Article
The Environmental Justice Implications of Biofuels
UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs
(2016)
Abstract
Analyses of the viability of biofuels as alternatives to fossil fuels have
often adopted a technocratic approach that focuses on environmental
consequences, but places less emphasis on the impact that biofuels may have
on vulnerable populations. This Article fills the gap in the existing literature
by evaluating biofuels through the lens of environmental justice – including
climate justice and food justice. The Article examines the impact of biofuels
on the global food system and on the planet’s most food-insecure
populations. It concludes that the laws and policies promoting the
cultivation of biofuels have contributed to global malnourishment by raising
food prices and accelerating the large-scale acquisition of arable lands in
poor countries that deprive local communities of the land and water
necessary to grow food (a phenomenon known as land-grabbing).
Ironically, the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of many biofuels exceed
those of the fossil fuels they replace. Instead of mitigating climate change,
the promotion of biofuels threatens to intensify an industrial model of
agricultural production that degrades local ecosystems, exacerbates climate
change, and intensifies food insecurity. The Article concludes by discussing
governance strategies to foster a more equitable and sustainable approach
to bioenergy that respects, protects, and fulfills the human right to food.
Keywords
- Biofuels,
- environmental justice,
- human rights,
- food security,
- right to food,
- climate justice,
- climate change,
- food justice,
- land grabbing,
- international investment law,
- bilateral investment treaties,
- financial speculation,
- transnational corporations
Disciplines
Publication Date
2016
Citation Information
Carmen G. Gonzalez, "The Environmental Justice Implications of Biofuels, " 20 UCLA Journal of Law and Foreign Affairs 229 (2016).