His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Menu
Search
Social
Language
  • The Dalai Lama
  • Schedule
  • In Pictures
  • Videos
English
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
LIVE Webcasts
  • Home
  • The Dalai Lama
  • Schedule
  • News
  • In Pictures
  • Videos
  • More
Messages
  • Compassion and Human Values
  • World Peace
  • Environment
  • Religious Harmony
  • Buddhism
  • Retirement and Reincarnation
  • Tibet
  • Transcripts and Interviews
  • Acceptance Speeches
  • Dolgyal (Shugden)
Teachings
  • Practical Advices for Attending the Teachings in India
  • Training the Mind
  • Words of Truth
  • Introduction to the Kalachakra
Office
  • Public Audiences
  • Private Audiences
  • Media Interviews
  • Invitations
  • Contact
  • The Gaden Phodrang Foundation
Books
  • The Little Book of Encouragement
  • Our Only Home - A Climate Appeal to the World
  • Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 2: The Mind
  • Inner World
  • The Seed of Compassion: Lessons from the Life and Teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
  • Following in the Buddha’s Footsteps - Library of Wisdom and Compassion Vol 4
View all books
  • News

Nobel Laureates Discuss World Food Shortage June 19, 2008

Share

Petra, Jordan, 19 June 2008 (By Tamsin Carlisle, The National, U.A.E.) - A strong link between the world hunger crisis and high energy prices was the consensus of a panel consisting of some of the world's best minds including the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace laureates and the secretary general of the League of Arab States.

At the Nobel laureates conference in Jordan yesterday, the 1986 Peace laureate, Elie Wiesel, said the state of the global economy was the most urgent matter in international affairs, and the hunger crisis was closely linked. The "shame of hunger" should be borne by wealthy governments, institutions and individuals who had not taken steps to address growing food shortages, he said.

"If this goes on, at one point there will be a convulsion and upheaval of historic proportions. It is historically, not only morally, imperative to deal with the problem," Mr Wiesel said.

"The crisis of the past few years has been because of oil," said David Trimble, the 1998 Peace Laureate and a member of Britain's house of lords.

 

                                The Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama (left),

                                takes part in the fourth Petra Conference of Nobel

                                Laureates. Reuters

 

A related issue causing problems with world food production was the recent worldwide surge in biofuels production, he said. Rising food consumption in developing countries, particularly China and India, protectionist agricultural policies in Europe and North America, and distorted perceptions of the threats posed by genetically modified foods had also contributed to world hunger, Lord Trimble argued.

"We cannot afford to ignore the science on this issue. What we are dealing with is a fear that is not well-grounded," he said of the often passionate European resistance to the use of genetic modification to improve agricultural yields.

The Arab League secretary general, Amr Moussa, linked falling world food stocks and rising food prices to global trends including surging oil prices, problems afflicting financial markets and climate change, as well as some of the factors discussed by Lord Trimble.

Mr Moussa said the international community and United Nations were clearly failing to meet goals that they had set of substantially reducing the number of people going hungry by 2015. "We need policy, laws and international conventions to balance food production with biofuel production," he said.

Stjepan Mesic, the president of Croatia, said the global food crisis was set in motion by "unfair rules of global trade" favouring corporate interests over those of individual people. "The global crisis manifests itself in three ways: financial, energy and food," he said, adding that "something is wrong with the current global economy".

The Dalai Lama, the recipient of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, said the widening prosperity gap between rich and poor was not only morally wrong, but also led to frustration and violence, threatening world security. Population growth was anotheb r problem that exacerbated food shortages, he said.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • All Content Copyright © The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
Copy

Choose Language

  • Chinese
  • Tibetan
  • Hindi
  • Japanese
  • Italiano
  • Deutsch
  • Mongol
  • Russian
  • Français
  • Tiếng Việt
  • Español

Social Channels

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube

Choose Language

  • Chinese
  • Tibetan
  • Hindi
  • Japanese
  • Deutsch
  • Italiano
  • Mongol
  • Russian
  • Français
  • Tiếng Việt
  • Español

Search Website

Popular Searches

  • Schedule
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Homepage
  • The Dalai Lama
    • Biography and Daily Life
      • Principal Commitments
      • Brief Biography
      • Birth to Exile
      • Retirement
        • 52nd Anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day Statement
        • Message to 14th Assembly
        • Retirement Remarks
      • Reincarnation
      • Routine Day
      • Questions & Answers
    • Previous Dalai Lamas
      • Short Biographies of the Previous Dalai Lamas
    • Events and Awards
      • Chronology of Events
      • Awards & Honors 2000 - Present
        • Award & Honors 1957 - 1999
      • Dignitaries Met 2011 - Present
        • Dignitaries Met 2005 - 2010
        • Dignitaries Met 2000 - 2004
        • Dignitaries Met 1990 - 1999
        • Dignitaries Met 1954 - 1989
      • Travels
        • Travels 2010 - Present
        • Travels 2000 - 2009
        • Travels 1990 - 1999
        • Travels 1980 - 1989
        • Travels 1959 - 1979
  • Schedule
    • 2021 Archive
    • 2020 Archive
    • 2019 Archive
    • 2018 Archive
    • 2017 Archive
    • 2016 Archive
    • 2015 Archive
    • 2014 Archive
    • 2013 Archive
    • 2012 Archive
    • 2011 Archive
    • 2010 Archive
    • 2009 Archive
    • 2008 Archive
  • News
    • 2021 Archive
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2020 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2019 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2018 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2017 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2016 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2015 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2014 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2013 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2012 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2011 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2010 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2009 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2008 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2007 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2006 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
    • 2005 Archive
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
  • In Pictures
  • Videos
  • Messages
  • Teachings
    • Practical Advices for Attending the Teachings in India
    • Training the Mind
      • Training the Mind: Verse 1
      • Training the Mind: Verse 2
      • Training the Mind: Verse 3
      • Training the Mind: Verse 4
      • Training the Mind: Verse 5 & 6
      • Training the Mind: Verse 7
      • Training the Mind: Verse 8
      • Generating the Mind for Enlightenment
    • Words of Truth
    • Introduction to the Kalachakra
  • Office
    • Public Audiences
    • Private Audiences
    • Media Interviews
    • Invitations
    • Contact
    • The Gaden Phodrang Foundation
  • Books
  • LIVE Webcasts