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From Terminator to Exterminator

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

20 years after suicide seeds, civil society mobilizes in Egypt this week to stop the sequel – Gene Drive Organisms
History repeating
  • It has been twenty years since ETC Group and allies uncovered a US patent on what became known as “Terminator technology” – seeds genetically engineered to stop farmers breeding with them. Civil society and farmer movements protested that these “suicide seeds” would threaten seed-saving practices that are as old as agriculture. 

China’s Plan to Seed Himalayan Clouds Is Geoengineering – Unintentional or Otherwise

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

“Sky River” on Tibetan Plateau is largest-ever weather modification project, tens of thousands of burning chambers planned

A massive weather modification network – the largest ever — is being planned for the Tibetan Plateau. The plan, according to recent reports, is to cover an area of the size of Spain with thousands of fuel burning chambers (roughly akin to upside-down rockets) to blast silver iodide into the atmosphere, stimulating cloud formation and precipitation.

Over 200 Global Food Movement Leaders and Organizations Reject "Gene Drives"

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

New Report exposes how a controversial genetic forcing technology is targeting the farm

Rome, 16 October 2018 (World Food Day) – Global food movement leaders and organizations representing hundreds of millions of farmers and food workers today set out their clear opposition to “gene drives” – a controversial new genetic forcing technology. Their call for a stop to this technology accompanies a new report, Forcing the Farm, that lifts the lid on how gene drives may harm food and farming systems. 

» Download the report (pdf)

Immediate stop to climate geoengineering

Submitted by Veronica Villa on

Demand by 110 civil society organizations and popular movements

Collective press release by ETC Group, the Indigenous Environmental Network, Friends of the Earth International, La Via Campesina, Climate Justice Alliance and BiofuelWatch.

In a widely-supported Manifesto released today, 23 international organizations, six “Alternative Nobel Prize” recipients, and 87 national organizations from five continents called for a halt to testing and political consideration of climate geoengineering.

Patagonia’s bet on biotech fabrics may threaten livelihoods and ecosystems

Submitted by Trudi Zundel on

Farmers and environmentalists sound the alarm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OAKLAND, CA — The fashion and technology sectors alike have been abuzz about high-tech fabrics derived from genetically engineered microorganisms. Most notably, Patagonia Inc. – noted in the past for its support of organic textiles and its opposition to genetic engineering – has surprisingly teamed up with Bay Area based biotech startup Bolt Threads to help propel genetically engineered clothes to market.

Leading African Biodiversity Advocate Denied Canadian Visa Days Before UN Forum

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

As international debate on gene drive technology heats up, Canadian immigration officials deny a key voice

MONTREAL, July 4, 2018 - United Nations biodiversity negotiations are underway in Montreal, but a key African expert is missing from the fray. Ali Tapsoba, President of the organization Terre à Vie in Burkina Faso, was planning to speak at two events on behalf of Burkinabé civil society who oppose the release of gene drive mosquitoes, a controversial new biotechnology, in their communities.

His visa application was denied without explanation by the Canadian embassy in Dakar on Friday.

Media Advisory: New fact sheets reveal status of geoengineering technology development

Submitted by Trudi Zundel on

Media Advisory: New fact sheets reveal status of geoengineering technology development

June 14, 2018

As climate geoengineering – the hypothetical, intentional manipulation of Earth systems to countereffect some of the symptoms of climate change – is entering the mainstream climate discourse, more and more headlines are claiming that sulphur particles in the stratosphere or massive dumps of iron in the ocean “will save the world from climate change.”

NEWS RELEASE: Europe bows to Bayer-Monsanto... US may follow

Submitted by Trudi Zundel on

Civil society responds with call for a UN Treaty on Competition

For immediate release: March 20, 2018

Brussels – The European Union’s Competition Directorate appears ready to roll over and approve the controversial merger of Bayer AG (Germany) with Monsanto (USA) within the week. Across the Atlantic, the US Department of Justice is expected to welcome the EU decision and announce its own acquiescence shortly after. 

Movements of Millions Say No to Gene Drives as Brazil Attempts to Legalize Genetic Extinction Technology

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

Regulatory change would spread modified genetic traits to wild organisms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MONTREAL, MEXICO CITY, SÃO PAULO, February 22, 2018—The largest rural movements in Brazil, representing well over a million farmers, are protesting a new Brazilian regulation that would allow release of gene drives, the controversial genetic extinction technology, into Brazil’s ecosystems and farms.

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