Quick Reads

#7: Geoengineering and Decolonization

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

ETC Podcast talks to Tom Goldtooth
What kind of system of knowledge considers it a good idea to try to manipulate the whole climate of an entire planet? For our second of two episodes on geoengineering, ETC Group's Dru Jay spoke to Tom Goldtooth, who is the Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network – and as of recently, an ETC Group board member – about the meaning of colonization, what is called decolonization and on Indigenous perspectives on geoengineering,
 
Listen below, and scroll down for a transcript.

#WorldFoodDay2020

Submitted by Veronica Villa on

NO al control corporativo de la alimentación y la agricultura en la nueva década
Small urban farm with blue earthquake fissure superimposed.

¿Quién controlará los alimentos y la agricultura en la década que comienza?
Si eres una de las muchas personas que se preocupan por nuestra comida y de dónde viene, ¡no estás sola! Un nuevo terremoto está fracturando nuestros sistemas alimentarios y amenaza con dar forma al futuro de la alimentación y la agricultura en el curso de los próximos diez años.

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).

The Sugar Daddy of Geoengineering

Submitted by Ronnie Hall on

Bill Gates’ fossil fuel interests and funding for global climate engineering
Aerial photograph of tar sands fields in Canada

ETC Group contributes to a new Global Citizen’s Report ‘Gates to a Global Empire’ which explores the many ways in which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation wield immense influence across the globe, driving a form of “techno-solutionism” that prioritizes corporate power and profit and ignores over strengthening communities and sustainable solutions. Here we examine Bill Gates’ well-known promotion and funding of untested and potentially devastating geoengineering technologies, which provide cover for his less-known financial investments in fossil fuel technologies.

#5: Algorithmic Colonisation with Abeba Birhane

Submitted by Dru Oja Jay on

Is there such a thing as "ethical AI"?

In this podcast episode, ETC Group speaks to Abeba Birhane, a PhD candidate in cognitive science at University College Dublin in the School of Computer Science. Birhane talks about her work on the algorithmic colonisation of Africa, why we need to normalise critical thinking on new technologies and if there is such a thing as “ethical" AI.

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.
Butterfly in Glen Art Reserve, East Gippsland, Australia

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]. 

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