08 February 2010
In early 2010, two Greenpeace activists will go on trial in Japan in an unprecedented court case - one that court papers will register simply as a case of theft and trespass but which, over the course of the past two years, has become so much more. Corrupt government practices, Japan’s adherence to international law, freedom of speech and the right of individual protest and the commercial killing of thousands of whales are all under the spotlight.
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08 February 2010
The Opinion rendered with regard to the Tokyo Two concludes that the Japanese authorities have breached articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It also expresses concern that articles 2, 10 and 14 of the ICCPR, relating to the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial, are not being respected.
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04 February 2010
Smart grid or super grid, decentralised or centralised renewable power plants? The discussion about the future of our power supply is running hot, and hi- tech visions are everywhere.
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31 January 2010
This briefing paper examines the implications of governments' commitments to tackling climate change in terms of overall emission reductions, expected rises in average global temperature (compared to pre-industrial times) and consequent impacts on people and the environment.
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26 January 2010
GE (genetically-engineered) crops have repeatedly failed to perform as intended in the field and have given rise to new agronomic problems. Commercialised GE crops depend upon the
consistent expression of inserted herbicide resistance and/or toxin genes in order to perform. If these genes do not function as intended, crop losses may result. GE varieties have also demonstrated new susceptibility to pests and diseases, for unknown reasons. Genetically
engineering plants to resist insects also has an impact upon pest populations, since troublesome new pests - that require heavy use of insecticides – can emerge as a result.
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26 January 2010
After years of very heavy use of the herbicide glyphosate on ‘Roundup Ready‘ GE (genetically-engineered)crops in the US, weeds are developing resistance to the chemical. The rapidly-spreading problem shows how reliance on genetically-engineered herbicide-resistance is a short-sighted
strategy that is resulting in more difficult-to-control
weeds.
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26 January 2010
The failure of GE (genetically-engineered) cotton in Colombia deepened already hard times for many farmers in the 2008/2009 growing season. In the field, two new varieties of GE cotton proved disastrous in Cordoba Province, Colombia’s most important cotton-growing region. Farmers there have sued Monsanto, saying it misled them about the varieties, which were reportedly attacked by caterpillars and damaged by herbicides that the plants were supposed to resist.
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26 January 2010
Studies demonstrate that Monsanto’s ‘Roundup Ready’ (glyphosate-tolerant) soya has a 5-10% lower harvest compared to modern conventional soya lines. These lower-yielding GE (geneticallyengineered) soya varieties cost farmers billions of dollars every year.
Evidence of lower yields, called ‘yield drag’, is an example of the unpredictability and unintended consequences of GE. Yield drag losses were and remain avoidable through the use of modern conventional varieties.
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26 January 2010
In August 2006, rice markets worldwide were rocked by the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement that the US rice crop had been contaminated by unapproved Bayer GE rice with genetically-engineered herbicide resistance.
A cascade of costly events ensued. The ultimate cost to the US rice industry was between $741 million and $1.29 billion US dollars, plus costs to foreign companies and still-undetermined legal damages against Bayer. The origin of the contamination remains unexplained to this day.
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