Press Releases: Europe

Brussels, May 14, 2013 – The hype surrounding shale gas in Europe is founded in the American shale gas boom, where “cheap and abundant” energy appears to provide energy security. However, according to Food and Water Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe, a closer look at the US boom reveals an economic system based [...]

Press Release: Biotech Ambassadors: How the U.S. State Department Promotes the Seed Industry’s Global Agenda examines more than 900 State Department diplomatic cables from 2005 to 2009 and details how the U.S. State Department lobbies foreign governments to adopt pro-agricultural biotechnology policies and laws, operates a rigorous public relations campaign to improve the image of biotechnology and challenges commonsense biotechnology safeguards and rules — including opposing genetically engineered (GE) food labeling laws.

Press Release: Developments in the United States may lead to the adoption of international forest offsets being permitted in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). California’s newly launched carbon market is considering allowing offsets from REDD+ programs while at the same time the state is considering linking its market with the EU’s. California would be the first carbon market to allow international forest offsets. A new report, Bad Trade: International Forest Offsets and the Carbon Market, released by Food & Water Europe today, demonstrates that international forest offsets should not be allowed into any carbon market because they don’t encourage emission reductions at the source, but instead privatize natural resources, present opportunities for corrupt offset trading, and threaten the livelihoods and resources of indigenous communities.

The Green Paper fails to explain how these two elements could co-exist. Furthermore, the European Commission buys into the current hype about shale gas in in Europe, by linking low energy prices and reduced imports to unconventional fossil fuels. Such wishful thinking completely ignores the reality that the geological knowledge in Europe about shale is in its infancy. With only a couple of dozen exploratory wells drilled across the EU, reserving a significant role for shale gas in Europe is premature.

Labour, environmental, Indigenous, women’s, academic, health sector and fair trade organizations from Europe, Canada and Quebec representing more than 65 million people are demanding that Canada and the EU stop negotiating an excessive and controversial investor rights chapter in the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)

Pollution Trading: Cashing Out Our Clean Air and Water documents government-sanctioned pollution reduction programs that provide a market place for trading credit allotments in an effort to offset harmful discharges. But these mechanisms don’t deter industrial pollution. In fact, they give companies an opportunity to pay and trade for the “right” to pollute.