“While many worry about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs”

Sorry to bang on about this, but literally every day another voice comes out against biofuels. This time it’s the turn of Robert Zoellick, the President of the World Bank.

Zoellick said: “In the US and Europe over the last year we have been focusing on the prices of gasoline at the pumps. While many worry about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs. And it’s getting more and more difficult every day.”

He was critical of the dash to grow crops for biofuels, and criticised the subsidies and import tariffs used to promote wider use of the fuels. The biofuels rush has added to the problem of rocketing global food prices are causing acute problems of hunger and malnutrition in poor countries and have put back the fight against poverty by seven years, said Zoellick.

Finally, Zoellick called on rich countries to commit an extra $500m (£250m) immediately to the World Food Programme, and sign up to what he called a “New Deal for global food policy”.

The new deal should include scrapping the EU and US’s current policies on biofuels.