Lula supports bio-fuels

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defended bio-fuels on September 25, saying they did not hurt the environment or food production and that Brazil would guarantee international standards in their production.
"Brazilian bio-fuels will reach the world market with a seal of assurance for their social, labor and environmental quality," Lula said in a speech at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Brazil is the world's largest exporter of bio-fuels, and environmentalists fear increased sugar cane production for ethanol could push other crops, such as soybeans, deeper into the Amazon rain forest.
But Lula said at the United Nations that Brazil's ethanol production will have social and environmental guarantees. The government was drawing up a map of areas suitable for bio-fuel production, he said.
Lula defended the use of bio-fuels as part of a global fight against climate change.
"It is entirely possible to combine bio-fuels with environmental protection and food production," he said.
Brazil offered to host a global environment summit in 2012, 20 years after the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Lula said.
The Brazilian government would also spare no effort for a successful conclusion of world trade negotiations but said the final deal must "above all benefit the poorest countries."
"We cannot accept agricultural protectionism that perpetuates dependency and underdevelopment," Lula said.
For more information click here and read the article in ANBA website