Corporate Science on the Offensive ISIS targeted

World Scientists’ Open Letter was signed by more than 310 scientists from 38 countries when presented to the United Nations Convention on Sustainable Development (CSD), April 24 to 5 May 2000, New York. It was warmly welcomed and given much prominence in the official as well as unofficial proceedings because it speaks for the overwhelming majority of the participants and stakeholder groups. They share our concerns on the hazards of GMOs and strongly favour a moratorium on environmental releases. They are opposed to growing GM crops in developing countries, especially to patents on seeds and other life-forms and living processes, which threaten food security, sanction biopiracy of indigenous knowledge and genetic resources, and violate basic human rights and dignity. Most of all, there is a chorus of support for sustainable agriculture involving holistic approaches that integrate indigenous and western scientific knowledge and are adapted to local ecological conditions. Representatives of the G77 (the developing countries) and China repeatedly called for a holistic approach to sustainable development that is compatible with the diverse cultural traditions of countries within the group. It was clear that industry and the industry-friendly governments of the Miami Group – US, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Uraguay and Chile – were isolated. Farmers across the developed and the developing world, indigenous peoples, trade unions, consumer groups, public interest organizations, the majority of government delegates and scientists (those not sitting with industry), were all speaking as with one voice. Martin Khor, Director of Third World Network and Prof. Miguel Altieri, a well-known proponent of agroecology were invited to speak in the formal sessions, to much acclaim. Martin attacked the globalized economy for exacerbating the gap between the poor and the rich, as the superpowers continue to legislate unsustainable and unfair treaties in the World Trade Organization that disadvantage the Third World; perpetrating neo-colonial exploitation and worsening the global ecological crisis. Miguel gave a detailed documentation of the successes of agroecology in Latin America and elsewhere, which have doubled and tripled yields within the past 10-15 years and reversing the social and environmental devastation of corporate agriculture. Among other contributors to the stakeholders dialogue were Dr. Peter Rosset of Food First Institute, Chee Yokeling and Victoria Corpus of Third World Network and myself from ISIS. Third World Network also organized workshops and a special seminar chaired by Colombian delegate Juan Mayr, the official Chair of the CSD session, who also chaired the Cartegena Biosafety Protocol meetings in Cartegena last year and in Montreal this January. Thanks to Lim Li Lin of Third World Network, our Open Letter was subsequently presented to the UN Conference on Biological Diversity held in Nairobi later in May where some 60 countries signed the Cartegena Biosafety Protocol. The Letter was given prominent press coverage amidst calls for moratorium on releases of GMOs in Africa. Prof. Oscar Zamora has reported earlier that our Open Letter was presented to the Congress in the Philippines, which helped to secure a moratorium on GMO imports in that country. Many thanks to Sandro Puetz of the Gene-ethics network in Berlin for translating our Open Letter into German, and posting it on their website http://www.gen-ethischesnetzwerk.de Issue 5