Global food crisis tops agenda of Unctad

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, who joined the event chaired by Rajendra Kumar Pachauri chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Chang (IPCC), said yesterday the climate change issue was now part of Thailand 's national agenda to reduce potential damage.

The IPCC won a Nobel award for championing climate change awareness together with former US Vice President Al Gore last year.

The Thai government will support energy saving and alternative energy as well as effective energy utilisation, Noppadon said.

Thailand also supports the clean development mechanism (CDM), he said. CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries.

  The UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon said in the opening session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAC) that worldwide food production has been affected this year by drought and natural disasters.

The reasons for the crisis were not only ascribed to a simple tradeoff between biofuels and agriculture but also by the high growth of consumption, especially the rapid economic growth in Asia. Financial speculation could also be blamed, he said.

The UN chief raised concerns on the skyrocketing price of food saying that if not handled properly, "this crisis could trigger a cascade of other problems affecting economic growth, social progress and even political security around the world."

Secretary Ban called for countries to take measures to ensure the world's food security and increase agriculture production.

The UN will establish a highpowered task force comprised of eminent experts and leading policy authorities to address the food crisis, he said.

by Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation