“Are biofuels a cure worse than the disease?” This was the provocative but important question posed by Ronald Steenblik, a senior trade analyst for the respected OECD thinktank, who was speaking in a personal capacity at this week’s high level debate on EU subsidies reform chaired by Ms. Sirpa Pietikäinen, MEP and chair of GLOBE EU.

Behind Mr Steenblik’s comment is an assessment of biofuel subsidies that I share – namely, that the unintended social and environmental consequences of biofuels far outweigh the benefits claimed by its supporters.

In last week’s blog post I argued that the reason these negative impacts have gone largely ignored is to do with the vested interests and ‘Realpolitik’ that sits behind biofuels. This week’s discussion, organised by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), was an attempt to re-establish a dialogue based on evidence, not presupposition.

Are biofuels doing more harm than good? It is a question that stays on the agenda, and I ask my readers to provide their views and facts. This week’s discussions at Doha remind us that tackling climate change can be as complex as it is important.

One such complexity relates to the unintended, negative consequences of well-intended solutions such as biofuels - one of the most divisive and controversial environmental policies.

This is a subject that I have written about several times before on this blog and one that I will be debating next week at the European Parliament during a high level discussion organised by the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Ich war heute in der Gemeinde Glis im Schweizer Bergkanton Wallis für einen Vortrag und Diskussion mit über hundert Teilnehmern von verschiedensten Gruppen der Bevölkerung des Oberwallis. Der Kanton blickt auf eine faszinierende Wassergeschichte zurück. Auf der einen Seite die Suonen, Bewässerungssysteme gespiesen vom Schmelzwasser der Gletscher, Strukturen, deren Ursprung sich bis ins frühe Mittelalter zurückverfolgen lässt. Und dann, im 20. Jahrhundert, die Wasserkraftwerke, mit kühnen Staudämmen und Druckleitungen für eine besonders hochwertige Spitzenenergie.

At last month’s WEF Summer Davos in Tianjin, China, I met Feike Sijbesma, CEO and Chairman of Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. We had a good discussion about water and biofuels, and he agreed to write a guest post for my blog, in particular about second generation biofuels. Here it is.

It is great to read your blog on water resources. The global challenge we are facing needs these inspiring initiatives. To safeguard the future for generations to come we need to act now and face the challenge we have in climate change and the balance of water used for food, energy and materials.

I was in New Delhi yesterday attending the “Water Summit at India” event in my role with the Water Resources Group. The event brought together some of the most important voices who are committed to addressing this problem in India.

Alongside me on the panel were Dr Chetan Pandit, former member of the Central Water Commission in India, Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO for the Centre for Energy, Environment and Water, Professor Asit Biswas, distinguished visiting professor at three institutions, former contributor to this blog, and Stockholm Water Prize laureate, Ajit Gulabchand, chairman and managing director of the Hindustan Construction Company, and Rohini Nilekani, chairperson of the Arghyam Foundation. Dominic Waughray, Senior Director of the World Economic Forum, moderated the discussions.

I would like to pull out two particular perspectives that interested me. The event was held under the Chatham House Rule, so accordingly I will not attribute individual quotes.