Why Soy Biofuels Must Be Considered A High Deforestation Risk

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T&E’s position on why the revision of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/807 must survive the scrutiny period and enter into force June 2026.

Adopted by the European Commission in April 2026, the revision of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/807 now classifies soybean oil as a high indirect land use change (ILUC)-risk biofuel feedstock, making it ineligible to count toward renewable energy targets by 2030.

This proposal mirrors several existing national-level policies, with Member States such as France, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands already implementing soy biofuel phase outs.

T&E’s position maintains that the revised Delegated Act must pass the legislative scrutiny period without objection and enter into force. Soy-based biofuels are heavily linked to deforestation and land-use change, particularly in South America’s Amazon and Cerrado biomes, and undermine the EU’s overarching climate ambitions of reducing transport emissions.

Despite opposition from some industry stakeholders, the arguments against the revision are technically, economically and strategically weak and inaccurate.

Allowing this revision to proceed is essential to:

• Reduce deforestation and deforestation-linked emissions caused by EU biofuels policy
• Uphold the credibility of EU climate policy
• Redirect markets toward truly sustainable energy sources and higher value commodities
• Decouple soy oil from biofuel demand to break the price correlation between energy prices and vegetable oils
• Ensure stronger support for genuine energy security and more sustainable decarbonisation pathways

Download full position paper. Article from T&E.