1. Eine Impfung für gesunde Äcker

30. November 2023 | FiBL

Ackerböden beherbergen oft viele Krankheitserreger, die Pflanzen befallen und Erträge mindern. Ein Schweizer Forschungsteam mit FiBL Beteiligung hat nun gezeigt, dass eine Impfung des Bodens mit Mykorrhiza-Pilzen helfen kann, den Ertrag ohne zusätzliche Düngung und Pflanzenschutzmittel zu halten oder gar zu verbessern. In einem gross angelegten Freilandversuch konnte die Ernte um bis zu 40 Prozent gesteigert werden.

2. GMOs: the Commission ignores its experts to reassure industry

25. Oktober 2023 | InfoOGM

Has the European Commission based its proposal to deregulate GMOs/NTGs on «sound science» or on the demands of seed companies? Documents obtained by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) show that the Commission chose to listen to the companies rather than its own experts at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The EFSA had indeed asked for an assessment – albeit a relatively light one – of the risks of «new GMOs». However, the European Commission has proposed to abolish this requirement, as requested by certain companies.

3. Studie zur Auswirkung des Verordnungsentwurf der EU-Kommission zu neuen genomischen Techniken in Bezug auf Pflanzen in der Entwicklung

30. November 2023 | BfN

Eine aktuelle Analyse des BfN zeigt, dass 94% der Pflanzen in der Entwicklungsphase, die mit neuen genomischen Techniken (NGT) hergestellt wurden und von dem hierzu vorgelegten Verordnungsentwurf der EU-Kommission betroffen sind, keiner Risikobewertung mehr unterliegen würden. Darunter fallen auch Pflanzen für die ein mit transgenen, gentechnisch veränderten Pflanzen vergleichbares Risiko angenommen werden muss. Ein Beispiel dafür sind zukünftige, bereits patentierte NGT1-RNAi Pflanzenanwendungen mit insektizider Wirkung.

4. Autonomy in the Face of Agtech. Tools for Challenging Industry Narratives

Sept. 2023 | ETC Group

Autonomy in the Face of Agtech is a set of tools designed to synthesise the insights of social movements and civil society communicators and offer ways to respond quickly and effectively to corporate agtech narratives.

Today, new agricultural technologies are being conceived, designed, and implemented rapidly, without space to consider the implications and consequences for farmers. This push is driven by the rise of “agtech”, a newly developing industry that combines several sectors — agribusiness, biotechnology, digital/software technology, and financial technology. We typically see agtech advertised in the form of “high-tech” modern farming implements, practices, and platforms — from drone farming to robot harvesters, to agri-e-commerce sites, to gene-edited crops. Pitched as “the future of agriculture”, agtech is facilitating the flow of billions of dollars of investment into corporate-owned technologies that entrench and extend the control of powerful actors in industrial agriculture, further threatening the rights and lives of farmers, peasants, and Indigenous communities.

Because there are so many new technologies put forward every year and given that each can take time and in-depth knowledge to understand, we propose an intervention method that focuses less on the technical details of each of these products and more on the influential stories and narratives being used to sell them. We present strategies for identifying how popular narratives around technologies work, their impact and implications, what gives them power, and how we can take it back.

5. Update der GOGEL-Datenbank zeigt: Öl- und Gasindustrie expandiert inmitten der Klimakrise

15. November 2023 | urgeWald

Heute hat urgewald gemeinsam mit über 50 Partnerorganisationen die diesjährige Global Oil & Gas Exit List (GOGEL) veröffentlicht. GOGEL ist die bisher umfangreichste öffentliche Datenbank, die die Aktivitäten der globalen Öl- und Gasunternehmen offenbart. Sie enthält 1.623 Unternehmen, die Öl und Gas fördern oder neue fossile Infrastruktur wie Terminals für Flüssiggas (LNG), Öl- und Gaspipelines oder Gaskraftwerke entwickeln. Die in GOGEL aufgeführten Unternehmen sind verantwortlich für 95 % der weltweiten Öl- und Gasproduktion.

Die Daten zeigen: Inmitten der Klimakrise suchen oder erschließen 96 % der 700 von GOGEL erfassten Förderunternehmen neue Öl- und Gasfelder. 1.023 Unternehmen planen neue LNG-Terminals, Pipelines oder Gaskraftwerke.

6. Forests can capture more carbon, but need a biodiversity boost

14. November 2023 | Futurities

Natural forest recovery could capture approximately 226 gigatonnes of carbon, but only if we also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a new study shows. The study highlights the critical importance of forest conservation, restoration, and sustainable management in moving towards international climate and biodiversity targets. The researchers stress that this potential can be achieved by incentivizing community-​driven efforts to promote biodiversity. The forest carbon potential has been a highly controversial topic. Four years ago, a study published in the journal Science found that the restoration of forests could capture over 200 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon—which could draw down approximately 30% of excess anthropogenic carbon. While this study elevated a discussion about the role of nature in fighting climate change, it also raised concerns around the adverse environmental impacts of mass tree plantations, carbon offsetting schemes, and greenwashing. While some scientific studies have supported the scale of this finding, others argued that this forest carbon estimate could be up to 4 or 5 times too high. To address this controversial topic, researchers led by the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich joined forces to build an integrated assessment using a comprehensive range of approaches, including vast ground-sourced data and satellite datasets.

7. Energieverbrauch durch KI kann globale Krisen auslösen

4. Dezember 2023 | Zeitpunkt

Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) verbraucht enorm viel Energie und trägt damit zum Klimawandel bei. Selbst der Kampf ums Wasser kann sich dank KI verschärfen. Wir haben KI ChatGPT4 gebeten, eine Analyse über sich selbst und andere KI-Systeme zu erstellen.

8. No, Climate Scientists Aren’t Being Forced to Exaggerate

8. September 2023 | The Washington Post

It reads like a climate denier’s dream come true: A prestigious climate scientist publicly confesses he fudged research in order to get published. That’s basically how excited headlines in right-wing media [und leider auch der sonst meist differenzierte Infosperber] have portrayed scientist Patrick Brown’s claim this week that he oversold the influence of climate change on wildfire risks in order to get a paper published recently in the prestigious journal Nature.

9. Platterbse im Gastro-Test

7. Dezember 2023 | Lausanne | gzpk, CSS

On 7 December, you are invited to contribute to the introduction of underutilized crops by tasting dishes made from grass peas. The independent breeding organisation gzpk and CSS have been working with grass peas in farmers‘ fields for three years and now want to bring this crop into our kitchens.

At 5:30 pm we will exchange ideas on the role of local seed systems in promoting diversity with various organisations that work with seeds in Switzerland: Tamara Lebrecht (CSS), Sebastian Kussmann (GZPK), Matthias Gudinchet (ProSpecieRara) and Joel Mützenberg (Semences de Pays)

After that, we will have grasspea tasting and other vegetarian dishes prepared by Racines.

If you would like to attend the dinner, please register via s.kussmann@gzpk.ch We kindly ask for a contribution of CHF 20 for the meal.