"Energy yields are highest from crops growing in the tropics; hence much of the global biofuel demand is being, and will continue to be, met from Asia, Latin America and Africa."Already, biofuels production is leading to increased rates of deforestation in many rain forest nations, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Cameroon."
For example, Indonesia planned to expand palm oil production for biofuels 43-fold, a move that threatened most of that country's remaining rain forests and peat lands.
Indonesia is the world's second-most biologically diverse country, after Brazil. South Africa ranks third.
"If those plans are implemented, up to 50 billion tonnes of carbon are likely to be released into the atmosphere - the equivalent of over six years of global fossil fuel burning, that would clearly stand in the way of our common objective of stabilizing the climate before feedback mechanisms make this impossible."
Nasa had shown that the rate of Amazon deforestation correlated directly with the increasing world market price of soya, the coalition said. "That price is expected to rise sharply as demand for soya biodiesel grows."
The coalition also told Gore that many organizations, particularly from the global south, had signed declarations expressing concerns about the threats posed by biofuel monocultures, including threats to food security, human and land rights, and biodiversity.
"Recently the poor in Mexico have seen the price of corn - their staple food - rise by nearly 70% in six months, leading to civil unrest because of US ethanol production."
