What does an EU Commissioner
do if he wants Europe to start growing GM
crops, but governments aren’t cooperating?
The answer – offer governments the right
to ban GM crops in turn for a blessing on
GM crops at the EU level. The trick though,
is to make the right to ban crops weak enough
to be overturned in court, and break a ten
year hiatus in GM crop approvals. This is
the kind of trickery that was behind a weak
Commission draft law published last July.
In the past, some European countries have
banned GM and the bans were challenged under
EU law. So the idea of a more reliable right
to ban appeared as a good deal to them.
But things are not always as they appear.
The European Commission
is willing to give countries the right to
ban GM crops only if these bans are based
on a specific number of reasons. This includes
cultural and moral arguments, which EU lawyers
say can be challenged by biotech companies
in court.
This week, European
Parliamentarians were given the chance to
strengthen the draft GM ban law and took
it. The leading environment committee added
a number of important grounds to the law,
most importantly the potential environmental
impacts of GM crops, which are crucial if
national bans are to be legally robust.
Parliamentarians also
called for the EU to strengthen safety tests
for new GM crops, something already called
for by all 27 EU Environment ministers in
2008. This is very important, as national
bans alone will never be enough to protect
European consumers and the environment against
the risks of GM crops.
Furthermore, MEPs(Member
of the European Parliament) want to have
all EU countries take measures to avoid
contamination caused by GM crops. The committee
also agreed that if these rules fail, governments
should ensure that those responsible for
the contamination pay damages. The “polluter
pays” principle applied to agriculture.
The committee also agreed that biotech companies
should finally open up their products to
independent research into the environmental
and health risks of GM crops. In the past
independent research was often hindered
by biotech companies unwilling to grant
access to the necessary seed material.
Today’s vote is a very
important step on the way to protect EU
consumers and farmers against GM contamination
but we are not there yet. On 7 June, all
736 MEPs will vote on the draft law. It
then has to be agreed on by all EU governments.
While several countries are in favour of
positive measures to control harmful GM
crops, big countries like Germany and Spain
opposed the law. There is still a lot of
work to be done before Europe can ban GM
crops.
Thank you! This work
wouldn’t be possible without the million
people that signed the petition calling
for a moratorium on genetically modified
(GM) crops. Read more about the delivery
of the very first EU citizens initiative!
+ More
Iwi Fishing Boat Disrupts
Oil Survey Ship
Today in the face of
navy warship HMNZS Taupo, the crew of te
Whanau a Apanui’s fishing boat San Pietro
went fishing at a safe distance in front
of the deep sea oil survey ship, Orient
Explorer. The longline with visible buoys
was deployed within te Whanau a Apanui ‘s
customary fishing grounds.
From onboard San Pietro,
te Whanau a Apanui tribal leader Rikirangi
Gage radioed the Captain of the Orient Explorer
and said, “You are not welcome in our waters.
Accordingly and as an expression of our
mana in these waters and our deep concern
for the adverse effects of deep sea drilling,
we will be positioning the te Whanau a Apanui
vessel directly in your path…We will not
be moving, we will be doing some fishing.
That’s what our waters are for, not for
pollution… This is not a protest. We are
defending tribal waters and our rights from
reckless Government policies and the threat
of deep sea drilling, which our hapu have
not consented to and continue to oppose…”
The Orient Explorer
did not stop as police on two inflatables
boarded the San Pietro.
Mr Gage said, “Te Whanau
a Apanui oppose Petrobras’ deep sea oil
prospecting and drilling for good reasons.
Our ancestors didn’t instruct us to be selfish
in the way that the Government is thinking,
risking so much and thinking of so few.
A longer term perspective shows that bringing
up oil from under the deep sea floor to
be burnt will cause harm to ourselves, our
resources and the world around us.”
“The Government have
abused their power by first ignoring us,
then apologising to us, now blaming the
people out here with their heads on the
line who want this to stop. Our mana is
not for sale. What kind of people are we
if the gifts we give to the next generations
are beaches covered with oil and a dead
sea? Or big floods, storms and droughts?
The first thing we must always do is protect
our food resources. Survival comes first.”
“Today a net of a new
generation goes fishing, one that will catch
the lies and one we intend to stop deep
sea oil prospecting in its tracks.”
“Our ancestors did not
agree to a Treaty that would ignore the
wishes and needs of future generations and
our environment. They carefully positioned
us to continue to make good decisions that
would enable the future of our peoples and
our cultures.”
San Pietro, is the longliner
owned by East Coast iwi, Te Whanau a Apanui
and is part of the flotilla including Greenpeace
and the Nuclear Free Flotilla, in its third
week of opposing deep sea oil drilling.
+ More
Clean energy and “clean”
energy in Abu Dhabi
When the taxi first
brought me to the venue, I thought the driver
had gotten the address wrong. I didn’t know
these kind of palaces existed outside of
Disney movies. But no, it was the right
place ... So here I was, in the middle of
all this gold and glitter, having lunch
with energy ministers and their minions,
talking about clean energy. Or rather "clean
energy".
The location was impressive,
but what those ministers said was everything
but. The CEM countries account for more
than 80 percent of global energy consumption.
They have all the power to change things
and make an energy revolution reality right
now, if they want to. But from what I heard
today - they are not ready.
Even in the face of
Fukushima, all they commit to as the CEM
is more voluntary partnerships for clean
energy? Don´t you think it´s
time for some real laws - and real action?
Oh, and then there is
the question of what is actually "clean".
In the closing press conference, both Britain´s
Chris Huhne and America´s Steven Chu
talked a lot about that biggest oxymoron
there could ever be: “clean coal”. They
both suggested that without coal we cannot
solve global energy needs. In fact, I didn’t
hear Mr. Huhne mentioning renewables or
energy efficiency even once! That’s not
an energy revolution. That’s a desperate
attempt to continue business as usual.
That there is no alternative
to more and more coal is, of course, not
true. Luckily that myth was debunked immediately
by Lykke Friis, the Danish climate minister.
She first presented her Elvis principle:
"a little less conversation, much more
action" and then went on to present
Denmark’s "declaration of independence".
By 2050 Denmark will become independent
of oil, coal and gas. More of this please
(I know that government advisors have also
presented a plan for Germany to have a 100
% renewable powered electricity system by
2050. So when will they declare their independence?
Come on, Germany, don’t be shy!)
Of course 100 % renewable
won’t happen overnight. But it will never
happen, if your imagination is limited by
the existing energy infrastructure. I was
therefore delighted to have a chance to
talk about the role renewables can play
in ensuring also "baseload" energy
supply with Ms. Dipuo Peters, the energy
minister of South Africa. She was asking
the right questions. I hope she will soon
also give the right answers and learn about
how elecricity grids can help deliver 100%
renewables. South Africa does not need more
nuclear and coal!
But back to the coal
boys. When asked what “clean energy” policies
mean for the US coal demand, Chu replied,
in all seriousness, that it’s not about
the amount of coal consumption - we just
need to use coal cleanly. Right. And just
a couple of days ago, Sultan Al Jaber of
the United Arab Emirates said that in addition
to solar and wind, the United Arab Emirates
will invest in “clean oil” and “clean nuclear”.
George Orwell would
have been proud of these politicians. War
is peace. Dirty is clean. Please help us
clean the imagination of these guys - by
signing up for our energy revolution.
As I leave the Disney-like
Emirates Palace Hotel, I wonder when the
first CLEAN Energy Ministerial will really
take place. This time, it was mostly just
"clean".
Kaisa Kosonen is a Climate Policy Advisor
at Greenpeace International
