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Darling calls for urgent review of biofuel policies as food prices sky rocket

Darling calls for urgent review of biofuel policies

Heather Stewart and Larry Elliott in Washington The Observer, Sunday
April 13 2008

Alistair Darling has demanded an urgent review of international
biofuel programmes as part of a plan to tackle the world's mounting
food crisis. The Chancellor said he had asked the World Bank to
produce an analysis - for June's G7 meeting of global leaders - on the
impact of green policies, including America and Europe's biofuel
programmes, on global food shortages.

'This is an urgent problem,' said Darling, who was speaking in
Washington at a meeting of G7 leaders. 'People across the world will
say, "Why didn't you see this coming?" when it is staring us in the
face. We have got to take action.'

He added: 'It would be a profound mistake if we get into a situation
where we are growing corn that is essential for feeding people and
converting it into fuel. That is not sustainable.'

The move to re-examine links between food shortages and global biofuel
policies comes as riots have gripped many of the world's poorest
nations. Demonstrators have protested, with increasing violence, about
the soaring prices of wheat, rice, soya and other staples.

In Dhaka yesterday thousands of factory workers rampaged through the
Bangladesh capital in protest against rising food prices, leaving at
least 50 people injured. Similarly, in Egypt, Indonesia, Ivory Coast,
Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal and Cameroon there have been
demonstrations, sometimes involving fatalities, as starving, desperate
people have taken to the streets.

The soaring cost of food has been a key issue among the world's
finance ministers, gathered in Washington this weekend for the spring
meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Darling added that the problem was also hitting Britain's shoppers.
'People can see the price of bread has gone up in the shops', he said.
'For the first time in a generation we are seeing inflationary
pressures that are not home-grown but are being imported. Food prices
are rising. Energy prices are rising. Commodity prices are rising.'

Darling said there was an urgent need to provide developing countries
with the infrastructure to enable them to grow more food and urged a
speedy conclusion of global trade talks, which he said would open up
markets and reduce subsidies.

The US policy of subsidising its corn-belt farmers to devote their
crops to fuel has come under fierce criticism at the meeting in
Washington. In a study of the causes of rising commodity prices last
week, the IMF found that America's appetite for biofuel had been a
major factor. More biofuel crop production meant reductions were being
made in grain and soya growing, pushing up prices.

As a result, Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, urged
countries that were subsidising biofuels to make generous
contributions to the World Food Programme, to meet the urgent need to
get emergency food supplies to the world's poorest people.

Zoellick said rocketing food prices had set back the fight against
poverty by seven years. Responding to Zoellick's call for $500m to be
pledged this weekend by rich countries for emergency food aid, Darling
said: 'We are happy to play our part in that. This is a sortable
problem providing people have the political will.'

Darling warned that, without concerted action to boost food supplies
and tackle hunger on developing countries, the millennium development
goals would be missed. 'If the developed world is serious about
meeting the millennium development goals - and we are currently way
off track - we have got to do something about rising food prices,' he
said.

Tony Juniper, director of green campaign group Friends of the Earth,
said the dash to grain-based biofuels should now be halted, because
the unintended consequences have become so damaging.

'Policymakers have inadvertently created a competition between the
drivers of big vehicles and people who do not have enough food to
eat,' he said.

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