HELSINKI, Finland, July 18 (UPI) -- Global energy and food policies should focus on sustainability because current models are reckless and unsustainable, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

Ban said during meetings with Finnish President Tarja Halonen that sustainable development needed greater attention.


Ban said he was looking to Finnish leadership in the European Union to tackle issues related to sustainable development.

"Our old model of growth is not only obsolete, it is also dangerous," he said.

On issues related to the drought that is creating a humanitarian disaster in the Horn of Africa, Ban said he was "deeply concerned" by the human toll.

He said people in the Horn of Africa are suffering "a great deal," adding major donor countries must step forward to offer humanitarian assistance.

Nearly one-third of the regional population is in some state of food crisis, the United Nations estimates.

"This food crisis, food security, is a very important element of sustainable development," Ban said.