Right to eat comes before fuel, minister says

An international conference is taking place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to discuss biofuels and how promoting them could help solve global security and environmental issues.

In an interview with swissinfo, Environment and Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger explains the Swiss position: that the right to food comes before the right to mobility.


Organised by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the conference has attracted representatives of all United Nations member countries as well as scientists, academics, and business owners. The gathering, which runs until Friday, centres on “biofuels as a driving force of sustainable development”.

Switzerland is one of the first countries to have equipped itself with laws that set specific criteria for fostering the development of biofuels. But Leuenberger explains why extracting energy from renewable organic matter isn’t a silver bullet for the world’s energy woes.

SwissInfo