The United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, has called for the suspension of biofuels production. He said it is a major cause for the food crisis that has thrown millions into poverty.

Jean Ziegler: “Biofuels, with today’s current production methods, are a crime against a great part of humanity. They’re an intolerable crime, and I requested the United Nations General Assembly in New York in my last report to the Human Rights Council that a moratorium be imposed as a five-year ban against this transformation.”

According to Jean Ziegler, the United States burned 138 million tons of corn last year and transformed it into bioethanol and biodiesel. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ziegler said, “Burning food today so as to serve the mobility of the rich countries is a crime against humanity.” Ziegler’s comments came while the UN held an emergency summit in Switzerland to tackle the global food crisis.