Sustainable Aviation document submitted

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for your email. The submission that we have made to the government's sustainable aviation consultation is available on line at:

 http://www.aef.org.uk/downloads/Plane_Stupid_and%20People_and_Planet_response.pdf

Our statement regarding Tesco is in the bio-fuels section. We maintain that our comments are a fair reflection on Tesco's position. The reality is the aviation industry will use increasing amounts of bio-fuels to exploit loopholes in the EU ETS scheme. This will impact food supplies.  This is being done despite no credible evidence this will reduce greenhouse gases. 

You suggest that the relationships between greenhouse gases, biofuels, food prices and food production is complex. We disagree and the world bank disagrees.  The evidence support us.We know food  prices correlate strongly with biofuels. We know that biofuel production has made Indonesia into one of the world biggest emitters of CO2 after China and US.  

Recent events demonstrate that food supply companies such as Tesco are so compromised they are unable to engage in the debate and that we therefore need more proactive intervention from the government. 

--- On Wed, 12/10/11, Yeo, Andrew  wrote:

From: Yeo, Andrew
Subject: RE: Re: Biofuels in relation to Tesco
To: "Kevin Lister"
Cc: "Gorrie, Angela Z"
Date: Wednesday, 12 October, 2011, 11:21

Kevin,

 

Thank you for your most recent email.  As I have already said we take our commitments to the environment very seriously, and your statement is not a fair reflection of our position.

 

As you will appreciate, we face a range of medium and long-term sustainability issues, driven by global population growth and increased levels of consumption.  On an on-going basis we review what these trends mean for our business and look at how we can mitigate the risks these present, while helping to reduce the impact of our business on the environment and meeting our customers' needs.

As I am sure you would recognise from your own research, the relationship between GHG emissions, biofuels, food production and prices is complex and multi-faceted.  It is a subject of ongoing public debate, which includes many different points of view,and impacts many other stakeholders.  Specifically on biofuels, we ensure that as far as possible the ingredients we use for biofuels are from sustainable sources, use waste-based biofuels wherever possible, and abide by all relevant Government sustainability requirements.  As a responsible retailer we continue to review the existing and emerging evidence, and will respond to the challenges that this represents.

We are committed to keeping prices down for our customers and we are committed to protecting our environment and creating more sustainable ways of doing business.

Best regards,  Andrew

 

---

From: Kevin Lister [mailto:kevin.lister@btopenworld.com] 
Sent: 06 October 2011 21:28
To: Yeo, Andrew
Cc: Numero_in
Subject: Fw: Re: Biofuels in relation to Tesco

Dear Andew,  Following our recent correspondence when you confirmed that you would not comment on Thomson Airways development to use biofuels, the following paragraph will be added to our submission to the government's sustainable aviation document "Following the recently introduced service by Thomson Airways using biofuel, we asked Tesco to comment on the risk this would impose to their ability to maintain food security. Tesco's refused to comment, most likely because they have significant investement in Greenery – a major biofuel supplier. This is highly concerning when the biggest food retailer in the UK is neither able or willing to enter debate on an issue of such critical importance. It leaves the governement with no option but to take a highly proactive role in seeking an immediate moratorium on any further biofuel development." Please confirm that this properly reflect Tesco's position.