UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon has called for a comprehensive review of biofuels policy as food prices rise potentially leading to global instability.
He told the UK’s pro-environment Guardian newspaper: “We need to be concerned about the possibility of taking land or replacing arable land because of these biofuels.”
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He nevertheless added that: “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.”
Ki-Moon has largely favoured the use of biofuels as a substitute for fossil fuels, but this approach has come under criticism from the UN’s own food agencies. The UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, called biofuels “a crime against humanity”.
There have also been concerns raised about the impact of biofuels on climate change. They can be energy-intensive and some make extensive use of fertilisers which can mean they produce more greenhouse gas than comparable fossil fuels.
The Guardian noted some examples of global unrest due to rising food prices. In
