News & Blogs

News Release: Who Owns Nature?

New report warns of corporate concentration, commodification of nature; highlights global resistance grounded in "Food Sovereignty"

ETC Group released a 48-page report, "Who Owns Nature?" on corporate concentration in commercial food, farming, health and the strategic push to commodify the planet's remaining natural resources.

In a world where market research is becoming increasingly proprietary and pricey, ETC Group's report names names, discloses market share and provides top 10 industry rankings up and down the corporate food chain. Not all the corporations identified in ETC Group's new report are household names, but collectively they control a staggering share of the commercial products found on industrial farms, in our refrigerators and medicine cabinets.

The Last Straw?

As Extreme Genetic Engineers Gather in Hong Kong, Critics Warn of Corporate Grab on Plant Life: SynBio 4.0 = SynBio-4-profit

Synthetic biologists, a brave new breed of science entrepreneurs who engineer life-forms from scratch, will hold their largest-ever global gathering in Hong Kong, October 10-12 2008, known as "Synthetic Biology 4.0." Although most people have never heard of synthetic biology, it's moving full speed ahead fueled by giant agribusiness, energy and chemical corporations with little debate about who will control the technology, how it will be regulated (or not) and despite grave concerns surrounding the safety and security risks of designer organisms. Corporate investors/partners include BP, Chevron, Shell, Virgin Fuels, DuPont, Microsoft, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland.

Global Moratorium on Ocean Fertilization?

Delays, drama and diversions dog U.N attempts to reign-in commercial geo-engineers

Stalled at the eleventh hour by three isolated countries that are attempting to block consensus, most of the world’s environment ministries and others are on the brink of reaching agreement on a worldwide moratorium on commercial ocean fertilization – controversial proposals to dump nutrients in the ocean to artificially alter the climate. The three blocking countries, Australia, China and Brazil have spent several days manipulating the process to avoid discussion and prevent progress, much to the exasperation of delegates and observers. The clock runs out on negotiations at 6pm today (30. May 2008).

Captain Hook Awards for Biopiracy 2008

The Coalition Against Biopiracy* exposes Hooks and celebrates Cogs

www.captainhookawards.org

Today (21. May 2008) the world learned which corporations, governments, institutions and individuals earned a spot in biopiracy’s hall of shame when the Coalition Against Biopiracy (CAB) announced the winners of the 5th Captain Hook Awards at a lunch-time ceremony during the Ninth Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Bonn, Germany.

Gigantes Genéticos se adueñan de “genes climáticos”

En medio de la crisis alimentaria mundial, las compañías biotecnológicas se muestran como mercaderes del cambio climático

Un informe publicado hoy (13 Mayo 2008) por el Grupo ETC, organización internacional de la sociedad civil con sede en Canadá, revela que las mayores empresas globales de semillas y agroquímicos están acumulando centenares de patentes monopólicas sobre genes de plantas, que luego pretenden comercializar como cultivos modificados genéticamente para resistir presiones ambientales asociadas con el cambio climático –por ejemplo sequía, calor, frío, inundaciones, suelos salinos, y otras. El informe del Grupo ETC advierte que más que una solución para enfrentar el cambio climático, la promesa de los llamados “cultivos resistentes al clima” (“climate-ready”) se utilizará para llevar a agricultores y gobiernos a aceptar definitivamente los transgénicos y las patentes que éstos implican.

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