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There is overwhelming evidence of the harm caused by the European Union’s current bioenergy policy to people in developing countries, to the climate and to Europe’s own sustainable development. The policy is on a collision course with the Paris climate agreement and the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals., This briefing follows the trail of destruction left by the policy on three continents. It assesses the extraordinary lobbying ‘firepower’ and powerful network of influence at the disposal of the European biofuel industry and its allies, which is blocking reform. In the past year alone, actors in the biofuel value chain – from feedstock growers to biofuel producers – spent over €14m and hired nearly 400 lobbyists. Biofuel producers spend as much on EU influencing as the tobacco lobby. EU decision makers must free themselves from the stranglehold of powerful corporate groups – and choose genuinely sustainable and renewable energy to meet their 2030 climate and energy goals.

Food prices are a matter of life and death to many in the developing world. Financial markets that should be helping food growers and processors to manage their risk and set prices have become a potential threat to global food security. Deregulated and secretive agricultural commodity derivatives markets have attracted huge sums of speculative money, and there is growing evidence that they deliver distorted and unpredictable food prices. Financial speculation can play an important role to help food producers and end users manage risks, but in light of the harm that excessive speculation may cause to millions, action is required now to address the problem. This briefing explains what has gone wrong with financial markets and what could be done to fix them.

Global food prices will more than double within 20 years, as a new age of crisis forces the collapse of our global food system. These price rises will push millions into poverty in a world where, already, one in seven goes hungry. As the world's largest economy, the world's biggest aid donor, and an aspiring leader in the fight against climate change, the European Union has an important role to play in delivering food justice in a resource-constrained world. This Oxfam Briefing Note sets out the steps the EU must take to meet this unprecedented challenge. It was first published in 2011 at the outset of GROW, Oxfam's global food justice campaign, which aims to transform the way we grow, share, and live together so that all of us have enough to eat, always.