Oxfam says biofuel use increases poverty

Biofuels are failing in the fight against climate change and are contributing to high food prices, the BBC reported an aid agency as warning on Wednesday. The Oxfam report said the switch to energy crops has dragged more than 30 million people into poverty.
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The report criticises rich countries for using subsidies and tax breaks to encourage the use of food crops for alternative sources of energy.

Oxfam urged the EU to cancel its plans to make 10% of its transport run on renewable resources by 2020. They argue that this target could multiply carbon emissions 70-fold by changing land use.

Biofuels "are stealing crops and land away from food production, and they are destroying millions of livelihoods in the process," the report’s author was quoted as saying.

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