Energy: “Suspending support for biofuels can help offset soaring agricultural prices” (Le Monde)

Le Monde published an op-ed by Senior research fellow David Laborde and  Christopher Gouel Research Director at the National Research Institute of Agriculture, Food & the Environment, and Scientific Advisor at CEPii. The authors explain that the loss of Ukrainian agricultural production can be partly compensated by ceasing to support biofuels, the climate benefit of which is much lower than expected and which does not reduce our energy dependence. This situation threatens the food security of many poor countries and pushes the European Union (EU) to seek solutions to ensure its own food sovereignty and limit the impact of the war on world markets. These solutions all revolve around an increase in production, and we run the risk of reversing the meager environmental progress that is being made in the sector. Moreover, even if we managed to increase our production, this could only be done in the fall for the spring crops at best, and assuming that problems with the supply of fertilizers do not come to compromise them. In reality, Europe has the means to act now on the agricultural markets: by suspending its policies in favor of biofuels produced from raw materials for food use.