Shipping companies push against crop-based biofuels

In the Netherlands, Offshore Energy reported that German container shipping major Hapag-Lloyd, compatriot environmental association NABU and a number of other companies have jointly called on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to remove ‘unsustainable’ biofuels from its list of alternative fuels.

“Biofuels are a fatal mistake that must be stopped as soon as possible. Fuels from the fields will not stop the climate crisis but will exacerbate the biodiversity crisis,” Daniel Rieger, NABU Head of Climate and Environmental Policy, said.

“So-called biofuels compete with food production and take up huge areas, which often results in the destruction of intact ecosystems. As a rule, these are not only particularly species-rich habitats, but also gigantic CO2 stores such as tropical rainforests, which fall victim to land consumption. This completely ruins the supposedly positive climate balance of biofuels and turns it into its opposite.”

“We at Hapag-Lloyd agree with environmental NGOs not to use biofuels made from agricultural raw materials. Decarbonization is a shared goal and it must be based on thorough life cycle assessments while protecting biodiversity and ensuring food security. Incentives for decarbonization should focus on scalable, sustainable solutions that support both people and the planet, rather than those that harm ecosystems or local communities,” Arne Maibohm, Director of Decarbonization at Hapag-Lloyd, said.

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