UN chief calls for review of biofuels policy - Guardian

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

UN chief calls for review of biofuels policy

· Ban Ki-moon speaks out amid global food shortage
· 33 countries facing unrest as families go hungry

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
The Guardian, Saturday April 5 2008

The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has called
for a comprehensive review of the policy on biofuels
as a crisis in global food prices - partly caused by
the increasing use of crops for energy generation -
threatens to trigger global instability.

"We need to be concerned about the possibility of
taking land or replacing arable land because of these
biofuels," Ban told the Guardian in Bucharest while
attending this week's Nato summit. But he added:
"While I am very much conscious and aware of these
problems, at the same time you need to constantly
look at having creative sources of energy, including
biofuels. Therefore, at this time, just criticising
biofuel may not be a good solution. I would urge we
need to address these issues in a comprehensive
manner."

Climate change has been a priority for Ban since he
took over from Kofi Annan, and he has embraced the
potential of biofuels, derived from plants, as a
long-term substitute for fossil fuels. But as food
prices have soared - driven by rising demand, high
fuel costs, and climate change - the cultivation
of biofuels has come under fire for diverting
fertile land from food production.

Some of the loudest criticism has come from within
UN food agencies, which are struggling to keep up
with commodity prices. Last month the World Food
Programme issued an emergency $500m appeal to
donors to help it meet its existing commitments
to the world's hungry.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/05/biofuels.food