Putting Rainforests Into Fuel Tanks? Groups Warn IMO Against Biofuel Disaster

LONDON / UTRECHT, 17 February 2025 – The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its 176 Member States must oppose the promotion of biofuels in international shipping and commit to a future powered by genuine clean energy, Biofuelwatch and the Global Forest Coalition (GFC) said today, adding that biofuels cause devastating impacts on climate, communities, forests, and other ecosystems and therefore cannot be part of the solution to the climate crisis.

GFC and Biofuelwatch are among 67 organisations that have sent an open letter to the IMO Secretariat and copied to delegates ahead of its upcoming negotiations on a new low-carbon fuel standard, stating that the shipping industry’s biofuel plans threaten rainforests, communities, and the climate. The letter also called out the Brazilian government, which will host the next United Nations Climate Conference (COP30) in Belém in November, as one of the key IMO members pushing for the uptake of biofuels in shipping as part of plans to increase the global market for its expanding biofuel industry.

“If the IMO was to endorse biofuels as a ‘low-carbon fuel’, it would lead to more rainforest destruction and land-grabbing while in fact accelerating climate change,” said Almuth Ernsting of the NGO Biofuelwatch. “Communities in the Global South are already bearing the brunt of monoculture plantations—their expansion to feed further growth in biofuels would deepen the crisis.”

In this sense, “Increasing biofuel production to meet the demand generated by the IMO would end up removing land essential for food production, in a context of hunger and a lack of any buffer in terms of stocks of basic food products in Brazil and other countries in the Global South,” points out Maria Emília Pacheco, advisor to the Brazilian NGO FASE, and former president of the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security (CONSEA).

IMO meetings to shape the future of international shipping

In July 2023, the IMO adopted the Revised GHG (greenhouse gas) Strategy committing to net-zero GHG emissions by around 2050. One of the key policies to achieve this target is the Global Fuel Standard (GFS), which aims to incentivise the use of clean energy on ships, which the IMO promised to finalise in April 2025 through a series of meetings to be held in London over the coming three months, beginning with key discussion over February 17-21.

“Allowing the use of biofuels under the Global Fuel Standard would jeopardise the very goals the IMO seeks to achieve,” said Oli Munnion, GFC’s Forests and Climate Change Campaign Coordinator. “The design of the Global Fuel Standard should be based on stringent life cycle assessment guidelines that exclude the use of biofuels while protecting the climate, the environment, and people’s livelihoods.”

Biofuelwatch, GFC and the other signatories to the letter called on the IMO to exclude biofuels from the GFS and prioritise real solutions to climate change, including demand reduction, efficiency improvements, and adoption of advanced propulsion technologies such as wind-assisted technologies and electrification. The letter also called on the IMO to implement stringent life cycle assessment guidelines that protect ecosystems and human livelihoods.

The shipping industry’s massive five-percent share of global oil production is now being eyed as a market for biofuels. However, replacing fossil fuels with biofuels could worsen climate and environmental damage rather than mitigate it. Environmental and social costs research consistently shows that biofuels’ life cycle emissions—including land-use change—often exceed those of fossil fuels. Biofuels derived from food and feed crops like soy and palm oil are linked to deforestation, land grabbing, food insecurity, and water pollution. Additionally, gender-based inequalities are exacerbated as women lose access to land and resources critical for their livelihoods and food security.

Brazil, the world’s second-largest biofuel producer behind the United States, has proposed biofuels as a long-term solution for shipping. Yet the country’s soy and palm oil production has already caused widespread ecological harm. By 2024, Brazil’s soybean cultivation occupied land equivalent to the size of Sweden.

“The IMO’s decisions over the coming months will determine whether shipping’s future fuels drive sustainable progress or exacerbate global environmental and social crises,” said Souparna Lahiri, Senior Policy Advisor for Climate and Biodiversity at GFC. “The biofuel industry’s greenwashing cannot hide the destruction it leaves in its wake. The IMO must not trade one environmental disaster for another.”

The impacts are not limited to Brazil. Countries across the Global South, from Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cameroon are facing rising deforestation rates as cropland expands to meet biofuel demand. This has devastating impacts on small farmers and Indigenous communities, including effects on health due to the intense use of pesticides.

The decisions made at the IMO’s MEPC 83 meeting in April will shape the future of international shipping. By excluding biofuels from the GFS, the IMO can align with its climate commitments and safeguard global ecosystems and communities, GFC and Biofuelwatch said, urging all IMO Member States to reject biofuels and commit to clean energy solutions that prioritise environmental sustainability and social justice.

“The shipping industry has an opportunity to lead with integrity,” said Ernsting. “Real solutions exist that protect people and the planet. The IMO must choose these over false promises.”

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