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GENET - EUROPEAN NGO NETWORK ON GENETIC ENGINEERING

5th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON GMO-FREE REGIONS

LUCERNE - SWITZERLAND

APRIL 24TH – 25TH, 2009

At the 5th European Conference on GMO-Free Regions - “Food & Democracy”, in Lucerne (Switzerland), 250 representatives from 28 European countries were welcomed by the Speaker of the Swiss National Parliament, the Ministers of Agriculture of Austria, Scotland and the Czech Republic, as well as the President of Swiss Farmers.

At the end of 2 days of plenary sessions and workshops, the participants called upon the member states of the European Union to rethink their legislation and policy on the use of genetically
engineered organisms in agriculture.

For pictures, documentation and final statement visit the Conference website

ISIS Press Release on the Conference

STOP THE CROP

On January 21st 2009 the European Commission announced that it will propose to the member states the approval of two new varieties of GM maize for cultivation . The genetically modified maize varieties BT11 (Syngenta) and 1507 (Dupont/Pioneer) would be the first GM maize varieties to be approved for cultivation within the European Union since 1998.

A campaign was set up to oppose the approval of these crops. Please check the "Stop the Crop" informations on FoEE and GMO-free regions websites and participate in the actions.

PSx2 - PARTICIPATORY SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC PARTICIPATION

PSx2 is a project that explores the participatory role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in new scientific and technological developments, with particular reference to experiences in the development of agricultural biotechnology (GM plants, food and feeds). The issue of novel biotechnologies is not only an expanding area of scientific research, but also provides a very important area for social experimentation in more active citizenship and a deeper involvement of the lay public in European research activities. Five civil society organisations and four scientific institutions worked together in this project funded by the DG research of the European Commission.<o:p></o:p>

The overall objective is to increase the social relevance of scientific research through the promotion of public participation in European research activities. It is hoped that both the project process and its outcomes can be used to encourage dialogue and constructive engagement between civil society organisations and scientific research institutions.

The final report of the project is now available in 6 languages. Click here to access the project website.

Powerpoint presentation of the project results.

PLANET DIVERSITY CONGRESS

At the occasion of the Conference of the Parties to the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity a range of worldwide NGOs, along with GENET, organised a global conference on the future of food and agriculture in Bonn.

A global movement from different directions came together for the common cause of defending diversity against destructive and threatening tendencies in agriculture, rural development and food production and to celebrate the natural and cultural diversity of life in food and agriculture.

More than 700 participants from 100 nations gathered for four days during the UN-Convention on Biodiversity and the Biosafety Protocol negotiations. They discussed how farmers, consumers, food producers and their communities can cooperate. 6.000 joined a demonstration for local diversity and against genetic engineering in agriculture and 15.000 gathered on a festival of diversity.

For more information about this successful event and to read the Planet Diversity Manifesto, visit the Congress' website.

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IAASTD - International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development

Final IAASTD plenary in Johannesburg calls for new agricultural revolution

Representatives of 60 governments, the Worldbank and all UN Agencies, as well as about 50 NGOs met from 6 to 12 April 2008 in Johannesburg for the final intergovernmental plenary of the IAASTD to find consensus on the international and 5 subregional assessments. 11th governments concluded their line by line approval of the Summaries for Decisionmakers and of a Synthesis Report and accepted the underlying 2000 pages of scientific evidence in the assessment reports.

The report of the first international Agriculture Assessment is a sobering account of the failure of industrial farming. It calls for a fundamental change in the way we do farming, to better address soaring food prices, hunger, social inequities and environmental disasters.

The report reflects a growing consensus among the global scientific community and most governments that the old paradigm of industrial, energy-intensive and toxic agriculture is a concept of the past.

The key message of the report is that small-scale farmers and agro-ecological methods provide the way forward to avert the current food crisis and meet the needs of local communities.

The report’s lack of support for the further industrialization and globalization of agriculture as well as for genetically engineered plants in particular, was based on a rigorous and peer-reviewed analysis of the empirical evidence by hundreds of scientists and development experts.

For the first time an independent, global assessment acknowledges that farming has a diversity of environmental and social functions and that nations and peoples have the right to democratically determine their best food and agricultural policies.