Rome food-security conference calls for dialogue and research on biofuels

The FAO “High-Level Conference on world food security: the challenges of climate change and bioenergy” in June created a platform for many different opinions on bioenergy, food prices and sustainability. But there was consensus about the need for further discussion and research in the international community to address the challenges and opportunities posed by biofuels in view of the world’s food security, energy and sustainable development needs.

The conference’s final declaration emphasised the need for relevant intergovernmental organisations, including FAO, “to foster a coherent, effective and results-oriented international dialogue on biofuels in the context of food security and sustainable development needs.” In the declaration, representatives of 181 countries also noted “that in-depth studies are necessary to ensure that production and use of biofuels is sustainable in accordance with the three pillars of sustainable development and takes into account the need to achieve and maintain global food security.”

The four-page declaration was necessarily guarded in its language, despite the underlying controversies, following the variety of views expressed during the debates and speeches at the event, hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome on 3-5 June. The conference came at a time when surging prices have triggered intense scrutiny of agricultural practices globally and the role that biofuels could have played in the inflationary situation.

Jacques Diouf, FAO Director-General, underlined the need to share experiences and expertise in his opening address: “The challenges of climate change, bioenergy, transboundary animal and plant diseases and agricultural commodity prices can only be met through frank dialogue based on objective analysis devoid of partisan and short-term interests.

“Nobody understands how 11 to 12 billion dollars in subsidies in 2006 and protective tariff policies have had the effect of diverting 100 million tonnes of cereals from human consumption, mostly to satisfy a thirst for fuel for vehicles,” Diouf added.

At the same time, delegates were warned that they must move forward swiftly to impose sustainability criteria for biofuels before public opposition hardens.

Alexander Müller, FAO’s Assistant Director-General, said: “Bioenergy could be part of the solution if we do it in the right way. This means we have to produce bioenergy in a sustainable way and in a way which does not affect negatively food security”.

More information is available from the conference website.

 

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