Media misses the Mahinda message

Despite all the hoopla about development funds and food security contained in the final statement of the SAARC leaders, the issue that seemed to overshadow almost every other theme was that of terrorism. More so because the recent Indo-Pakistan clashes and the terrorist bombings of the Indian embassy in Kabul and in India itself earlier in July concentrated regional media interest in the first ever meeting between the present Indian and Pakistani leaders.

This concern over terrorism is understandable given that almost every member of SAARC has faced or is now facing terrorism in one form or another. Thus a vital remark made by President Rajapaksa appears to have gone unnoticed by the media covering the SAARC conference. Whether this was because the media was unaware of its significance or because it seemed almost like a throw away line and so did not receive the attention it deserved, one does not know. Perhaps it was a mix of both. With the eyes of the media focused more on the terrorism issue and the pact on criminal matters with its implications for terrorism, the presidential thought clearly did not receive the reception that it deserved.

Speaking on the energy crunch and our continued dependence on fossil fuels for decades to come, Mahinda Rajapaksa said that we must explore other sources of energy. Then came the warning shot despite the prepositional mix up by the speech writer or whoever. “However, pursuit on (sic!) Bio fuels must not be at the cost of food crops or arable land.” One would have expected some alert or enterprising journalist to pick up on that, for there is an ongoing debate over this by environmentalists, agricultural and food experts, academia and think tanks.

From last April 2.5% of the fuel sold in the UK has to come from bio fuels produced from crops as against fuel from oil and this will be progressively increased. Worldwide bio fuels now account for almost half of the demand for vegetable oils. The use of edible oils has risen from zero a few years back to 7% today and is growing fast. The inevitable rise in the price of edible oils will have an impact on world food prices in a chain reaction that is often ignored by advocates of large scale production of bio fuels. Edible oil is used in the production of animal feed.

With expanding middle classes largely in India and China and the resultant growing demand for meat and meat products to meet better living standards, their prices would also rise steeply as we have already begun to feel. This however is only the tip of the iceberg. There are long term dangers for Planet Earth and the people who inhabit it. President Rajapaksa only touched on part of the problem- the effect on the production of food crops and the impact on arable land.

In our own region we are seeing the effects of the race to produce bio fuels. In neighbouring India sugar cane and sorghum (an important cereal) are being used for bio fuels causing the prices of sugar and the cereal to rise to the point that the poor just cannot afford them. Much is happening in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand that could have a serious adverse impact on the environment itself. If our diplomats in these capitals and experts at home who are expected to follow these regional and global developments have been doing their job, the Sri Lankan government should be well aware not only of the environmental hazards but also of the inevitable effect on food prices in the coming years.

The growth of bio diesel has prompted farmers and plantation companies to clear hundreds of thousands of acres to replant them with oil plants. In Malaysia palm oil lands cover 12% of the entire land mass. It is much larger in Indonesia. Thailand is seriously considering increasing the land under palm oil cultivation. The irony is that bio fuels are intended to reduce green house gases (GHG) and so reduce global warming. But the reverse appears to be happening according to experts.

The FAO estimates that 1.6 billion tons or 25-30% of the GHG released into the atmosphere every year comes from deforestation. So if hundreds of thousands of acres in our Asian region are being felled by our friends to produce bio fuels, then it would appear that this is no solution to the problem of global warming- certainly not in the uncontrolled manner in which it is being pursued. Wetlands International estimates that the destruction of forest lands in Southeast Asia for palm oil plantations is contributing 8% of the global CO2 emissions. Every ton of palm oil results in 30 tons of CO2 emissions or 10 times as much as petroleum products.How accurate these estimates are is for scientists and experts to debate and satisfy themselves. Restrictions on space does not permit me to discuss in any detail the aspect touched on by President Rajapaksa- the impact on food production and land use. Perhaps on another occasion, then.