Dream fuel or eco-nightmare?

dublin | environment | event notice Wednesday May 28, 2008 11:18 by Progressio - LASC emmet at progressioireland dot com 01- 6144966

3 countries’ experience of biofuels

Once thought of as a dream fuel, many ecologists and scientists now consider biofuels as an eco-nightmare. Advocates of biofuels argue that they have the potential to slow or even stop climate change.

Dream fuel or eco-nightmare?

3 countries’ experience of biofuels

A Progressio Ireland/LASC Event

7 pm – 9 pm, 11th June – Irish Aid Centre, O’Connell Street, Dublin 1

Speakers:

Xiomara Ventura, Progressio Country Director in Honduras

Camilla Moreno, Spokesperson and lawyer for Terra de Direitos

Fionuala Cregan, Writer and activist recently returned from Paraguay

Once thought of as a dream fuel, many ecologists and scientists now consider biofuels as an eco-nightmare. Advocates of biofuels argue that they have the potential to slow or even stop climate change. Others counter that million people are currently at risk due to food price increases linked to the growth of biofuels and that they cause deforestation, soil erosion and water shortages.

Latin American Solidarity Centre and Progressio Ireland invite you to a public talk to hear three experts recount their first hand experience of biofuel cultivation in Brazil, Honduras and Paraguay.

-Camilla Moreno recently represented Terra de Direitos at the UN conference on biodiversity. Terra de Direitos is a non-profit association that promotes and defends the rights and liberties of Latin American social movements, particularly those that address social and environmental issues.

-Fionuala Cregan is a LASC supporter who has recently returned from Paraguay, where she visited a number of rural communities impacted by soya production. Fionuala will discuss what happens to rural communities when biofuels are introduced, especially the impacts on livelihoods and food security, on health and human rights.

-Xiomara Ventura is Progressio’s Country Director in Honduras. Previously professor at the Catholic University, Honduras, Xiomara also worked for the Netherlands Development Organisation. She was a founder of the Party of Democratic Unification, today an important political party in Honduras.

To reserve a place, email emmet@progressioireland.com or call 01- 6144966.