A coalition of nature conservation groups is calling on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to exclude biofuels from its policy blueprint for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The IMO is currently in the process of drafting its "Net-Zero Framework" standards, which will set global rules for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from ships by capping fuel carbon intensity, introducing an emissions pricing system, and creating a fund to support cleaner maritime technologies. In an October 20 release, Biofuelwatch, Forest Watch Indonesia and the Global Forest Coalition highlighted concerns over the Framework's recommendation of biofuels as low-carbon alternatives to fossil fuels, arguing they are, in fact "high-risk."

“Biofuels are not a sustainable solution under any circumstances," said Jana Uemura, a climate campaigner with the Global Forest Coalition. "If the IMO creates new demand for biofuels, it will unleash more emissions, more inequality and more land grabbing."

Although biofuels create far fewer emissions in transport than standard oil-based fuels, many still come at significant environmental costs, since their production can release carbon through deforestation and intensive farming practices that offset much of their supposed climate benefit. An analysis commissioned by the European Union in 2015 found that, in some cases, converting farmland to grow mass amounts of soy and palm oil creates more emissions than burning fossil fuels.

In Indonesia, large-scale expansion of oil palm plantations in order to meet global biofuel demand has driven widespread deforestation and peatland loss. According to Human Rights Watch, peatlands in Indonesia store roughly 80 billion tons of carbon, and when they are burned to clear the way for palm oil cultivation, that carbon is released into the atmosphere, causing massive spikes in greenhouse gas emissions, and creating toxic haze events that have blanketed much of Southeast Asia in recent decades.

“Rejecting biofuels in the Net-Zero Framework means protecting the world’s remaining tropical forests – critical carbon sinks and biodiversity hotspots,” said Forest Watch Indonesia campaigner Anggi Putra Prayoga. "It is crucial to take a firm stance on adopting truly zero-emission energy sources, rather than biofuels that generate new emissions through deforestation."