their substitutes) are substantially higher than they would be if no
biofuels were Biofuels also influence products that do not play much of a
role as feedstocks, for example because of the close relations between
crops on both the demand side (because of substitutability consumption)
and the supply side (due to competition for land and other
inputs).<BR><BR>At the international level, crop prices are increasingly
related to oil prices in a discrete manner determined by the level of
biofuel production costs. Increases in the price of oil enhance ethanol’s
competitiveness relative to petrol and strengthen its demand. Since both
energy and food/feed utilise the same input, for example grain or
sugarcane, increases in the production of ethanol reduce the supply of
food and result in increases in its price. This relationship between the
prices of oil, biofuels and crops arises due to the fact that, in the
short run, the supply of crops cannot be expanded to meet the demand by
both food and energy consumers.<BR><BR>If oil prices are high and a crop’s
value in the energy market exceeds that in the food market, crops will be
diverted to the production of biofuels which will increase the price of
food (up to the limit determined by the capacity of conventional cars to
use biofuels - in the absence of flexfuel cars and a suitable distribution
network). Changes in the price of oil can be abrupt and may cause
increased food price volatility. Support to the biofuel industry also
plays a role. Subsidies to first-generation biofuel production lower
biofuel production costs and, therefore, increase the dependence of crop
prices on the price of oil. Such policies warrant
reconsideration.<BR><BR><B>Recommendation 6</B><BR></SMALL>
<UL>
<LI><SMALL>G20 governments remove provisions of current national
policies that subsidize (or mandate) biofuels production or consumption.
At the same time, governments should:</SMALL>
<LI><SMALL>Open international markets so that renewable fuels and feed
stocks can be produced where it is economically, environmentally and
socially feasible to do so, and traded more freely.</SMALL>
<LI><SMALL>Accelerate scientific research on alternative paths to
reduced carbon emissions and to improved sustainability and energy
security.</SMALL>
<LI><SMALL>Encourage more efficient energy use, including in agriculture
itself, without drawing on finite resources, including those needed for
food production.</SMALL> </LI></UL><SMALL>Failing a removal of support,
G20 governments should develop contingency plans to adjust (at least
temporarily) policies that stimulate biofuel production or consumption (in
particular mandatory obligations) when global markets are under pressure
and food supplies are endangered.</SMALL></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Press release on
ICTSD:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><B>Leaked Report Urges G-20 Action on Food Price
Volatility</B><BR><A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/106224/">http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/106224/</A><BR>
<P><SMALL>A <A
href="http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf">leaked
report</A> by top international food security experts urges the Group of
20 leading economies to tackle food price volatility by reforming biofuel
policies, curbing the use of agricultural export restrictions, and
rebuilding emergency food reserves.<BR>Senior agriculture ministry
officials from G-20 governments are meeting in Paris on 11-12 May to
hammer out an action plan based on the experts’
recommendations.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>Absent from the expert report was a World Food Programme
proposal on an emergency reserve system. The new text does, however,
provide new advice on biofuel policy and an Agricultural Market
Information System (AMIS).</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>The report, a collaborative effort between ten international
organisations working on food, such as the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, has changed little since its previous <A
href="http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/103198/">draft version</A>,
though some described the analysis as more “nuanced.”</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>Representatives from civil society groups are expected to air
their concerns in a 45 minute meeting on Thursday with the G-20
agriculture ‘sherpas’ who have been nominated by agriculture ministers to
attend the meeting. These representatives will draft an action plan that
agriculture ministers from the G20 will agree to at their first ever
meeting on 22-23 June.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL><STRONG>Doha agreement, constraints on export restrictions
targeted</STRONG></SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>The document recommends that the G-20 lead efforts to concluse
the Doha Round as a step towards improved trade policy and less price
volatility. Sources close to the report told Bridges that any discussion
of a “<A href="http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/105615/">Plan B</A>”
for Doha has been off the table in the group’s discussions. Both the
experts advising the group and the representatives of governments have
refrained from discussing any alternatives to Doha while attempts to
resuscitate it continue.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>As in previous drafts, the experts call for a clearer definition
of a “critical food shortage,” and other conditions that allow WTO members
to limit exports under international trade law. They also urge a focus on
the particular needs of least developed and net food importing countries.
At the WTO, a recent <A
href="http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/103579/">proposal</A> by
net-food importing developing countries called for some strictures on the
use of export restrictions to be part of a Doha Round accord.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>Export restrictions may once again come under the spotlight
since the Financial Times reported that Glencore, a Swiss agricultural
commodity firm, made bets that Russian wheat prices would surge ahead of a
ban in 2010 on sales to buyers abroad. Representatives of the firm had
publicly called for such a ban.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>A delegate from a G-20 country in Geneva told Bridges that some
states with export interests seemed reluctant to accept the notion of
limiting the ability of countries to block exports. At least two members
of the G-20, Russia and Argentina, have instituted export restricting
measures such as taxes or bans in the past year.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL><STRONG>Biofuels</STRONG></SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>Noting that biofuel policies may have played a role in
sustaining high prices for corn, with spillover effects into other
commodities, the authors urged G20 members to be flexible when providing
incentives for fuels derived from food crops.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>Those participating in the inter-agency meetings saw familiar
wrangling on approaches to solutions, for example, with the OECD viewing
government intervention cautiously and the FAO finding possibly
constructive roles for it.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>The report’s recommendations on biofuels say that ideally,
governments would eliminate trade restrictions on biofuels and their
feedstock, as well as blending mandates and subsidies. With an eye to
political palatability, however, the report instead suggests that mandates
be ‘automatically’ relaxed or eliminated based on changes in an observable
measure such as prices or short term inventory forecasts. Given that such
changes might prove costly for biofuel producers and prompt demands for
compensation from their governments, the experts suggest a variety of
options such as promises to buy output from producers in times of
crisis.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>In their most radical departure from the status quo, the
experts, many of them economists, envision an open market in renewable
fuels, food stocks and food-feed commodities as alternatives. Stressing
the need to ensure economically, socially and environmentally sustainable
use of resources, they foresee an expanded role for ‘second-generation’
and newer types of biofuels, which do not come from food
crops.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL><STRONG>Emergency reserves</STRONG></SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>The agencies preparing the report had requested a detailed
proposal from the World Food Programme for a “cost-effective system of
small, strategically positioned emergency food reserves by the end of
2011.” Sources report that the WFP was unable to deliver this in a timely
manner. The Programme did, however, hold consultations with academics,
representatives of other international agencies and civil society to hash
out what such reserves would look like.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>The interagency report cites the huge costs and potential
inefficiencies of international physical or virtual reserves as reasons to
not endorse their impelmentation. However, the report doesn’t suggest that
individual countries be prohibited from building such
reserves.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>An observer participating in the WFP consultations said that the
Programme’s proposal was reaching beyond mere food aid. Describing the
proposal as “pre-positioned food aid plus,” meaning that it could do more
than simply provide emergency stocks held in anticipation of need in a
given country, the source believed that the mechanism would allow
national governments to smooth import flows in times of disruptions and
price spikes on international markets. According to the source, the
proposal would use a combination of physical and virtual in-country stocks
to “overcome break downs in international markets” lasting from 30 to 90
days.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>Since much of the funding for the WFP’s working is earmarked for
aid to specific countries or for a given crop, some observers have pointed
to situations where the agency’s ability to respond to distress calls has
been limited. They argue that a system of reserves, even at the national
level, would allow the WFP a greater degree of flexibility in preventing
extreme hunger. Critics reportedly fear that such a system could
potentially expand the role of the WFP and create an implicit
international food reserve. To date, no such proposal has made it into
formal circulation amongst the G-20.</SMALL></P>
<P><SMALL>The WFP is expected to present a revised proposal directly to
the G-20 ahead of the agriculture ministers meeting in June but after
consulting with other international
organisations.</SMALL></P></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>--------
Original Message --------
<TABLE class=moz-email-headers-table border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TH vAlign=baseline noWrap align=right>Subject: </TH>
<TD>[T&E LowCarbonFuels] Digest for <A
class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:te_lowcarbonfuels@googlegroups.com">te_lowcarbonfuels@googlegroups.com</A>
- 3 Messages in 1 Topic</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TH vAlign=baseline noWrap align=right>Date: </TH>
<TD>Sat, 14 May 2011 18:30:09 +0000</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TH vAlign=baseline noWrap align=right>From: </TH>
<TD><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:te_lowcarbonfuels+noreply@googlegroups.com">te_lowcarbonfuels+noreply@googlegroups.com</A></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TH vAlign=baseline noWrap align=right>Reply-To: </TH>
<TD><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:te_lowcarbonfuels@googlegroups.com">te_lowcarbonfuels@googlegroups.com</A></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TH vAlign=baseline noWrap align=right>To: </TH>
<TD>Digest Recipients <A class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E
href="mailto:te_lowcarbonfuels+digest@googlegroups.com"><te_lowcarbonfuels+digest@googlegroups.com></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR>
<DIV
style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 2px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(232,238,247); PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; FONT-FAMILY: helvetica; FONT-SIZE: 140%; BORDER-TOP: rgb(119,153,221) 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 2px"> Topic:
<A
href="http://groups.google.com/group/te_lowcarbonfuels/t/9e755c796995afb3"
target=_blank moz-do-not-send="true">IGO-10 report to the G-20 calls for end
to subsidies or mandates for biofuels</A></DIV>
<UL><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Ronald STEENBLIK <A
class=moz-txt-link-rfc2396E
href="mailto:ronald.steenblik@gmail.com"><ronald.steenblik@gmail.com></A></SPAN>
May 13 06:47PM +0200 <A href="#digest_top"
moz-do-not-send="true">^</A><BR> <BR>In unusually clear and blunt
language, a report prepared by 10<BR>inter-govermental organizations (FAO,
IFAD, IMF,OECD, UNCTAD, WFP, the World<BR>Bank, the WTO, IFPRI and the UN
HLTF) on "Price Volatility in Food and<BR>Agricultural Markets", leaked by
the ICTSD<BR> <BR><A
href="http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://ictsd.org/downloads/2011/05/finalg20report.pdf</A><BR> <BR>Says
in Recommendation 6:<BR> <BR>"G20 governments remove provisions of
current national policies that<BR>subsidize (or mandate) biofuels
production or<BR>consumption. At the same time, governments
should:<BR> <BR>� Open international markets so that renewable fuels
and feed stocks can be<BR>produced where it is
economically,<BR>environmentally and socially feasible to do so, and
traded more freely.<BR> <BR>� Accelerate scientific research on
alternative paths to reduced carbon<BR>emissions and to improved
sustainability<BR>and energy security.<BR> <BR>� Encourage more
efficient energy use, including in agriculture itself,<BR>without drawing
on finite resources,<BR>including those needed for food
production."<BR> <BR>However, it does provide an "out" in the
inevitable (and, in my opinion,<BR>likely) case that G-20 governments
don't remove support:<BR> <BR>"Failing a removal of support, G20
governments should develop contingency<BR>plans to adjust (at least
temporarily) policies that stimulate biofuel<BR>production or consumption
(in particular mandatory obligations) when global<BR>markets are under
pressure and food supplies are endangered."<BR> <BR>Still, even to
say that is a BIG advance in thinking, in my opinion. Note,<BR>the
International Energy Agency was not one of the
IGO-10.<BR> <BR>Ronald<BR><BR></UL><PRE class=moz-signature cols="72"><FONT class=Apple-style-span face=Helvetica><SPAN style="WHITE-SPACE: normal" class=Apple-style-span><FONT class=Apple-style-span face=monospace><SPAN style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class=Apple-style-span><BR></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></FONT></PRE></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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<DIV>Rachel Smolker</DIV>
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