Rising costs dominate G8 summit

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BBC

Rising food and fuel prices are topping the agenda for leaders of the world's major industrialised nations as they start a three-day summit in Japan.

Group of Eight (G8) leaders held talks with African leaders on the first day.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the G8 to tackle the "interconnected challenges" of rising food prices, development, and climate change.

Many Western leaders have also used the summit to express concern about the situation in Zimbabwe.

Food focus

The G8 summit opened at a resort on the northern island of Hokkaido.

Leaders from member nations - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States - will be joined by counterparts from some 15 other countries, including eight African states.

Japan has spent a record sum of money and deployed about 20,000 police to seal off the remote lakeside town of Toyako for the three-day talks.

As the summit began, the UN secretary general urged donor nations to keep their promises, to help poorer countries achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Mr Ban also told reporters that urgent action was needed to guarantee food safety.

"High food prices are already turning back the clock on development gains," he said.

The impact on the global economy of price rises and other shocks such as the credit crunch have eclipsed other concerns, correspondents say.

The BBC's political editor, Nick Robinson, who travelled to the summit with the UK prime minister, says Gordon Brown will join other leaders in calling for the doubling of food production in Africa.

Our correspondent says the G8 may call for the creation of a panel of international experts to advise on how to predict and avoid another crisis like this.

The EU has already been spelling out plans to alleviate the food crisis.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters on the sidelines of the summit that the proposed 1bn euro ($1.6bn, £800m) fund to help poor farmers in developing countries would come from unused EU subsidies.

It could help improve farmers' access to seeds and fertilisers, and could provide "safety net measures for the most vulnerable", he said.

The G8 leaders may also face tough questions on aid commitments to Africa. Three years ago they promised to double aid to the continent by 2010 - but campaigners say they are falling far short of that target.

Zimbabwe election

As well as discussing development issues in Africa, the G8 leaders have been discussing Robert Mugabe's controversial re-election in Zimbabwe last month.

US President George W Bush said: "I am extremely disappointed in the elections which I labelled a sham election."

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who is also head of the African Union, said the whole continent shared President Bush's concerns but that there was some disagreement over what to do about it.

President Kikwete called for a unity government, said discussions would continue and was optimistic that, "as friends at the end of the day we'll come to an understanding". A number of other bilateral meetings are taking place on the sidelines of the summit.

Mr Bush, attending his last G8 summit, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, attending his first, made little progress on the issue of the US plan for missile defence installations in the Czech Republic and Poland.

The two leaders instead cited areas where they had found common ground - preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

Mr Brown will also have talks with Mr Medvedev.

Meanwhile, the charity Water Aid has told the G8 that the single most effective measure it could take to prevent the deaths of millions of children in poor countries would be to build toilets and provide clean water.

Hundreds of protesters again marched through Sapporo on Sunday, the city closest to the venue, to demand G8 leaders take action on global warming, poverty and rising food prices. The demonstration, which followed a similar protest on Saturday, was heavily policed and ended peacefully.

Violent anti-globalisation marches have marred past G8 meetings.

As the G8 got under way in Japan, leaders of the world's largest Islamic nations assembled for what is being billed as the D8 summit in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, with the issue of inflation also high on the agenda there.

[CJvR]

It was not too long ago that we payed billions to the farmers for not producing stuff. One would think there would be some slack in the agriculture still.

[Admiral Valdemar]

It was not too long ago that we payed billions to the farmers for not producing stuff. One would think there would be some slack in the agriculture still.

The mountains of grain and lakes of milk and wine that used to exist in the EU not more than a couple of years ago are gone. Now it's looking like global reserves of the necessities are fast dwindling, which will affect the aid agencies more in the immediate future, but come back to bite us with even higher prices without some heavy duty agri-business and cutbacks on bio-fuels.

[Darth Wong]

It was not too long ago that we payed billions to the farmers for not producing stuff. One would think there would be some slack in the agriculture still.

When you pay a farmer not to produce, why would he maintain the necessary equipment, work force, etc. to suddenly resume that production if you change your mind? Especially when government policies don't change overnight, so he would have plenty of warning?

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And the World Bank President Robert Zoellick urges reforming biofuel policies

World Bank President Robert Zoellick has called for reform of biofuel policies in rich countries, urging them to grow more food to feed the hungry.

He was speaking at the G8 summit in Japan, where soaring food and fuel prices are top of the agenda.

The G8 leaders have been holding talks with seven African leaders.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon - also at the summit - urged the group to tackle the "interconnected" challenges of climate change, food prices and development.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit on Hokkaido island, Mr Zoellick said biofuels - transport fuels made from crops - had made a contribution to food price rises.

He laid particular blame on fuels made from corn and rapeseed produced in the United States and the EU.

"The US and Europe also need to take action to reduce mandates, subsidies and tariffs benefiting grain and oil seed biofuels that take food off the table for millions," he said.

Mr Zoellick also urged the G8 to increase food aid and reduce trade barriers on farming products.

The three-day summit is being held at the resort town of Toyako.

As the meeting began, Mr Ban urged G8 leaders to help tackle the food crisis by delivering "the full range of immediate needs, including food assistance as well as seeds, fertiliser and other inputs for this year's planning cycle".

He also told reporters that governments should commit to long-term agricultural investment and lift export restrictions "in particular for humanitarian purposes". His comments came on the same day that the UK announced it would slow its adoption of biofuels amid "increasing questions" about them.

"We need to proceed cautiously until we can be certain that their expanded growth and use maximises the benefits and minimises the risks to our world," said government minister Ruth Kelly.

Aid pledges

Leaders from the G8 nations - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States - are being joined by counterparts from some 15 other countries, including seven African states.

The impact on the global economy of price rises and other shocks such as the credit crunch have eclipsed other concerns, correspondents say.

The EU has already been spelling out plans to alleviate the food crisis.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters that the proposed 1bn euro ($1.6bn; £800m) fund to help poor farmers in developing countries would come from unused EU subsidies.

The G8 leaders are also facing tough questions on aid commitments to Africa.

Campaigners say they are falling short of pledges made at a G8 meeting three years ago to double aid to the continent by 2010.

"They're gradually stepping away from the promises they've made," Oxfam's Max Lawson told AFP news agency.

As well as discussing development issues in Africa, the G8 leaders have been raising Robert Mugabe's controversial re-election in Zimbabwe last month.

US President George W Bush said: "I am extremely disappointed in the elections which I labelled a sham election."

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who is also head of the African Union, said the whole continent shared President Bush's concerns but that there was disagreement over what to do about it.

President Kikwete called for a unity government, and said he was optimistic that "as friends at the end of the day we'll come to an understanding".

Protesters have been holding marches in Sapporo, the city closest to the venue, to demand action on global warming, poverty and rising food prices.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Reformation should be the total and immediate cessation of all grain and related food based ethanol and bio-diesel refinement, and the introduction of tax subsidies for gasification and bio-technological initiatives for the use of waste cellulose stock.