A New Food System Based on Agroecology for Rural and Urban Communities

Covid19 threatens to strengthen corporate control over food unless we transition to agroecology now. Agroecology should be central to making policy for food systems that deliver nutritious food for all, do not destroy ecosystems, are rich in biodiversity and help address climate change. […]

Virtual Informal Session of SBSTTA-24 Considers Synthetic Biology and LMO Risk Assessment

The CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological advice is currently holding a virtual informal session (17-19 and 24-26 February 2021). Among the agenda items discussed were that of synthetic biology, and risk assessment and risk management of LMOs. The issue of gene drive organisms features prominently in both these agenda items, with civil society calling for a moratorium on environmental releases of such organisms. […]

Rat Study Finds Glyphosate Increases Disease Incidence in Future Generations

This study on rats provides evidence that the health effects from glyphosate can be inherited by subsequent generations, suggesting the need to assess the impacts of environmental exposures on future generations. […]

Innovating Adaptation to Climate Change Through Agroecology

This paper explores agroecology as a systemic response to climate change, and its contribution to innovative and transformative adaptation responses. […]

Genetic Breakdown of Molecular Mechanism Underpinning GM ‘sterile’ Insect Techniques

Research reveals chink in the molecular armour of genetic switches, where ‘sterile’ GM insects revert back to being fertile, resulting in resistant GM populations persisting in the environment. […]

Why Genome Edited Organisms are not Excluded from the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Translation available)

We are pleased to share the Spanish, French and Portuguese translations of the new TWN/GeneWatch UK Biosafety Briefing, which sets out to show that currently deployed genome editing technologies and applications, including all techniques involving CRISPR-based systems, clearly fall within the Cartagena Protocol on Bisoafety’s definition of a living modified organism (LMO), whether they involve inserting, deleting or editing sequences of genomes. […]

Addressing the Food and Nutrition Security Challenges of Covid-19

This issues paper by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the FAO Committee on World Food Security provides insights to addressing the food and nutrition security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. […]

Peru extends GMO moratorium, Mexico phases out glyphosate and GM maize in food, disallows GM maize releases

Peru extends its moratorium on the import and production of GMOs for environmental release to 2035, while Mexico phases out glyphosate and GM maize in food, and disallows GM maize releases into the environment. […]

How Corporations Forced GE Dicamba-Tolerant Crops onto US Farmers

An investigation finds that Monsanto and BASF knew their dicamba weed killers used with GE dicamba-tolerant crops would cause large-scale damage to fields across the US but pushed them on unsuspecting farmers anyway, in a bid to corner the soybean and cotton markets. […]

Agroecological Principles to Guide Transition Pathways Towards Food Security

This paper develops and discusses a consolidated list of agroecological principles in the context of presenting transition pathways to more sustainable food systems. […]