ETC Group opposes market monopoly in sectors impacting biodiversity, health and livelihoods in the global South.
ETC Group opposes market monopoly in sectors impacting biodiversity, health and livelihoods in the global South.
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The world's largest chemical, energy, agribusiness and pharma companies are investing in Synthetic Biology
Submitted by ETC Staff on
Corporations investing in Synthetic Biology include 6 of the top 10 Chemical Companies, 6 of the top 10 Energy companies, 6 of the top 10 grain traders and the top 7 pharma companies.
Geoengineering
Submitted by ETC Staff on
The Case for Technology Assessment
Although Rio+20 negotiators are discussing marine applications of geoengineering (so-called “ocean fertilization”) in the context of climate change and technological “quick fixes,” the wider issues of geoengineering, including so-called solar radiation management, are not being discussed. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity established a de facto moratorium on all forms of geoengineering in 2010. Nevertheless, some governments are continuing to look toward technological methods of blocking or reflecting sunlight and other planetary system adjustments. Rio+20 should make a firm statement banning geoengineering to prevent a handful of countries -- a new “coalition of the willing” from taking the Earth’s thermostat into their own hands.
Help ETC
ETC Group is a small organisation with limited resources and plenty to do. We depend a lot on our collaborations with other groups and individuals and are extremely grateful for offers of support, advice and skilled help. If you would also like to support us in our work, please don't be shy to offer! There are many ways to contribute to ETC Group. Here are just a few...
Offer your expertise
As a small non-profit organisation, ETC Group relies heavily on advice, knowledge and in-kind support offered by friends and allies, including scientists, technology experts, policy experts, farmers, agronomists, lawyers, academics as well as journalists, graphic artists, translators, editors and more. In the course of our research and advocacy our programme staff often need to reach out to experts for scientific and technical advice, and we are always extremely grateful for the time and attention.
Pathways To Disruption
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Synthetic Biology's Impact on livelihoods and Sustainable USe of Biodiversity
Due to problems with scale-up, some synthetic biology companies are shifting focus away from biofuels to high-value / low-volume products – especially compounds found in plants (e.g., essential oils, flavours, fragrances, colourants and pharmaceuticals) – which are traditionally cultivated by farming communities in the global South.
If commercially viable, synthetic biology’s patented organisms have the potential to de-stabilize natural product markets, disrupt trade and eliminate jobs.with far-reaching impacts on agricultural economies.
Endorse the Campaign to Ban Terminator
Submitted by ETC Staff on
We invite all civil society organizations and social movements - organizations, communities, and gatherings of Indigenous peoples, farmers, peasants, churches, and all others - to endorse the campaign by signing on to the following statement. (Your group’s name will be used in a list of groups that state opposition to Terminator)
Sign the letter.
Ban Terminator
Campaign to ban terminator technology at the national and international levels
Purpose: The Ban Terminator Campaign seeks to promote government bans on Terminator technology at the national and international levels, and supports the efforts of civil society, farmers, Indigenous peoples and social movements to campaign against it.
Main campaign site:
Captain Hook Awards for Biopiracy
They plunder the commons to fill their treasure chests
Biopiracy refers to the monopolization (usually through intellectual property) of genetic resources and traditional knowledge or culture taken from peoples or farming communities that developed and nurtured those resources.
The Captain Hook Awards are a project of the Coalition Against Biopiracy, an informal group of civil society and peoples' organizations that first came together at the 1995 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Jakarta.
Main campaign site:
Support 'The Principles for the Oversight of Synthetic Biology'
Submitted by ETC Staff on
The Principles for the Oversight of Synthetic Biology is the first global declaration from civil society to outline principles that must be adopted to protect public health and our environment from the risks posed by synthetic biology. The report also addresses the field’s numerous economic, social and ethical challenges. The writing of these principles was a collaborative effort and has been endorsed by 111 organizations from around the world.
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Our funders: Who do we get funds from?
For the current fiscal year, here is how our financial support breaks down:
New Report: The Greed Revolution
Submitted by ETC Staff on
Big Agribusiness Influence Threatens to Override Public Interest
A new 30-page report that documents the growing influence of agribusiness on the multilateral food system and the lack of transparency in research funding has been released today by the international civil society organization ETC Group. The Greed Revolution: Mega Foundations, Agribusiness Muscle In On Public Goods, presents three case studies – one involving the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and two involving CGIAR Centers (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) -- which point to a dangerous trend that will worsen rather than solve the problem of global hunger. The report details, amongst others, the involvement of Nestlé, Heineken, Monsanto, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Syngenta Foundation.
World’s Top 10 Chemical Companies
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Biofeedstocks for Industrial Chemical Production
The world’s 50 largest chemical corporations control a global market valued at $697 billion in 2009. The top 10 chemical firms account for about 40% of the market. “Petrochemicals,” by definition, are derived from petroleum and other fossil fuels. With soaring costs, unpredictable supplies and more challenging extractions, the industry is already making a transition from petrochemicals to biomass feedstocks. (In 2010, the world’s top 50 chemical corporations rebounded with combined sales of approximately $850 billion, an increase of 25.3% over 2009.)
World’s Top 10 Energy Companies
Submitted by ETC Staff on
Global Energy Giants Inching towards Bioeconomy
ndustry statistics on world energy consumption put the “Green Economy” in much-needed perspective: In 2010 the world’s energy consumption grew by 5.6% - faster than any year since 1973.31 Fossil fuels accounted for 88% of the world’s primary energy (oil 34%; coal 30%; gas 24%). Nuclear, hydroelectric and “renewables” account for the remaining 12%. Non-hydro “renewables” (wind, geothermal, solar, biomass and waste) – including biofuels – account for 1.8% global energy consumption. World biofuels production grew by 14% in 2010 – but accounted for just one-half of one percent of global primary energy consumption. The world's top 10 energy companies account for 25% of the estimated $7 trillion energy market. Many of the world’s largest energy enterprises are high-profile investors in synthetic biology. Not only do they seek a cleaner, greener image; they believe that future profits will depend on diversifying and controlling bio-based feedstocks for energy production.
Back to the Future?
Submitted by ETC Staff on
The seal of the DoA proclaims that "Agriculture is the foundation of manufacture and commerce"
Even as new industrial platforms involving petrochemicals and electricity were gaining ground in the late nineteenth century, the newly formed United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled its official seal showing a plow with sheaves of maize depicted on the surface of a shield. Below the shield, an unfurled scroll bears the claim: AGRICULTURE IS THE FOUNDATION OF MANUFACTURE AND COMMERCE.
As the 20th century evolved, petrochemicals and their associated technologies displaced agriculture as the economy’s foundation, but the 21st century may see a return of agriculture’s primacy. The vision is of a transformed and transformative agriculture, however, where both input (i.e., feedstock and feedstock processing) and output are tailor-made for particular industrial uses. Commodity crops may no longer be identified in the traditional way; in the future, they’ll be engineered, proprietary products custom-designed to meet the needs of industrial biomass processors – whether for food, energy, materials or pharmaceuticals.
World's 10 Largest Water Companies
Submitted by ETC Staff on
Who they are, what they do and how much revenue they collected
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World’s 10 Most Dangerous Land Grabs since 2007
Submitted by ETC Staff on
Control of Surf & Turf
Demand for food, feed and other forms of plant-derived biomass – as well as for strategic resources such as minerals and timber – is driving the international land grab. Control of water resources is another major driver.
The Greed Revolution
Submitted by ETC Staff on
Mega Foundations, Agribusiness Muscle In On Public Goods
Big foundations like Gates and giant agribusinesses like Syngenta are taking an interest in multilateral public institutions committed to ending hunger. The international agencies are having trouble with the “public/private” boundaries. It’s time to evaluate them all.
ETC Group dedicates this Communiqué to the memory of Dr. Erna Bennett who passed away at the beginning of January 2012.
Issue: Three recent incidents show that the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) seem to be redacting their reports, or opening their gene banks and looking the other way as the private sector overrides governments and farmers to commandeer agricultural policy and practice. Private foundations and OECD states are causing public institutions to lose their focus on “public goods.”
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