Stories: Biofuels Production and Policy: Implications for Climate Change, Water Quality, and Agriculture

As biofuel production ramps up, counting all the associated greenhouse gas impacts is critical to good energy and climate policy.

“World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy” is the theme for World Food Day this year on October 16

On a recent trip into the rainforests of the Indonesian part of Borneo Island, our team got first-hand accounts of the effects, causes—and the possible solutions—to rampant illegal logging.

Skyrocketing food prices have triggered riots across the developing world and forced the world’s largest food aid agency to confront a $500 million deficit. The media are focused on short-term consequences, but there are also concerns about the long-term forecast for global food security, poverty, and hunger.

The representatives of more than 100 countries attending December’s U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, finally focused on the important role tropical forests play in global warming.

Trends to Watch is WRI’s annual forecast of emerging issues that will have major impacts on environmental coverage in 2008. On climate change: what will happen between COP-13 in Bali, and COP-14 in Poznan? What role will China play? Will we see new legislation and regulations from Congress or the EPA? Where will biofuels and technology go? Where will the water come from? WRI President Jonathan Lash makes his predictions at the National Press Club.

The choice of Bali as the location for the 2007 U.N. climate conference, currently underway, is significant because Indonesia is home to the world’s third largest remaining intact tropical forest (following only Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo). This makes it crucial in the fight against global warming.

At this year’s conference, there has been much focus on offsetting carbon emissions by preventing deforestation – a concept known as “avoided deforestation” or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).