 |
|
Latest reports |
Ever-receding GM feed crisisCOMMENT from GM-free Ireland: For years, Monsanto and the animal feed cartels have claimed that European livestock face imminent starvation unless the EU agreees to legalise the importation of US animal feed contaminated by new and untested GMOs. Killing Fields: the battle to feed factory farms
Media Briefing Killing Fields: the battle to feed Europe's factory farms Few people realise that a hidden chain of destruction stretches from factory farms in Europe to the forests of South America - where huge soy plantations are wiping out wildlife and worsening the effects of climate change. Soy, mostly grown to feed chickens, cows and pigs in Europe, now covers nearly 11 million hectares in South America - an area equivalent to all the arable farmland in Germany - and demand is growing fast. To make way for soy plantations, thousands of people are being forced from their land and with it, losing their ability to grow their own food. Indigenous people are being evicted and forests are being cleared. Many of the soybeans are genetically modified and massively increase the use of pesticides - poisoning rural communities, water sources and the natural environment. Meanwhile, in Europe, small-scale farming that is good for people and the environment is losing out to big business. Friends of the Earth believes that if the European Union is serious about addressing climate change, global loss of biodiversity, human rights, and dealing with the food crisis, it must urgently reduce its dependence on soy imports.Download full soy briefingDutch government finances (ir)responsible soyaStop Pesticide Spraying! The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) is an industry strategy to legitimise and expand the controversial soy production model in Southern countries. They are trying to find a way to present this model as 'responsible', whereas even just this week, it was reported from Paraguay that six members of a Mbya Guarani community died from pesticide poisoning, and one peasant leader was killed in a land conflict with a large scale soy producer and landowner. During the parliamentary debate in The Hague, some Dutch MPs seriously questioned the transparency of the initiative and described it as 'greenwashing', while others questioned the effectiveness of the criteria offered by the RTRS, arguing that they are insufficient for classing soya production as 'responsible'. Nonetheless, the Dutch government, through its ministries for Agriculture and for International Cooperation, appears set to continue its financial and political support for the soya industry. This supports allows the further expansion of this soya model through more and more countries in the South. Please write to the Dutch government and ask them to scrap all support for the dubious soya greenwashing initiative. Read
South American GM Soy close to get Carbon credits - Agribusiness lobby in the Climate negotiations As the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP15) gets closer, a new agreement has to be signed for the period after 2012. It is becoming clear how agribusiness attempts to gain profits from the massive carbon credits market. Under the term "Conservation Agriculture", Monsanto and other biotech allies have penetrated the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aiming to get carbon credits for agribusiness. A voluntary 'responsible' label for Roundup Ready soy sponsored by World Wild Life Fund (WWF), and a newly approved Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) methodology are important steps for Agribusiness to get access to this three billion dollar business. Read
|
