More than 40 environmental groups have urged UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to put an end to financial support for biomass-burning companies - including Drax, which owns Britain's biggest power station in North Yorkshire.
An open letter was signed by groups from countries that export wood pellets to the UK, such as the US, Canada, Portugal, Estonia and Latvia.
Drax and Lynemouth in Northumberland receive government subsidies, as well as carbon tax breaks.
The campaigners said the power stations are burning wood from some of the world’s most biodiverse forests in their countries, with “devastating impacts on communities, wildlife and the climate”.
“We urge you not to grant any new subsidies to wood-burning power stations in the UK,” they said.
It comes as the current system of biomass subsidies is due to end in 2027.
Drax has contested its biomass is sustainably and legally harvested.
Campaigners urge UK Energy Secretary to end biomass subsidies
