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International affairs

Climate and food supply to top G8 agenda

07/07/2008

Climate change and global food supply are set to be the main issues at this week's G8 summit in Japan.

The meeting of the heads of the world's leading industrialised countries will take place from today until Wednesday July 9th at Hokkaido, Tokyo.

Yasuo Fukuda, the prime minister of Japan, said the "pressing issues that must be tackled" include the world economy, environmental concerns and African development.

His goal for the three-day summit is to "pave the way to a better world".

"Global warming is a huge challenge, and humanity has no time to lose. The international community must urgently strengthen efforts to resolve this issue," Mr Fukuda said.

"In this endeavour, Japan has proposed the Cool Earth Promotion Programme. As chair of the G8 Summit, I will work towards establishing a framework with fair and equitable emissions targets in which all major emitters participate."

Future energy supply will be on the agenda, including the use of biofuels.

This has proved controversial as a number of conservation groups and world leaders have expressed concern at the impact biofuels are having on the environment and the cost of food.

Last week a report leaked from the World Bank claimed that biofuels had caused a 75 per cent increase in global food prices.