GMOs are not the answer to the climate crisis
Two economics researchers from Peking University, Kaixing Huang and Yaxuan You, have published a paper comparing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between countries that have grown genetically modified (GM) crops and those that have not. Their conclusion is unequivocal. They assert that genetically modified maize, soya, cotton and rapeseed increase greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. However, this study has significant limitations: based on international statistics, it adopts an ‘accounting’ approach and does not challenge either globalised agriculture or genetically modified crops. Inf’OGM has nevertheless chosen to analyse it, as the subject is poorly documented and the study helps to shed light on its complexity. This article is intended as a contribution to the dossier on the impact of GMOs on the climate and, more specifically, on GHG emissions.
GMOs on the agenda at COP 30
At a time when countries are meeting in Belém, Brazil, to discuss the tools needed to combat climate change, Inf’OGM wishes to shed light on the role of biotechnology in these negotiations. Biotechnology companies are making several promises: GMOs will help combat world hunger and climate change.
Object of all desire, do GM algae really exist?
Algae are the surprise guest in the European Commission’s deregulation proposal. How are these organisms used by the industry? In which countries are they produced? And above all, what genetic modifications are being made for which comercialisation? This overview is of importance because, according to the European Commission, their deregulation – like that of other plant GMOs – would be justified by the “evidence […] on the safety” of these GMOs. However, these GM algae do not exist, as the technical protocols are not yet mastered…
