Tesco and Greenergy (17.12.2006)

Note: this action was updated 19.3.2007.

Tesco are market leaders amongst UK supermarkets when it comes to biofuels. They are investing heavily in Greenergy, a biofuel company which uses palm oil, soy and sugar cane - crops linked to rainforest destruction and massive greenhouse gas emisisons in many countries.

Please ask Tesco now to live up the 'green' principles they have set for themselves and to cut their ties with Greenergy.

You can read our background paper here.

If you can personalise your letter and add your own thoughts, it will have a greater impact (see standard one below). To do so, please:

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To send a personalised email, please copy the text below.


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“Dear Mr Leahy,

I am very upset to hear that the Greenergy biofuel sold at Tesco filling stations contain soy, palm oil and sugar cane from tropical nations. Soy and palm oil plantations are being expanded rapidly to meet the growing demand for biodiesel, and vast areas of rainforest and biodiverse grasslands are being destroyed as a result. Your sugar cane ethanol is imported directly from Brazil, and plantations there are also expanded and threaten the remainder of the Atlantic Rainforest, the Pantanal wetlands, and the Cerrado.

People want to buy biofuels because they want to help the environment and reduce climate change emissions. Your customers do not want to buy biofuels linked to deforestation, human rights abuses, or species extinction. Npower have recently dropped plans to burn palm oil in a power station because they say that they cannot guarantee sustainable sourcing. There are no mechanisms which would guarantee this. Even the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil doesn’t certify sustainable palm oil yet.

Please look at the facts in the Biofuelwatch briefing paper which you have been sent. Please:

- Pull Tesco’s money and investment out of Greenergy;

- Withdraw all public claims made about Tesco/Greenergy biodiesel being linked to savings in greenhouse gas emissions (given the massive emissions linked to palm oil and soy production) and instead advises all customers that Greenergy biodiesel contains soy and palm oil linked to deforestation;

- Stop selling biofuels unless Tesco can guarantee that those do not contain feedstocks from countries where growing the crops is linked to deforestation, environmental degradation or human rights abuses. In the absence of international environmental and social regulation, the sustainability of large-scale biofuel sales cannot be guaranteed. Some small-scale contracts, for example for waste vegetable oil could provide some sustainable biofuels;

- Make real and verifiable reductions in its carbon emissions and environmental impact, by reducing food miles, improving energy efficiency and reducing total energy use, using rail for freight, and sourcing produce locally or regionally wherever possible, and by using seasonal produce. Those measures would be of real benefit to the climate, whilst selling biofuels linked to deforestation, peat and forest fires and biodiversity destruction can only make global warming worse.

The Dutch energy company Essent have just agreed to suspend the use of palm oil because of serious concerns over deforestation and fires. The Dutch Minister for the Environment, Van Geel, has publicly apologised for subsidising the use of palm oil, saying “We have been very focused on combatting climate change. However, we should not solve one problem and create another one by using palm oil that is not environmentally friendly. We are going to do something about that”.

I look forward to your reply. Many thanks in advance.

Yours sincerely,

... ”