Publications

Svalbard's Doomsday Vault: The Global Seed Vault Raises Political/Conservation Debate The swarm of media attention focusing on today's opening of the Global Seed Vault in Norway's high Arctic may overshadow an even bigger news story. Yesterday, 26 February, the Norwegian government pledged to give 0.1% of money spent on commercial seed sales to support Farmers' Rights, and challenged other governments to do the same. The critical message is that even the most secure gene bank storage is not the ultimate solution. Governments must provide support to farmers to improve local conservation and breeding, and help them obtain access to far away seed accessions. Global food security depends upon a coherent in situ (on-farm) and ex situ (gene bank) strategy. The need to support farmers' on-farm conservation and breeding work is urgent. On the occasion of the opening of the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, ETC Group releases a new Communique, "Svalbard's Doomsday Vault: The... Read more

ETC Group

News Release

February 11, 2010

www.etcgroup.org

Top-down Planet Hackers Call for Bottom-up Governance

Geoengineers Bid to Establish Voluntary Testing Regime Must be Opposed

While most scientists left the Copenhagen Climate Summit feeling gloomy about their influence, a small group of geoengineering advocates came away emboldened by the summit’s weak outcome and uncertain road ahead. This group of scientists aims to get on with research and experimentation in controversial geoengineering technologies. Their real excitement is over “solar radiation management” (SRM). This is a way of “cooling down the planet’s thermostat” by reflecting a portion of the sun’s rays back to outer space, through a variety of techniques ranging from sunshades in space, to aerosol sulphates in the stratosphere, to whitening clouds. These high-risk, planet-altering schemes affect global warming without changing... Read more

Who Will Feed Us?

2009’s most important intergovernmental meeting on the climate and food crises has already happened. In October,  as climate negotiators were fighting in Bangkok and as the UN food agencies were jousting over a restructured  response to the food crisis and plans for the World Food Summit, the Food and Agriculture Organizations’s (FAO) Commission on Genetic Resources met quietly in Rome to review the preparedness of the international community  to adapt and develop crops, livestock, aquatic and microbial genetic resources used in food and agriculture to  address climate change. The meeting also considered the political and corporate constraints that could prevent a  major strategic shift to achieve our food security. The Rome Food Summit in November and the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December should pay attention. At stake is the answer to the most important question not being asked in... Read more

ETC Group News Release 14 July 2009 www.etcgroup.org

Enola Patent Ruled Invalid: Haven’t we Bean here before? (Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.)  On July 10, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that U.S. patent 5,894,079 (the “Enola” bean patent), which claims a yellow bean of Mexican origin, is invalid because none of the patent claims meet the criterion of non-obviousness. The case has been closely watched by civil society groups concerned about biopiracy, the patenting of life and the corporate control of food production. The Court’s clear 7-page decision argues that anyone interested in reproducing or improving Mexican yellow beans would have done exactly what the “inventor” Larry Proctor did: “plant the beans, harvest the resulting plants for their seeds, planting the latter seeds, and repeat the process two more times.”[1] The decision concludes... Read more

Boletín de prensa 15 de mayo de 2009

**La segunda Conferencia Internacional sobre Manejo de Químicos (ICCM, por sus siglas en inglés), celebrada en Ginebra del 11 al 15 de mayo, terminó hoy. La ICCM discutió sobre nanotecnología y sobre partículas manufacturadas como un tema de política emergente por primera vez. Diana Bronson del Grupo ETC asistió a la reunión y trabajó con organizaciones afines para presionar a la Conferencia a que realice acciones efectivas en torno a las tecnologías de nano escala.** Ginebra, 15 de mayo de 2009. “Las acciones sobre nanotecnología que se acordaron hoy no reflejan la urgencia del tema. Se alertó a los delegados de que los nanomateriales constituyen un riesgo intergeneracional, puesto que las nano partículas se pasan de madre a hijo vía la sangre materna, sin embargo esos riesgos parecen haber sido ignorados en la... Read more

Se frustra la patente sobre las calabazas con verrugas

El mes pasado, el Grupo ETC informó sobre una solicitud de patente (1) bajo examen en la Oficina de Patentes y Marcas Registradas de Estados Unidos (USPTO por sus siglas en inglés) en la cual la Siegers Seed Company de Holland, Michigan, reclama la invención de una “calabaza verrugosa… donde la cubierta externa incluye al menos una verruga…” El 13 de febrero, la USPTO publicó su veredicto de 9 páginas(2) rechazando los 25 derechos reclamados en la solicitud.

“La buena noticia es que la USPTO rechazó todos los reclamos en la solicitud de patente”, dice Silvia Ribeiro de la oficina en México del Grupo ETC. “Y también que en su decisión, la examinadora de la patente citó un catálogo de Seed Savers Exchange... Read more

ETC Group Update March 20, 2009 www.etcgroup.org  

Last month, ETC Group reported on a patent application(1) under examination at the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) in which Siegers Seed Company of Holland, Michigan, claimed invention of a “warted pumpkin...wherein the outer shell includes at least one wart...” On February 13, the USPTO put its 9-page verdict in the mail(2) rejecting all of the application's 25 claims.

“The good news is that the USPTO rejected all claims in the warty pumpkin patent application,” says Silvia Ribeiro from ETC Group's Mexico office. “And also that in her decision, the patent examiner cited a catalogue from Seed Savers Exchange – a non-profit organization that preserves and distributes heirloom seeds.... Read more

À qui appartient la nature?

Pouvoir des grandes sociétés et ultime frontière de la marchandisation du vivant

Problèmes, obsessions et occasions : une préface

TIl y a trente ans, l’humanité avait un problème; la science avait une obsession; et l’industrie tenait une occasion. Notre problème était l’injustice. Les rangs des affamés ne cessaient de grossir et les rangs des agriculteurs, de s’affaiblir. De son côté, la science était obsédée par la biotechnologie – la possibilité de modifier génétiquement les cultures et le bétail (et l’être humain) pour les doter de traits qui allaient régler tous nos problèmes. L’industrie agroalimentaire tenait l’occasion de prélever l’énorme valeur ajoutée tout au long de la... Read more