Former Japanese minister urges international accord on food, energy security

Channel NewsAsia 1 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE: Former Japanese defence minister Yuriko Koike has called for an international accord on food and energy security ahead of the G8 summit in Japan as consumers around the world are battling to cope with record rice and fuel prices.

Ms Koike made these remarks on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue Asia Security Summit in Singapore on Saturday.

She highlighted that the controversy over biofuels, such as ethanol made from corn, needs to be regulated.

The Asia Security Summit, the seventh in the series, brings together defence, national security officials and regional analysts.

It is organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), an independent think-tank.

Ms Koike said: "You know the crude oil, in New York, price hit almost US$140 a barrel. Well, it's now reducing a little bit, but still the tension is very high. So the price has skyrocketed in a year or so, mostly because of speculation.

"We should keep our life more low-carbon or maybe have a no-carbon society. We have to be prepared and this is one of the biggest agenda in the G8 summit meeting, which will be held in Hokkaido, Japan, this year.

"We have to have international regulations or international accord to prepare for this sustainable world. I hope that at the G8 summit meeting we will get some sort of conclusion or outcome to share the same view to prepare for the sustainable world."

Ms Koike, a member of the Japanese Parliament's Lower House and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is in Singapore under the Singapore International Foundation Temasek programme. - CNA/de