Thanks to Third World Network, for pointing to this information, and to the Guardian, for this report covering the excising of human rights language from the Paris Climate Summit conclusions, which impacts all nations but in particular affects the poorest and most disadvantaged communities in the world.
ETC Group, which, as noted on their website, “works to address the socioeconomic and ecological issues surrounding new technologies that could have an impact on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people” and the Heinrich Boll Foundation have been sounding the alarm recently about how the synthetic biology industry–a new and growing multi-billion dollar biotech industry where new synthetic organisms can be manufactured by gene tampering and gene replacement to function as little factories–whether to output certain chemicals, or petroleum, or perfumes, or vanilla, or saffron, or anything else–is poised, not to save the world as they project, via “climate-smart agriculture” but to destroy existing eco-systems and economies, particularly in developing countries.
The animation video they have recently released is very clear-cut and informative and traces how this new biotech industry could easily become a runaway train that spells catastrophe for the planet. 10:43 minutes, well-worth watching. Written and narrated by Jim Thomas. Produced by Jocelyne Clark.
From their website:
“ETC Group and Heinrich Böll Foundation are releasing new language versions of a ten minute animated introduction to Synthetic Biology. Titled “What is Synthetic Biology ? : Engineering life and livelihoods” this short explainer cartoon, drawn by award-winning Canadian animator Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre and produced by documentary filmmaker Jocelyne Clarke was previously only available in English but is now available in French, Spanish, Portuguese and German. Additonally, a Haitian Creole version is available thanks to support from the 11th Hour Project. “
Here’s the English version, please visit their website for all other languages mentioned above:
ETC Group has also released two significant reports on Synthetic Biology in relation to the fossil-fuel industry and bio-engineering crops in agriculture, these pdfs can be found at their website, links below:
Extreme Biotech meets Extreme Energy -an ETC Group and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Report
Excerpt from press release: The extreme genetic engineering industry of Synthetic biology (Syn Bio) is shrugging off earlier pretensions that it would usher in a clean, green ‘post-petroleum’ economy. Now they are partnering with big oil, coal, gas and mining interests. As the extreme biotech industry and the extreme extraction industry move towards deeper collaboration, the safety risks and climate treats emanating from both will become ever more entangled. This report details this emerging fossil-biotech alliance.
Report Release: Outsmarting Nature? New Report Questions Risky Synthetic Biology Developments Promoted Under “Climate-Smart” Guise
Excerpt from the ETC Report, Outsmarting Nature?
From their website, where you can find immense amounts of information on subjects related to the impacts of climate policies, agriculture, biotechnology,
From the ETC Report, Outsmarting Nature?
and ecology on developing countries and economies, they note, with reference to the recently-concluded Climate Summit in Paris:
“Farmers’ movements and their allies have already made it absolutely clear that so-called climate-smart agriculture is the wrong fix for climate change. Applying synthetic biology to the challenges that agriculture faces is doubly wrongheaded,” explains Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group’s Latin America Director, currently en route to the Paris climate negotiations. “To cool the climate what needs to be recognized and supported is agroecological and resilient small scale and peasant farming systems, not falling for false fixes from the Big Agribusiness corporations that brought us climate change in the first place.”
“In Paris civil society will be saying we need system change to fight climate change. What we certainly don’t need are risky techno-fixes,” said Lili Fuhr of Heinrich Böll Foundation. ”Agribusiness corporations would have us believe it is better to change fundamental natural processes such as photosynthesis than to move away from industrial agriculture and its damaging impacts – that is not just insane, but fundamentally unsustainable and unjust.”
The press release from which the above is excerpted can be found here.
“Climate-Smart Agriculture” or CSA is apparently a “brand” being pushed by old industrial mavens striving to camouflage themselves as green, sustainable developers in the new Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA), and appears to be a part of the global Agenda 21/Agenda 2030 brigade, covered here in other posts.
From the ETC Report, Outsmarting Nature?
These issues in particular with reference to impacts on developing countries, ecosystems, and economies will continue to be monitored here.
For updated news on these subjects, please check in regularly at ETC Group and at Third World Network.
To learn more about Synthetic Biology, which is apparently sweeping through the biotech world and has ensconced itself in Universities, also see this brief informative video from Grist (check Youtube for other videos): 4:23 minutes
