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THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE9 April 2005
RE: GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD We wish to bring to your attention
a new global initiative led by the Independent Science The initiative aims to engage all sectors of civil society to make our food production system truly sustainable. A special ISP group on Sustainable Agriculture including a task force of sponsoring organizations and individuals will make direct input into a comprehensive report on sustainable agriculture at the end of a year. The report will include a series of recommendations for government and inter-governmental agencies on the social, economic and political policy and structural changes needed to implement a sustainable food production system. GM crops have been hailed as the answer to world hunger and this initiative is important as it shows that there are alternatives to GM crops that are more sustainable and less threatening to the environment, biodiversity and human health. With best wishes, Chee Yoke Heong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REF: Doc.TWN/Biosafety/2005/J ISIS Press Release 06/04/05 (http://www.i-sis.org.uk/SustainableWorldInitiativeF.php) Sustainable World - A Global Initiative Please support this unique Global Initiative to make our food production system sustainable, to ameliorate climate change and guarantee food security for all Sponsoring organisation (contributing £100 or more) Sponsoring individual (contributing £25 or more) Endorsing organisation (no contribution or donating less than £100) Endorsing individual (no contribution or donating less than £25) Please see http://www.indsp.org/reg/ISPRegWhoHasSigned.php for the most up to date list of sponsors and endorsers. Current food production system due for collapse World grain yield fell for four successive years from 2000 to 2003, bringing reserves to he lowest in thirty years. The situation has not improved despite a 'bumper' harvest in 2004, which was just enough to satisfy world consumption. In too many food production
regions of the world, conventional farming practices have severely depleted
the underground water to the point where rivers and lakes have dried out,
topsoil has been eroded away, and wild life decimated. At the same time,
world oil ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Box 1 True costs of industrial food production system 1 000 tonnes of water are consumed to produce one tonne of grain 10 energy units are spent for every energy unit of food on our dinner table 1 000 energy units are used for every energy unit of processed food 17% of the total energy use in the United States goes into food production & distribution, accounting for more than 20% of all transport within the country; this excludes energy used in import & export 12.5 energy units are wasted for every energy unit of food transported per thousand air-miles 20% of all greenhouse gases in the world come from current agriculture US$318 billion of taxpayer's money was spent to subsidize agriculture in OECD countries in 2002, while more than 2 billion subsistence farmers in developing countries tried to survive on $2 a day 90% of the agricultural subsidies benefit corporations and big farmers growing food for export; while 500 family farms close down every week in the United States Subsidized surplus food dumped on developing countries creates poverty, hunger and homelessness on a massive scale ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting our food production sustainable is the most urgent task for humanity; it is also the key to delivering health, ameliorating the worst effects of climate change and saving the planet from destructive exploitation. The benefits of sustainable food production systems are also becoming evident (see Box 2). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Box 2 Some benefits of sustainable food production systems 2- to 10-fold energy saving on switching to low-input/organic agriculture 5 to 15% global fossil fuel emissions offset by sequestration of carbon in organically managed soil 50 to 92% reduction in carbon dioxide emission from the soil on switching from conventional tillage to no-till agriculture 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission disappear with every tonne of nitrogen fertilizer phased out 2-3-fold increase in crop yield using compost in Ethiopia, outperforming chemical fertilizers Organic farming performs as well or slightly better than conventional industrial farming in the US Small farms are 2 to 10 times more productive than larger farms Organic farms support significantly
more birds, bats, invertebrates and wild plants than Organic foods contain more vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients than conventionally produced foods 1 000 or more community-supported farms across US and Canada bring $36m income per year directly to the farms £50-78m go directly into the
pocket of farmers trading in some 200 established local Buying food in local farmers' market generates twice as much for the local economy than buying food in supermarkets chains Money spent with a local supplier is worth four times as much as money spent with non-local supplier ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Independent Science Panel
(ISP) and the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) are We are convening a special ISP group on Sustainable Agriculture (ISP-SA) - currently 18 strong - and a task force of sponsoring organizations and individuals who will make direct input into a comprehensive report on sustainable agriculture at the end of a year. The report will include a series of recommendations for government and inter-governmental agencies on the social, economic and political policy and structural changes needed to implement a sustainable food production system. ISIS and ISP are in a unique position to draw these previously disparate strands together into a powerful scientific and social consensus. We have scientists in many disciplines working together and some of the scientists are competent across several disciplines. A majority of the scientists are already working with grass-roots organisations and local communities in both the developed and developing countries, or are supporting their activities in other ways. There will be a series of consultations
(by post or e-mail) with our sponsors, and two to A major international conference to launch the final report will take place in 2006. Copies of the report will be sent to all relevant governments and inter-government agencies as the start of a campaign to get the recommendations implemented. Please support this Global Initiative Sponsoring organisation (contributing £100 or more) Sponsoring individual (contributing £25 or more) Endorsing organisation (no contribution or donating less than £100) Endorsing individual (no contribution or donating less than £25) Note The Independent Science Panel consists of dozens of prominent scientists from around the world concerned over the commercialisation of science and the consequent failure of the scientific establishment to protect the public from the hazards of emerging technologies (http://www.indsp.org/ISPMembers.php) . The Panel published its first report, The Case for a GM-Free Sustainable World , in June 2003, documenting scientific evidence of the problems and hazards of GM crops as well as the proven successes and promise of all forms of sustainable agriculture. The report was widely circulated and adopted, and translated into several major languages within a year. It was presented in three successful briefings to government and inter-governmental agencies in 2004, receiving widespread coverage in the popular media. At the European Parliament briefing in October 2004, ISP delivered its strongest message: invest in sustainable agriculture right now, as there is no other way to really feed the world under global warming . The present initiative is intended to take that message forward. Please see http://www.indsp.org/reg/ISPRegWhoHasSigned.php for the most up to date list of sponsors and endorsers. Partners and Sponsors Partners Institute for Sustainable Development, Ethiopia Ecological Society of the Philippines, The Philippines Sponsoring Organisations Environmental Law Centre, UK Fondation pour une Terre Humaine, France GM-Free Cymru, UK Green Network, UK HDRA the organic organisation, UK Institute of Ecological Studies, Ecuador Schumacher Institute for Sustainable Systems, UK Soil Association, UK People's Biosafety Association, Finland Union of Ecoforestry, Finland Yoko Civilisation Research Institute , Japan Sponsoring Individuals Rt. Hon. Michael Meacher, MP, UK Alan Simpson, MP, UK Sustainable World Team Recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, representative of the Ethiopian government and African Union in championing the rights of the poorest countries at the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources, and key negotiator of the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol Director Director of Institute of Science in Society, Editor/Art Director of Science in Society quarterly, pioneer of the physics of organisms and much published author and researcher across many scientific disciplines Independent Science Panel - Sustainable Agriculture Group Current Membership Prof. Miguel Altieri University of California, Berkeley,
world authority on agroecology; General Coordinator of United Nations
Development Programme's Sustainable Agriculture Networking and Prof. David Bellamy OBE Internationally renowned botanist, environmentalist, broadcaster, author and campaigner; recipient of numerous awards; President and Vice President of many conservation and environmental organizations. Dr. Elizabeth Bravo V. Co-founder of Acción Ecológica; part-time lecturer at Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, Ecuador; researcher and campaigner on biodiversity and GMO issues. Dr. Judy Carman A Director of the Institute
of Health and Environmental Research and Affiliate Senior Dr. Phil Davies Director, Institute of Health and Environmental Research Inc., Kensington Park, Australia; application of cell culture technology to breeding wheat, barley, oats, field peas and lentils. Sue Edwards Editor of 7-volume Flora of
Ethiopia and Eritrea; Director, Institute for Sustainable Dr. Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher (see above) Edward Goldsmith Recipient of the Right Livelihood and numerous other awards, environmentalist, scholar, much published author and Founding Editor of The Ecologist. Dr. Ingrid Hartman Soil scientist and resource
management researcher, Humboldt University, Humboldt, Dr. Mae-Wan Ho (See above) Dr. Per Kølster Agronomist and farmer, board
member of Practical Ecology, Danish organisation for Lim Li Ching B Sc. Ecology, M.Phil. Development Studies, Researcher in Sustainable Agriculture and Biosafety, Third World Network. Martin Khor MA (Econ) University of Cambridge,
and Master of Economics (University Science Dr. Eva Novotny Astronomer and campaigner on GM issues for Scientists' for Global Responsibility. Prof. Bob Orskov OBE Head of International Feed Resource Unit, Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Polish Academy of Science. Dr. Michel Pimbert Agricultural ecologist and Principal Associate, International Institute for Environment and Development; worked previously with International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India and World Wide Fund for Nature in Switzerland; consultant and research partner for UN FAO, UN Research Institute for Social Development, UNESCO and World Conservation Union; author and editor of key books on natural resource management, participatory action research, political ecology of biodiversity, rights and culture. Dr. Peter Rosset Agricultural ecologist and rural development specialist; former co-Director of the Institute for Food and Development Policy, Oakland, California, USA; written extensively on the agronomic, ecological and economic impacts of agricultural technology; A. B. Hon. From Brown University, M.Sc. Applied entomology, Imperial College, London, and Ph.D Agricultural Ecology, University of Michigan. Prof. Peter Saunders Professor of Applied Mathematics, King's College, London; author of close to 100 papers including several books; researches on modelling complex system, and in particular, problems in global warming and diabetes. Prof. Oscar B. Zamora Professor of Agronomy, Department of Agronomy, University of the Philippines Los Banos College of Agriculture, Laguna, The Philippines; served in his government's delegation to the Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity and FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Web design and communication Researchers Sam Burcher , Rhea Gala and Andy Watton
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