It seems that the European Union has shot itself in the foot following last week's leaking of an internal report written by the EU's own scientific body, the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The report casts serious doubt over the ability of the '10% by 2020' EU biofuel target to effectively reduce emissions from transport.

This followed an admission earlier in the week, from EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, that the 10% target poses social and environmental risks.

On Wednesday 23 January, the EU will present its plan for tackling climate change. While it has a clear commitment to cutting carbon emissions, it's time to go back to the drawing board with its policies on biofuels.