Food Barons 2022
Submitted by Rafael Ramos on
Crisis Profiteering, Digitalization and Shifting Power
Related Fora:
Related Content
#6: Geoengineering in the Global South
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Interview with Silvia Ribeiro
In episode #6, we speak with ETC Group's Latin America Director, Silvia Ribeiro, about geoengineering and the Global South. Silvia has been working on geoengineering issues for 13 years, ad was at the UN negotiations that passed the global moratorium on deployment in 2010.
Driven to Extinction
Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
Bill Gates and Gene Drive Extinction Technology
As part of our contribution to a new Global Citizen’s Report ‘Gates to a Global Empire’, we explore the way in which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is forcing dangerous gene drive technologies onto the world. BMGF is either the first or second largest funder of gene drive research (alongside the shadowy U.S. military organisation Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) whose exact level of investment is disputed).
Has the synthetic biology industry hijacked IUCN?
Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
Gates-funded synbio lobby firm Emerging Ag Inc takes driving seat in IUCN discussion on biodiversity and synbio.
MEXICO, 3 September 2020 : Emerging Ag Inc., a synthetic biotech industry lobbying firm, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has been allowed to take a driving seat in discussions about biodiversity conservation and synthetic biology amongst members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in advance of IUCN’s next World Congress in 2021 [1].
Geoengineers test risky planetary engineering scheme in Australia
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Experiment defies 193-country UN moratorium
MEXICO CITY, DAVAO CITY, MONTREAL, May 11—In a shocking move, a small group of Australian geoengineers have defied an international moratorium on the deployment of geoengineering technologies. To accomplish this, the project rebranded a risky geoengineering technology – in this case, brightening clouds to reflect solar energy back into space – as a plan to save the Great Barrier Reef.
ETC Podcast #2: The Next Agribusiness Takeover
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Pat Mooney talks global corporate power moves
In episode #2 of the ETC Podcast (recorded in January), founder Pat Mooney discusses ETC's communiqué, The Next Agribusiness Takeover: Multilateral Food Agencies and the moves powerful corporate actors are making to take over global food policy institutions.
You can now subscribe to the ETC Podcast on Spotify and Google Play.
Gene Drive Organisms
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
An introduction to a dangerous new technology putting Africans at risk
Gene Drive Organisms are built to intentionally spread their implanted traits through an entire population and could easily be designed to cause a whole species to become extinct or replaced. So far this ‘exterminator technology’ has never been tested in a natural, or even semi-natural environment but the day of GDO release is coming.
This report explains what Gene Drives are, who is behind them, and what rights and tools communities in Africa have to stop them.
Related Fora:
ETC Podcast Episode #1: Gene drives in Africa
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
ETC will be occasionally chatting with collaborators, activists and experts about emerging technologies. Check for the ETC podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or other podcast services. A full list of episodes can be found at etcgroup.libsyn.com In Episode #1 ETC's Tom Wakeford speaks with Ugandan lawyer and advocate Barbara Ntambirweki about gene drives, a powerful new genetic technology that can change species in the wild and make species go extinct.
Briefing on Proposed ISO Radiative Forcing Standard
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Leaked documents reveal ISO's geoengineering plans
In early August, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that the ISO, a corporate-driven standards organization, was moving forward with a new standard that could undermine existing climate standards, which included mentions of geoengineering.
At the time, we asked who was behind the push the attempt to create a standard for measuring "radiative forcing," and to create a market for
Was world conservation agency's report on genetic engineering and gene drive organisms rigged?
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Clear evidence of bias and conflicts of interest found by monitoring group
JULY 8, 2019, MONTREAL–In a report released today, ETC Group exposes serious bias and conflicts of interest among members of an “expert” panel convened by the highly influential International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the largest international body that convenes conservation movements.
Video: From the Lab to the Field to the Forest
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Synthetic biology on the loose
The expert group that will be filing a report with recommendations to the UN Convention on Biodiversity met in early June, and examined a variety of emerging uses of synthetic biology. Jim Thomas was there representing ETC.
Increasingly, syn bio is moving out of the lab, and companies are conducting experiments and even genetic engineering in the wild – for example, by using viruses or gene drives to change genetic structures in nature.
Driving Under the Influence
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
A review of the evidence for bias and conflict of interest in the IUCN report on synthetic biology and gene drive organisms
Executive Summary
Rise of the Petri-Proteins?
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Some likely effects of lab-grown meat-like substances on farmers, food systems and the climate
The global meat industry is estimated to be worth over $1 trillion USD in 2019, and is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2022. The dairy industry is estimated at $442 billion. Industrially processed meat and dairy are notorious for the inhumane conditions of their livestock, and are a climate menace.
Target Malaria’s Gene Drive Project Fails to Inform Local Communities of Risks: New Film
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
Target Malaria, a research consortium that aims to eradicate malaria-carrying species of mosquitoes using new genetic modification tools, does not have proper consent from communities for its experiment. That is the main message of a new short film that is being released this week.
“A Question of Consent: Exterminator Mosquitoes in Burkina Faso” documents conversations with residents of the areas where Target Malaria is conducting tests, as well as opposition from civil society groups in the region.
United Nations Hits the Brakes on Gene Drives
Submitted by Trudi Zundel on
Landmark Convention on Biological Diversity decision calls on governments to conduct strict risk assessments and seek indigenous and local peoples’ consent ahead of potential release of ‘exterminator’ technology.
Friends of the Earth International and ETC Group
29 November 2018, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt: Today, the UN has made a significant global decision on how to govern a high-risk, new genetic engineering technology – gene drives[1].
Do Not Betray Africa on SynBio and Gene Drives
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
CSOs urge African governments to support moratorium
As representatives of a broad range of African civil society organisations (CSOs), we do not feel represented by the delegations of Nigeria and South Africa, speaking on behalf of African Group, in their attempt to speak on behalf of the people of Africa on the issue of synthetic biology (synbio) and gene drive organisms (GDOs).
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.
Forcing the Farm
Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on
How Gene Drive Organisms Could Entrench Industrial Agriculture and Threaten Food Sovereignty
» The letter, signed by food movement leaders around the world
Related Fora:
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)
Pages
