Biofuel Crime Against Humanity: UN

"Producing biofuels today is a crime against humanity," Jean Ziegler told the German radio station Bayerischer Runfunk on Monday, April 14.

He said the massive production of biofuel is having a disastrous impact on global food supplies.

Biofuel, also called agrofuel, is the fuel derived from recently dead biological material, most commonly plants.

Using arable land to produce crops for biofuel has reduced surfaces available to grow food worldwide, explained the UN official.

Instead of supporting biofuel production on the expense of agricultural land, he stressed, the world must work for providing agricultural subsidies.

Ziegler urged governments to help subsidizing agriculture in regions where the survival of local populations is dependent on it.

Addressing the UN General Assembly late last year, Ziegler called for a five-year moratorium on all initiatives to develop biofuel in order to avert food shortages.

Diplomats from countries pursuing such fuels, such as Brazil and Colombia, foiled his proposal.

The issue has become the center of international debate recently, with one side supporting biofuel as planet-friendly green energy and a major breakthrough in the fight against climate change while the other blames it for food shortage.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged his Japanese counterpart to include the impact of biofuel production on food prices on the agenda of the G8 summit in July.

Last month, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called for a comprehensive review of biofuel policy as a crisis in food prices threatens global stability.

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