Stop public money funding destructive biomass

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Stop public money funding destructive biomass

Kwasi Kwarteng, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

At COP26, Boris Johnson joined world leaders in promising to end deforestation by 2030.

Although this was a reiteration of previous, unmet commitments it recognised the vital contribution the world’s forests make to tackling climate change.

Boris Johnson said "We have to stop the devastating loss of our forests….and end the role of humanity as nature's conqueror, and instead become nature's custodian".

Despite this the Government stands to provide Drax Group with total subsidies of up to £10 billion by 2027 to burn wood pellets at its biomass plant in North Yorkshire.

Burning biomass for energy has been identified as a driver of forest loss across the globe, including Estonia, Latvia, Canada and the USA. *

Further public money is being used to include the Drax plant in the East Coast Carbon Capture and Storage cluster.

The wood pellets come from millions of trees from forests around the world including the US, Canada and Brazil.

Sign our petition to join the campaign to stop the use of public money to support destructive biomass burning at Drax and create a fair, just and green transition for the local area.

* Sources:
https://media.voog.com/0000/0037/1265/files/Biomass_report_ENG%20_2020.pdf
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/elly-pepper/drax-purchase-would-implicate-united-kingdom-loss-canadian-forests
https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/global-markets-biomass-energy-06172019.pdf

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West Yorkshire Climate and Nature Network

To: Kwasi Kwarteng, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
From: [Your Name]

We recognise the UK Government’s commitment at COP26 to end deforestation by 2030.
We believe that this commitment is being undermined by the use of public money to support the burning of wood pellets from forests around the world at the Drax plant in North Yorkshire.
We call upon the Government to stop the use of public money to support destructive biomass burning by (a) stopping subsidies as soon as possible and (b) removing Drax from the East Coast Cluster project.
We also call on the Government to ensure a just transition for local workers through a regional investment and skills strategy focused on climate solutions such as energy efficiency and renewable energy.