BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS / Šturma, Mozetic (eds)

Commission with regard to the production of sugar in Cambodia, where the EBA Initiative was a key factor in grabbing land used for the production of sugar for export to the EU under the EBA Initiative. Besides international and Cambodian NGOs, the European Parliament also called on the EU Commission to investigate this situation and to suspend the EBA preferences if human rights violations were identified. 35 An investigation was undertaken with regard to alleged human rights violations for example in Myanmar in 1997, Belarus in 2007 or in Sri Lanka in 2010. 36 Another example of EU tools and policies that allow us to denote the EU as fostering land grabbing is renewable energy legislation. Pursuant to the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) 37 each Member State is to ensure that the share of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transport in 2020 is at least 10% of the final consumption of energy in transport in that Member State. This has created a strong incentive for land grabbing, which will enable large-scale production of agrofuels (crops such as palm oil, sugarcane, corn, and jatropha) grown as a source of liquid fuel. It may be noted that the EU recognized the problem and amended the RED through the EU Directive to reduce indirect land use change for biofuels and bioliquids , 38 stating that: “ Good governance and a rights-based approach, encompassing all human rights … are essential, and coherence between different policies should be pursued in cases of negative effects on food and nutrition security. In this context, the governance and security of land tenure and land-use rights are of particular importance .” 39 Both examples clearly show that trade policies, but e.g. also free trade agreements, can generate strong incentives for land grabbing. 3.2 Land grabbing within the EU For a long time, the phenomenon of land grabbing has been believed to be an issue of the Global South, but Europe itself has been a target: Western European companies have been accumulating land especially in Eastern Europe; within its borders the EU is facing the problem of significant land and wealth concentration supported by the 35 Resolution of the European Parliament of 26October 2012 on the situation inCambodia (2012/2844(RSP)), available online at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/dase/dv/1129_13_ epres_cambodia_10oct12_/1129_13_epres_cambodia_10oct12_en.pdf, para. 6 (accessed 5 February 2018). On the human rights situation in Cambodia see the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, “ A Human Rights Analysis of Economic and Other Land Concessions in Cambodia ”, 24 September 2012, UN Doc A/HRC/21/63/Add.1, esp. para. 129. 36 EU, Addressing the human rights impacts of “land grabbing” , op. cit. 22, p. 28. 37 Article 3(4) of the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable energy sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC (OJ L 140, 5 June 2009, p. 16). 38 Directive (EU) 2015/1513 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources ( Directive to reduce indirect land use change for biofuels and bioliquids ). 39 Ibid ., para. 26. The Directive to reduce indirect land use change for biofuels and bioliquids furthermore recognized that: “ Member States should respect the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems, approved by the Food and Agricultural Organisation Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in October 2014. Member States are also encouraged to support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, adopted by the CFS in October 2013.” (Ibid.).

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