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Synthetic Biology World­Wide Network with Currently and ‘Climate Smart’ Agriculture 32 International Offices

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Synthetic Biology World­Wide Network with Currently and ‘Climate Smart’ Agriculture 32 International Offices ETC Group Heinrich Böll Stiftung ...works to address the socioeconomic Fostering democracy and upholding and ecological issues surrounding new human rights, taking action to prevent technologies that could have an impact the destruction of the global ecosystem, on the world’s poorest and most advancing equality between women and vulnerable people. We investigate men, securing peace through conflict ecological erosion (including the erosion prevention in crisis zones, and defending of cultures and human rights); the the freedom of individuals against development of new technologies excessive state and economic power – (especially agricultural but also other these are the objectives that drive the technologies that work with genomics ideas and actions of the Heinrich Böll and matter); and we monitor global Foundation. We maintain close ties to governance issues including corporate the German Green Party (Alliance 90 / concentration and trade in technologies. The Greens) and as a think tank for We operate at the global political level. green visions and projects, we are part of We work closely with partner civil an international network encompassing society organizations (CSOs) and social well over 100 partner projects in movements, especially in Africa, approximately 60 countries. Asia and Latin America. The Heinrich Böll Foundation works www.etcgroup.org independently and nurtures a spirit of intellectual openness. We maintain a Outsmarting Nature: Synthetic Biology world­wide network with currently and ‘Climate Smart’ Agriculture 32 international offices. We cooperate is ETC communique #114. closely with 16 state-level Böll Original Research by ETC Group with Foundations in each of Germany’s the financial support and collaboration federal states, and we support talented, of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. socio-politically engaged undergraduate Copy-editing and proof-reading: and graduate students in Germany and Holly Dressel abroad. We gladly follow Heinrich Böll’s Design and artwork by Stig exhortation for citizens to get involved First Published November 2015. in politics, and we want to inspire others CC-BY-NC-ND – Attribution- to do the same. NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 www.boell.de/en 2 Outsmarting Nature: Synthetic Biology and “Climate Smart” Agriculture Summary Policy More than 350 civil society organizations Issue from around the world (including social Many of the world’s largest agro-industrial corporations have already movements, peasant/farmers’ sworn fealty to “Climate-Smart agriculture” (CSA) as part of the new organizations and faith-based Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA) – and they’re communities) are urging negotiators in preparing to march into Paris for the UN’s December Climate Paris to reject the “Climate-Smart” brand Conference (UNFCCC COP 21)1 waving the Climate-Smart flag. of the Global Alliance. The coalition Although it’s currently below the radar, both public- and private-sector warns that CSA “does not involve any advocates of CSA are embracing tools of synthetic biology (“Syn Bio”) criteria to define what can or cannot be as the latest, greatest game-changing technology to combat climate called ‘Climate Smart.’ Agribusiness change. If they get their way in Paris, industry will insist that synthetic corporations that promote synthetic biology’s made-from-scratch living organisms and designer crops are fertilisers, industrial meat production and essential adaptation and mitigation strategies as the climate crisis large-scale industrial agriculture – all of deepens. which are widely recognised as The world’s largest agrochemical and seed companies, public-sector contributing to climate change and researchers and biotech start-ups are actively incorporating synthetic undermining the resilience of farming biology in current R&D. This report briefly examines agriculture- systems – can and do call themselves 4 related R&D involving Syn Bio’s microorganisms and crops being ‘Climate Smart.’” The immediate danger developed in the name of climate-change mitigation and adaptation, is that industry-led lobby efforts could including high-tech approaches to enhance photosynthesis (e.g., result in climate negotiators explicitly engineered pathways regulating nitrogen fixation and environmental endorsing Climate-Smart agriculture at stress tolerance). We examine one research team that seeks to activate COP 21 and steering the Convention’s drought tolerance in crops with proprietary chemicals; we also Green Climate Fund resources look at how synthetic biologists envision the use of toward specious Climate- controversial “gene drives” to engineer weeds in the More than 350 Smart projects that wild to become more susceptible to pesticides. civil society organizations distract from real from around the world solutions to build Actors (including social movements, resilience. (The peasant/farmers’ organizations The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization Green Climate Fund and faith-based communities) are (FAO) began talking about “Climate-Smart” is a financing urging negotiators in Paris to agriculture in 2009 as a way to bring agriculture – mechanism of the reject the “Climate-Smart” and its role in mitigation, adaptation and food Convention to brand of the Global security – into the climate negotiations.2 Two FAO support developing Alliance. conferences dedicated to Climate-Smart agriculture, country mitigation and organized with the World Bank and a small group of adaptation projects – including 5 governments, followed in 2010 and 2012. Formally launched as The agriculture.) Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA) in 2014, its Governments meeting in Paris must membership now includes 22 national governments, agribusiness lobby reject “Climate-Smart” agriculture and groups (the majority representing the fertilizer industry)3, the world’s instead promote Climate-Resilient largest network of public agricultural scientists – the Consultative strategies based on Agroecology. Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) – universities Farmer-led strategies for climate change and NGOs. Climate-smart agriculture is also promoted by the World survival and adaptation must be Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) through its recognized, strengthened and Low Carbon Technology Partnerships Initiative (LCTPi), which aims supported, with the direct involvement to influence climate negotiations in Paris and beyond. of farming communities. ETC Group & Heinrich Böll Stiftung 3 What is Synthetic biology Synthetic ...dubbed “genetic engineering on steroids,” broadly refers to the use of computer-assisted, biological engineering to design and construct new Biology? synthetic life forms, living parts, devices and systems that do not exist in nature. The term also refers to the intentional redesign of existing biological organisms using these same techniques. Synthetic biology attempts to bring a The field of Synthetic Biology is predictive engineering approach to biology, using genetic “parts” that are thought somewhat nebulous, and to be well characterized and which will exhibit the predicted behavior in the scientists don’t always agree at engineered organism. what point “classical” genetic While the field aims to make bioengineering predictable, it is still a long way engineering crosses the line into from that ideal. In fact, many geneticists and microbiologists (and even some Synthetic Biology. In its simplest synthetic biologists, privately) contend that this will likely never be possible. form, genetic engineering Living organisms are highly dependent on context and environmental influences involves cutting genetic material for their function, health and behavior; they are fundamentally not like out of one organism and pasting machines.7 it into another. Synthetic biology, modeled on the fields of mechanical and electronic engineering, typically involves The genetic engineering of any organism may give rise to the assembly of standard and reusable biological unpredictable and unforeseen effects, often not immediate; components, providing flexibility to move beyond what and the increased complexity of Synthetic Biology will already exists in nature. The rapidly falling price of DNA heighten these risks. Releasing Syn Bio organisms synthesis and genome editing, modular assembly tools and (intentionally or not) that reproduce on their own and increased computing capacity is propelling the field of spread throughout the biosphere increases the dangers to Synthetic Biology. plants, animals, microbes – and entire ecosystems. Synthetic biology can differ from conventional genetic Regulators are struggling to catch up to this new set of engineering in the complexity of organisms or systems that genetic techniques and to understand how to assess and researchers create and/or manipulate. Rather than focus on control the products derived from them. The European expression of single genes or gene components, the work of Union and the UN Convention On Biological Diversity synthetic biologists may involve whole interacting genetic are now involved in processes to formally define the term 8 networks, genomes and entire organisms.6 “Synthetic Biology.” 4 To read the full CSO statement, see: http://www.cidse.org/newsroom/civil-society-proposals-to- 1 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, europeanleaders-at-the-eu-celac-summit-1.html. 21st Conference of the Parties, 30 Nov-11 Dec 2015. 5 The 24-member Board makes funding decisions with guidance 2 See FAO news release,
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