Protest against genetically engineered (GE) trees and carbon and biodiversity offsets at the UN CBD in Panama, October 21. Photo: Mirna Inés Fernández Pradel
This week the Campaign to STOP GE Trees made important headway at the meetings of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Panama City.
Strengthening the Moratorium on GE trees: The CBD Alliance, which is a network of civil society organizations that work to influence the CBD and enhance cooperation among organizations involved with it, made a statement to the CBD plenary yesterday, and one of their demands was that the CBD strengthen the 2008 decision against GE trees calling for the use of the Precautionary Approach. The 2008 decision is a de facto moratorium on the release of genetically engineered trees into the environment. This recommended language from the CBDA was accepted into the formal text of the UN CBD draft document.
Officially reminding the UN of the previously agreed de facto moratorium against GE trees is important in the run up to the UN Climate Convention that takes place next month in Belém, Brazil. Brazil has approved nearly a dozen of Suzano Pulp’s genetically engineered eucalyptus trees for commercial use and now Suzano is asking the government to exclude their gene edited trees from regulations (see article linked below).
Organizations Rally to Protest GE Trees: Genetically engineered trees are being manufactured for numerous false solutions to climate change, including forest carbon offsets. Organizations are uniting in Panama under the banner of stopping the advancement of GE trees, and calling out their use in fake greenwashing scams to supposedly “conserve biodiversity” for “bioeconomy” products like fuels or chemicals that are made from wood or for geoengineering schemes like massive-scale plantations of trees genetically engineered to grow faster and resist rotting.
GE Trees Featured in CBD Alliance ECO Newsletter: Read the article The Timber Industry’s New Strategy: Gene-Edited Trees