Earth Grab: Geopiracy, the New Biomassters and Capturing Climate Genes

Diana Bronson is a program manager and researcher at ETC Group, a civil-society organization that tracks new technologies, monitors corporate concentration, and supports food sovereignty. She has also worked on Parliament Hill as a director of policy for the Leader of the New Democratic Party. She lives in Montreal, Quebec.Hope Shand is a research director at ETC Group. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario.Jim Thomas is a research program manager and writer at ETC Group and a former researcher and campaigner on genetic engineering and food issues at Greenpeace International. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario."

This three-part book 'pulls back the curtain on disturbing technological and corporate trends that are already reshaping our world and that will become crucial battlegrounds for civil society in the years ahead.' Vandana Shiva, Founder, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology 'Geopiracy' analyses how Northern governments and corporations are cynically using growing concerns about the ecological and climate crisis to propose geoengineering 'quick fixes'. These threaten to wreak havoc on ecosystems, with disastrous impacts on the people of the global South. As calls for a 'greener' economy mount and oil prices escalate, corporations are seeking to switch from oil-based to plant-based energy. 'The New Biomassters' exposes how a biomass economy based on using gene technologies to reprogramme living organisms to behave as microbial factories will facilitate the liquidation of ecosystems. This constitutes a devastating assault of the peoples and cultures of the South, accelerating the wave of land grabs that are becoming common in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 'Capturing Climate Genes' shows how the worlds largest agribusiness companies including Monsanto, BASF, Dupont and Syngenta are pouring billions of dollars into, and claiming patents on, what are claimed to be 'climate-ready crops'. Far from helping farmers adjust to a warming world - something peasant farmers already know how to manage - these crops will allow industrial agriculture to expand plantation monocultures into lands currently cultivated by poor peasant farmers. These crops are not a solution to growing hunger, they will feed only the gluttony of corporate shareholders for profits.

Part One - Geopiracy Overview: Geopiracy: the case against geoengineering Introduction: defining geoengineering Section I: The context: technology to the rescue Technology, the UNFCCC and geoengineering How we got here: the mainstreaming of geoengineering Media blitz: increase in publications while policy makers test the waters The Lomborg manoeuvre: once climate change denier, now geoengineering devotee Geoengineering, climate change and agriculture Section 2: Geoengineering: the technologies Solar radiation management (SRM) Carbon dioxide removal and sequestration Weather modification Case studies Section 3: Governing geoengineering or geoengineering governance? Some key moments The political economy of research UK and US lead geoengineering research Experimenting with Mother Earth: small-scale geoengineering is an oxymoron Military matters Corporate connections Macho mama: geoengineering's gender bias The case for a moratorium Govern all technology, not just geoengineering technologies Part Two - Biomaassters Introduction: Beware Biomass Section 1: Here Comes the bioeconomy What is biomass? Cellulose - the wonder sugar Getting elemental - 'It's still the carbon economy, stupid' Getting geopolitical - it's all in the South Sourcing biomass - a global take Back to the future? Carbohydrate vs. hydrocarbon... From cracking oil to hacking plants Selling the switch Counting the bioma$$ economy Whose biomass? A tale of two bioeconomies Marginal lands for maximal profit A new trade in biomass - shipping chips Energy crops - changes down on the farm The carbon neutral myth A serious global 'accounting error' Trading biomass-based carbon Getting REDD-y for a grab Transferring biomass technologies - climate technology initiative The green economy - a cozy home for the bioeconomy Busting the Earth's biomass budget? Ecosystems count first Planetary boundaries for biomass extraction? Not enough biomass? Let's boost it... Geoengineering the planet with biomass The new biomass economy: 10 myths Section 2 - The Tools and Players The new bio-alchemy - tooling up for the grab Synthetic biology - the game changer for biomass What Is Switching? Conclusions: earth grab! Recommendations: towards global governance Endnotes Part Three - Capturing Climate Genes Gene giants stockpile patents on 'climate-ready' crops in bid to become 'biomassters' Patent-grab threatens biodiversity, food sovereignty Overview: the potential impact of climate change on agriculture and food systems in the South Hot pursuit: the corporate grab on climate-proof genes and patents The biotech industry's new hand? How do climate-ready crops purportedly work? Corporate R&D related to genetically engineered climate tolerant genes Patent-grabbing strategies: multi-genomes and multi-sequences New rulings attempt to curb monopoly claims on DNA sequences Examples of patents and patent applications on so-called climate-ready genes and technologies Claims extending to harvested materials Patents for the poor! public/private partnerships for the development of climate-ready crops International agricultural research responds to climate change Reality check: will it work? Corporate rhetoric vs. technical complexity Reality check Farmer resilience and adaptation Farmer-based strategies for resilience in confronting climate change Conclusion Notes Index