Bt Brinjal: why we should not make a mash of it | Centre for Science and Environment

Sunita Narain

SUNITA NARAIN, director of CSE and editor of Down To Earth, an environmentalist pushing for changes in policies and practices and mindsets

The minister for environment and forests has announced his decision on Bt-brinjal – whether the world’s first genetically modified vegetable should be given permission to be grown and eaten in the country. And before I discuss the issues further, let me also make my own bias clear. I am not an anti-GM-person. In other words, I have no ideological problems with the use of genetically modified technology to improve crop yields. But I am anti-Bt-brinjal and believe the minister is right in not giving clearance.

My reasoning is as follows: first; this is a case of the first genetically modified vegetable: A common food of near daily use that is eaten in all our homes often uncooked. So, therefore, we cannot judge this vegetable at par with Bt-cotton, which is at most used as fodder or processed in the cottonseed oil we use. In fact, all other GM crops, used widely across the world are either eaten in processed form (like soya) or as after industrial refining (like corn or rapeseed oil). So simplistic correlations cannot be applied here that genetically modified crops are safe or known.

Second, the jury is out and arguing still about the tests that have been done to establish the safety of this gene-modified vegetable on our health. The debate centers around two issues: one, if enough has been done to study the chronic impact of eaten this daily use vegetable on our bodies and our health and two, who has done these studies.

The list of studies done by MAHYCO – the owner company – show that most studies have looked at acute toxicity – lethal dose 50 or more – the dose at which there would be mortality of 50 per cent or more. Or have conducted studies on allergic reactions and skin irritation. There are also studies on sub-chronic toxicity – 90 days on rats, rabbits and goats – and the question is if studies are good enough to understand the long-term impacts of ingesting Bt-brinjal. The company says yes, maintaining that 90 days of a rat are roughly equivalent to 20-21 years of humans. The opposing scientists say no, as chronic impacts need a different protocol of study.

Furthermore, there is the still open issue of how the Cry1Ac toxin breaks down in the food and in our bodies. The company says it has data to show that the protein breaks down in cooked food and in our digestive system, but admits it remains active in an alkaline medium. The opposing view is that brinjal is often eaten raw and that even our digestive system is mildly alkaline. The jury is arguing still as I said.

Then there is the big issue if you and I who will now eat this vegetable can ‘trust’ the research, which has largely been conducted by the company, which stands to gain the most if the go-ahead is given. Currently, we know that all research is funded by companies and then presented to the regulators for clearance. It is not surprising then that there is an enormous lack of credibility – people do not believe what they say has been done. And given the horrific and scandalous track record of private research misguiding policy in the case of drugs or food, why should this be surprising? It is clear that we need a new system: research must be publicly funded and openly scrutinized. The money must come from companies, but in the form of a cess collected into a fund.

My third reason for rejecting Bt-brinjal is more basic and fundamental. The fact is that I want the right to decide if I want to eat Bt-brinjal or not. But the country has no labeling system to distinguish the GM-hybrid from its more-lowly ordinary cousin. You and I will have no choice.

This is further complicated because labeling demands that the country must have a laboratory network and a functioning regulatory system, so that GM-content can be analyzed and told to consumers. This is far from the set up we have in the country. We tried to get edible oil checked for GM traces and were turned away by most laboratories in the country, because either they could not test or had such limited facilities that these were expensive and unavailable. So, once again we want the ‘modern’ technology without the ‘modern’ facilities to ensure safety and regulation. A deadly combination.

Over and above this there are concerns about what this ‘foreign’ introduction will do to the biodiversity brinjal in the country – we are the centre of origin of this vegetable, which has over 2500 varieties grown in the country. While the company scientists say that the Bt-brinjal will not contaminate other varieties, research also shows that cross-pollination is definitely possible in this vegetable. Can we take the risk or losing these varieties – long, short, round or twisted - on our table?

To me the outcome is clear: Bt-brinjal is not worth the risk and uncertainty it presents. This is not a verdict on GM crops. It is a verdict on a vegetable that we want our choice to eat or not to eat. The Minister’s decision must be supported.

H1N1 Virus Mutating

A new H1N1 virus (aka swine flu) mutation, a subtype strain named A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1, has been isolated in a 26-year-old patient in Brazil. With the new H1N1 mutation comes fear that the current pandemic swine flu virus will spread more rapidly, possibly to new hosts and, yet, it is unknown if such mutation will prove more deadly than the current A(H1N1) pandemic.

Photo (adaptation) of Hemagglutinin by TimVickers (Wikimedia)
"The structure and receptor binding properties of the 1918 influenza hemagglutinin"

The genetic sequence of the new H1N1 virus subtype (A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1) was isolated by a virology team lead by Terezinha Maria de Paiva at the Instituto Adolfo Lutz, formerly named Adolf Lutz Bacteriolocial Insitute – the latter an outdated name in use by many news reports -- located in San Palo, Brazil. [This name clarification may be useful when conducting online research on the new influenza A virus.]

Discovered in a patient on Tuesday, the new H1N1 virus mutation includes alterations in the hemagglutinin protein. Hemagglutinin is one of the reasons that the influenza virus is so effective as the protein allows the virus to infect new hosts.

Why is the new H1N1 virus subtype and mutation important?

Every couple of decades, a new strain of influenza appears that is far more infectious, allowing it to spread rapidly -- including that which occurred during the 1918/1919 H1N1 pandemic, or Spanish flu, which killed a roughly estimated 50 million people and infected at least 500 million.

The newly identified H1N1 virus strain -- a mutation from the A(H1N1) swine flu pandemic isolate -- may or may not prove more lethal or infectious, but scientists are concerned and vaccine efforts continue.

Additionally, the Insituto Adolfo Lutz website reveals details on A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 but the related Technical Note is written in Portuguese-Spanish requiring translation for most readers. An excerpt and translation instructions follow.

Human cases of respiratory infection caused by a new type of influenza virus A, subtype H1N1 were of porcine origin reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 21 April 2009. So far, the disease was detected in 73 countries, with 25.3 thousand confirmed cases, 139 of them fatal. The new virus presents a unique combination of gene segments that in the past had been reported between the influenza virus from swine or human origin.

In Chicago, the first case of human infection caused by the new strain was identified in a man of 26 years who presented the symptoms of flu to return from a trip to Mexico. The patient was hospitalized on April 24 at the Institute of Infectious Diseases Emilio Ribas and is fully recovered.

Respiratory secretion sample of this patient was subjected to molecular rt PCR methodology (§ reaà the polymerase chain in real time) with probe specific for the new subtype H1N1 by the team of molecular biologist Claudio Sacchi, and the result for the new viral subtype .

Chief Seattle's Letter to American Governer in 1855

Some of our most influential roots are the original cultures of this land. The following letter, sent by Chief Seattle of the Dwamish Tribe in Washington to President Pierce in 1855, illustrates the dignity, wisdom, and continuing relevance of this native continental vision.

THE GREAT CHIEF in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will. This is kind of him, since we know he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer, for we know if we do not so the white man may come with guns and take our land. What Chief Seattle says you can count on as truly as our white brothers can count on the return of the seasons. My words are like the stars - they do not set.

How can you buy or sell the sky - the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time. Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing, and every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father's graves and his children's birthright is forgotten. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the redman. But perhaps it is because the redman is a savage and does not understand.

There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to listen to the leaves of spring or the rustle of insect wings. But perhaps because I am a savage and do not understand - the clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind itself cleansed by a mid-day rain, or scented by a pinõn pine: The air is precious to the redman. For all things share the same breath - the beasts, the trees, and the man. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.

If I decide to accept, I will make one condition. The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen thousands of rotting buffaloes on the prairie left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to the man.

All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.

Our children have seen their fathers humbled in defeat. Our warriors have felt shame. And after defeat they turn their days in idleness and contaminate their bodies with sweet food and strong drink. It matters little where we pass the rest of our days - they are not many. A few more hours, a few more winters, and none of the children of the great tribes that once lived on this earth, or that roamed in small bands in the woods will remain to mourn the graves of the people once as powerful and hopeful as yours.

One thing we know that the white man may one day discover. Our God is the same God. You may think that you own him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the Body of man, and his compassion is equal for the redman and the white. This earth is precious to him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by the talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.

We might understand if we knew what it was the white man dreams, what hopes he describes to his children on long winter nights, what visions he burns into their minds, so they will wish for tomorrow. But we are savages. The white man's dreams are hidden from us. And because they are hidden, we will go our own way. If we agree, it will be to secure your reservation you have promised.

There perhaps we may live out our brief days as we wish. When the last redman has vanished from the earth, and the memory is only the shadow of a cloud passing over the prairie, these shores and forests will still hold the spirits of my people, for they love this earth as the newborn loves its mother's heartbeat. If we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it. Hold in your memory the way the land is as you take it. And with all your strength, with all your might, and with all your heart - preserve it for your children, and love it as God loves us all. One thing we know - our God is the same. This earth is precious to him. Even the white man cannot escape the common destiny.

Checkout for a multimedia presentation on this letter, interpreted and narrated by Wes Felty in the bottom of the blog.

Iraq moves forward in Ozone Protection

Friday 10 July 2009 - Iraq's country strategy to eliminate ozone-depleting substances is on track after being approved at the 58th Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

Iraq wants to eliminate ozone depleting substances (ODS) such as CFCs from its refrigeration and foam industries by 1 January 2010 in accordance with the target set under the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty set up to protect the ozone layer.

The Multilateral Fund will provide Iraq with almost US $6.3 million to finance its plans to phase-out CFCs, halons, carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethane. UNEP and UNIDO, the Multilateral Fund's implementing agencies, will work together with the Government of Iraq and Iraqi enterprises and will discuss the choice of replacement technologies to explore whether new ozone friendly technologies with additional climate benefits can be utilized in order to make the finance Iraq receives work on two environmental protection fronts.

During their meeting, Executive Committee members commended the commitment of the Government of Iraq which became a Party to the Montreal Protocol only in June 2008. Iraq has made colossal strides towards achieving compliance with the 2010 Montreal Protocol deadline despite the difficult circumstances prevailing in the country.

The Executive Committee applauded the assistance and guidance provided to the Government of Iraq by UNEP and UNIDO. The work of the agencies led to Iraq's ratification of the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol and all its amendments in 2008, the establishment of a system to monitor trade in ODS, and the preparation of the national ODS elimination plan for Iraq. Due to security restrictions staff from UNEP and UNIDO were unable to enter Iraq and so instead the agencies worked with national Iraqi experts in workshops and meetings outside Iraq in nearby countries.

Iraq is also working on plans to reduce its consumption of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) commonly used in air-conditioning appliances, in accordance with the Montreal Protocol's accelerated phase-out schedule agreed in 2007. In 2008 Iraq received finance from the Multilateral Fund to prepare a plan to address the freeze the consumption of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) in 2013 and reduce consumption by 2015 and expects to submit a full HCFC phase-out management plan to the Executive Committee in 2009.

Act on Earth Hour call, UN climate chief tells delegates

Bonn, Germany – UN climate chief Yvo de Boer today urged delegates to crucial negotiations starting today to take heed of yesterday’s Earth Hour call from hundreds of millions of people wanting decisive global action on climate change this year.

The head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) had earlier received a symbolic blue Earth Hour ballot box of “votes for earth” from a group of German scouts.

Taking the ballot box into the opening session of the climate talks, de Boer told delegates from nearly 190 nations meeting to negotiate towards a new global climate agreement due to be decided in Copenhagen in December that they should heed the voices of millions.

"Around the world, millions of people in thousands of cities switched their lights off last
night in order to send a clear message that we must act on climate change," he said.

"Earth hour was probably the largest public demonstration on climate change ever. Its aim was to tell every government representative to seal the deal in Copenhagen.”

If concluded, a Copenhagen agreement would provide the basis for global action on climate change causing emissions past the 2012 expiry of the current – and clearly inadequate – Kyoto Protocol.

From the Sydney’s Harbour Bridge soon after WWF’s Earth Hour commenced to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge shortly before it concluded, lights went out around the globe as hundreds of millions of people from around 4000 towns and cities in 88 countries voted for earth with their light switches.

“The world’s concerned citizens have given the negotiations an additional clear mandate,” de Boer said.

Throughout the session the blue box remained standing on the main negotiation table, visible to all delegates, observers and journalists from around the world.

“The suggestion that government delegates should take heed of their population’s voice and concerns on climate change is very heartening ,” said WWF’s global climate initiative leader Kim Carstensen.
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Photos of the Sky Tower in Auckland prior to and during Earth Hour.


Time to act

“Earth Hour 2009 was an incredible success,” said WWF International Director General James Leape. “If you participated in Earth Hour, thank you, your participation made that success possible.

“But whether your participated or not, the work continues, because over the next six months, the leaders of the world will be deciding how they step up to meet this challenge, and we need, together, to make sure they do the right thing.

“Join with us to take the fight from Earth Hour to December when those leaders gather in Copenhagen to agree on a solution to Climate Change. Together, we can make sure this problem is met.”

WWF China - Beijing's Bird's Nest

India (and Bollywood) rate climate action a priority

“Climate Change is undoubtedly and regrettably, the biggest immediate long-term environmental challenge we face,” famed Bollywood actor and filmmaker Aamir Khan said in a statement leading up to the country’s participation in Earth Hour.

“A failure to come to sound policy outcomes on climate change will not only have a negative environmental impact but also social and economic consequences for all of us.”

The world’s second most populated country participated enthusiastically in Earth Hour, with official activities taking place in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram, Dehradun, Shimla, Chandigarh and Hyderabad as well as numerous smaller communities.

Private citizens, businesses and government bodies took part, with an order reportedly going out today from a government ministry in New Delhi that all of the city’s public landmarks and monuments in the area should switch off their lights for Earth Hour

Mumbai’s best known landmarks, the Reserve Bank and Air India buildings and the Indian Tourism Development Corporation’s flagship Ashok Hotel, went dark along with hundreds of other buildings across the city. Indian IT giants such as WIPRO and Infosys also joined in.








Earth Hour event at IHC, Delhi



Click http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthhour_global/sets/72157615780247025/show/ to see a slide show of Earth Hour' 09 around the globe.

Earth Hour 2009 Set To Switch Off The Globe

• 377 cities already committed, and double the number of countries that participated in 2008
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu leads call for action on climate change
  
• Christ The Redeemer statue to turn off its lights
  
• Iconic Obama artist Shepard Fairey joins campaign
  

With only hours still to go before people around the world switch off their lights for Earth Hour, the public awareness raising campaign on climate change is showing signs of being the greatest voluntary action the world has ever witnessed.

The lights out initiative, which began in Sydney in 2007 as a one-city environmental campaign, has evolved into a grassroots action that has captured the attention of the citizens of the world. In 2008, 371 cities across 35 countries turned their lights out in a united call for action on climate change.

Now, with almost two months still remaining before Earth Hour 2009, that number has already been eclipsed, with 377 cities across 74 countries now committed to turning off their lights for one hour at 8.30pm on 28 March.

WWF Director General, Mr James Leape, said he is optimistic about the campaigns potential to drive key decision making on the issue of climate change.

With hundreds more cities expected to sign up to switch off in the coming months, Earth Hour 2009 is setting the platform for an unprecedented global mandate for action on climate change, he said.

The list of cities confirming their participation in Earth Hour 2009 includes 37 national capitals and some of the great cities of the world, including London, Beijing, Rome, Moscow, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Athens, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, Mexico City, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Manila, Las Vegas, Brussels, Cape Town and Helsinki.

Along with the great metropolises of the world, Earth Hour 2009 will also see the lights go out on some of the most recognised landmarks on the planet, including Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Table Mountain in Cape Town, Merlion in Singapore, Sydney Opera House, CN Tower in Toronto, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the worldís tallest constructed building Taipei 101.

A host of high profile ambassadors across the world have also lent their support to the campaign, most notably Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett. Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the iconic imagery for Barack Obama in the recent US Presidential Election, has agreed to create artwork for the Earth Hour campaign.

Earth Hour Executive Director, Mr Andy Ridley, said the 2009 campaign is an opportunity for the people of the world to cast their vote on this important global issue.

Earth Hour by its very nature is the essence of grassroots action. This is the opportunity for individuals from all corners of the globe to unite in a single voice and demand action on climate change, said Mr Ridley.

2009 is a critical year for action on climate change, with the worldís leaders due to meet at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December to sign a new deal to supersede the Kyoto Protocol.

International Agencies Launch 50% Global Fuel Economy Plan to Key Industry Players at Geneva Motor Show

GENEVA (UNEP/IEA/ITF/FIA Foundation), 04 March 2009 - A roadmap towards greater global fuel economy that would halve greenhouse gas emissions from cars must be embarked upon immediately, and integrated into financial support for the car industry, according to a joint international agency report issued today.

The '50 by 50' Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) report shows how annual savings of six billion barrels of oil and 2 gigatonnes of CO2 – equivalent to half the total current annual emissions of the EU - are achievable through an ambitious world wide programme.

The report sets out a path to a reduction in fuel consumption per kilometre of 50% by 2050 – with intermediate goals in 2020 and 2030 - in line with suggestions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

It shows that world wide, the car fleet is set to triple by 2050, with serious implications for the global effort to address climate change unless reducing transport emissions and improving fuel economy becomes an urgent global priority.

As a partnership working on the GFEI, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), International Energy Agency (IEA), International Transport Forum (ITF) and FIA Foundation have set out a radical but achievable agenda, which they will present to a range of key stakeholders at a series of events this year.

With the vehicle industry featuring prominently in recent financial support packages, this initiative gives concrete options for the world to change to cleaner and more efficient cars.

The GFEI will work with governments, the car industry and other stakeholders to achieve this goal, starting at the Geneva Motor Show. The agenda should be achievable just using existing, cost-effective technologies such as better engines and drive trains, more efficient components such as tyres, and lighter materials. Objectives for 2009 include:

- Developing regional assessments and organising launches in Europe, North America, Latin America, and in Asia – towards political engagement with regional groupings and individual countries.

- Starting four national pilot projects in different regions world wide to support countries with the development of national fuel economy policies. Initiatives will also include an interactive toolkit for fuel economy policy development.

- Developing a fuel economy information database, information materials and website (www.50by50campaign.org).

- Engaging with G8 and UN processes.

Speaking at the launch:

Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director IEA said: "We have to find ways to reconcile legitimate aspirations for mobility, an ambitious reduction in CO2 from cars worldwide, and global economic recovery. In confronting the economic recession this is a real opportunity for governments to combine support for the auto industry with measures to achieve environmental and energy policy goals. The faster we can move on this, the more benefits will accrue."

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director said: "The crucial UN climate convention meeting, taking place in some 300 days in Copenhagen must agree a deep, decisive and comprehensive deal to lift the threat of global warming from the lives of billions of people. Transport is a crucial sector in this transformation to a low carbon, green economy. The world's car fleet is expected to triple by 2050 with 80 per cent of this growth in developing economies. Thus an initiative like GEFI has a key role to play. We would urge the world's car and component makers to get on board to prove that they too are part of the solution."

Jack Short, Secretary General ITF said: "The Global Fuel Economy Initiative provides a much needed roadmap for action both now and in the long term. We have set clear targets which will have both environmental and economic benefits, and we already have the technology and the means to get us on the road to making our cars 50% more fuel efficient – all that is needed are coordinated efforts and actions from both industry and governments."

David Ward, Director General FIA Foundation said: "This initiative can have a huge impact on the motoring public. Through tax incentives and information campaigns it would help stimulate consumer demand for more fuel efficient cars. This is not an agenda for some point far off in the future. Our 50% fuel efficiency target requires us to change direction and take important actions right now."

To download an embargoed copy of the report, click - http://www.fiafoundation.org/50by50/Documents/50BY50_report.pdf

Note: This report will be very useful for automotive professionals and environment enthusiasts.