Archives: Press Releases

Food & Water Europe Congratulates MEPS on Endorsing Mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment for Shale Gas Drilling

Categories

Food

Brussels – Today, members of the European Parliament endorsed proposals to impose a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for all shale gas and other unconventional drilling activities in the European Union.[1] For Food & Water Europe, this is a major victory, as MEPs showed a healthly dose of suspicion about the empty promises of the shale gas industry and about its ability to guarantee so-called “safe fracking”. Imposing a mandatory EIA for shale gas drilling is the start of adapting the EU regulatory framework to the ugly reality of unconventional hydrocarbons in the EU. This vote demonstrates a resolve among MEPs to avoid the negative impacts of an out-of-control boom in shale gas drilling in the United States. A mandatory EIA will provide local people and authorities with the necessary baseline data in areas with drilling, increase the preparedness among environmental agencies and local authorities and offer local communities an opportunity to be consulted early on in the process. MEPs saw through the smokescreen of the numerous events to promote “sustainable fracking” in Brussels, organised by the fossil fuel industry and its allies.

“This vote to impose a mandatory EIA for all shale gas drilling was a litmus test for the resolve among MEPs to demand an adequate risk-management framework for shale gas activities in Europe,” said Food & Water Europe policy officer Geert De Cock. “The majority in favour of this proposal should be a boost of confidence for Environment Commissioner Potocnick to bring forward stringent proposals for this risky industry”.

The European Commission is scheduled to publish its proposals for a risk-management framework for unconventional hydrocarbon activities by the end of 2013, covering the wide range of risks associated with the practice of fracking. With today’s vote, MEPs clearly signaled to the Commission that stringent rules on chemicals use, well integrity, waste management, air and methane emissions and liability will find strong support in the European Parliament. 

Contact: Geert Decock tel. +32 (0)2 893 10 45, mobile +32 (0)484 629.491, gdecock(at)fweurope.org

[1] In its first resolution on shale gas, voted in November 2012, the Parliament had already called on the European Commission to include “projects including hydraulic fracturing in Annex I of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive”European Parliament (2012, November) EP resolution of 21 November 2012 on the environmental impacts of shale gas and shale oil extraction activities (2011/2308(INI)).

Non-Native Strains of Genetically Modified Insects Risk Spread of Pesticide Resistance

Categories

Food

Today environmental and civil society groups on five continents warned that plans to release non-native strains of genetically modified (GM) flies in olive fields in Spain and fruit orchards in Brazil pose major risks to crops and the environment, as pesticide resistance or other harmful traits could spread into wild pest populations.

The UK-based company Oxitec plans to release GM olive flies in Spain and GM Mediterranean Fruit Flies (Medfly) in Brazil in the coming months (3). Both applications, made in January 2013, are for experimental open releases of the GM flies and are currently being considered by regulators. Oxitec’s agricultural pests use a “female-killing” approach in which female offspring of the GM insects mainly die as larvae. Mass releases of multiple millions of GM male insects are intended to suppress the number of pests by mating with wild females. The olive fly strain used by Oxitec is not native to Spain but was created from a Greek strain back-crossed with Israeli strains; the Medfly strain to be used in Brazil appears to originate from Guatemala (4). Studies of olive flies in Greece have identified different levels of resistance to different pesticides in different locations (5).

Release of non-native strains of pests is normally prohibited under plant pest control regulations in the EU because undesirable traits such as pesticide resistance, which may be present in the newly-introduced strain, can spread into the wild population when the flies mate. In the UK, a proposed release of GM diamond back moths was halted because Oxitec planned to use a non-native strain (1). The UK regulators warned Oxitec about “uncertainty as to whether your non-indigenous strain may contain insecticide resistance genes that are not present in UK moths” and advised the company to start its experiments by modifying a native strain. Even an experimental release of a non-native strain of pest is risky because the spread of pesticide resistance or other traits into wild native flies cannot be prevented or reversed. Due to this and other concerns environmental groups have already called for the proposed trials to be halted (2). Other major concerns include the large numbers of dead and living GM larvae that will end up in the fruit, and the impact of GM insects on ecosystems.

“Use of non-native strains is reckless because Oxitec’s GM pests are not sterile and the non-native strain of GM males will survive and breed with wild flies for many generations,” said Dr. Helen Wallace, Director of GeneWatch UK. “It is very risky to introduce non-native strains of pests into a new country. Harmful traits such as pesticide resistance would be impossible to eradicate once they spread through the wild population.”

“It is shocking to learn that Oxitec was blocked from releasing non-native GM agricultural pests in England, but now plans to try the same approach in Spain,” said Blanca Ruibal of Friends of the Earth Spain. “Instead of learning lessons from previous mistakes the company seems to want to push ahead regardless and put our olive groves at risk.”

“Oxitec’s proposed open releases of non-native GM flies in Spain and Brazil are clearly a bad idea, and is another instance of the company rushing into field testing of its GM insects without scientific review and public consultation,” said Silvia Ribeiro of the ETC Group.

In 2012 a planned release of Oxitec’s GM mosquitoes in the Florida Keys was delayed due to widespread public opposition and a campaign by Friends of the Earth-US and allies which called into question environmental and public health risks and lack of adequate regulations. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District is once again considering what would be the first-ever U.S. release of genetically engineered mosquitoes into the wild, and has allocated funding in its budget for this activity in the coming year pending approval of the field trial by regulators.

“From Brazil to Spain to the Florida Keys, Oxitec is once again playing Russian roulette and putting the pursuit profits ahead of common sense by introducing these GM insects into the environment which could potentially destabilize ecosystems and harm human health” said Dana Perls of Friends of the Earth-US. “Once these engineered organisms are released, they can’t be recalled and we must evaluate these very real risks through a serious and thorough environmental impacts review process before they are unleashed on the world. We are confident that any truly impartial, science-based reviews will lead to the cancellation of these risky experiments.”

For further information contact:

Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group:  Tel: +52 55 5563 2664

Luca Colombo: FIRAB (Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca in Agricoltura Biologica e Biodinamica) Tel.:   +39 06 45 43 74 85; Mob.:   +39 348 39 88 618

Eve Mitchell, Food & Water Europe:  Tel: + 44 (0)1381 610 740

Blanca Ruibal: Friends of the Earth Spain: 00-34-691471389 (mobile); 00-34-913069900 (office)

Dana Perls, Friends of the Earth US: Tel: 510-978-4425

Bob Phelps, Gene Ethics (Australia): Tel: 1300 133 868 or 03 9347 4500 {Int Code +613}

Dr Helen Wallace, GeneWatch UK:  +44-(0)1298-24300 (office); +44-(0)7903-311584 (mobile)

Frances Murrell, MADGE Australia Inc.: Mob 0401 407 944

Elizabeth Bravo, RALLT (La Red Por una América Latina Libre de Transgénicos): tel + 593 (2) 254 7516.

Lim Li Ching, Third World Network: +6012 2079744

Notes for Editors:

(1)   Feedback from the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Genetic Modification (SACGM) to Oxitec (5th December 2011): http://www.genewatch.org/uploads/f03c6d66a9b354535738483c1c3d49e4/SACGM_correspondence.pdf  

(2)   Press releases: http://www.telecinco.es/informativos/sociedad/Amigos-Tierra-riesgos-liberar-transgenicas_0_1670550150.html and http://www.genewatch.org/article.shtml?als[cid]=566989&als[itemid]=573179 ; Briefing: https://www.tierra.org/spip/IMG/pdf/moscas_transgenicas.pdf

(3)   Oxitec’s application to release GM olive flies in Spain: http://gmoinfo.jrc.ec.europa.eu/bsnifs-gmo/B-ES-13-07-EN.pdf ; Oxitec’s Brazilian partner Moscamed’s application to release GM Medfly (Ceratitis capitata) in Brazil [in Portuguese]: http://www.ctnbio.gov.br/index.php/content/view/17825.html

(4)   Ant T, Koukidou M, Rempoulakis P, et al. (2012) Control of the olive fruit fly using genetics-enhanced sterile insect technique. BMC Biology, 10:51.;  Morrison NI, Segura DF, Stainton KC, Fu G, Donnelly CA, Alphey LS (2009) Sexual competitiveness of a transgenic sexing strain of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 133(2):146–153.

(5)   Daane KM, Johnson MW (2010) Olive Fruit Fly: Managing an Ancient Pest in Modern Times. Annual Review of Entomology, 55(1):151–169

Friends of the Earth US News Release, “Controversial release of genetically engineered mosquitoes delayed” Jan. 4, 2012. http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/genetically-engineered-mosquito-release-delayed

European Groups Applaud Bern for Becoming First Blue Community in Europe

Categories

Food

Social justice, environmental, and labour organizations in Europe are applauding the city of Bern for taking a bold new step to protect water as a commons. Launched by the Blue Planet Project based in Canada, the Blue Communities certification requires municipal governments to pass legislation recognizing water as a human right and pledging to promote and protect public water and sanitation services.

Aqua Publica Europea, the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), Food & Water Europe, Public Services International and the Transnational Institute are hoping this will lead to many more Blue Communities throughout the continent. Having collected almost 2 million signatures within the European Union demanding the human right to water and sanitation through the European Citizens Initiative, civil society and labour groups hope local governments will adopt this municipal initiative throughout Switzerland and Europe.

The Blue Communities Project states that, “because water is central to human activity, it must be governed by principles that allow for reasonable use, equal distribution and responsible treatment in order to preserve it for nature and future generations.”

While a growing number of Canadian municipalities have become Blue Communities, Bern is the first city in Europe to receive a Blue Communities certificate. World-renowned author and water activist, Maude Barlow is in Bern to deliver the certificate to City Council during a ceremony to be held on September 18 at 9h00 at the Erlacherhof. Along with the city, the University of Bern and the Evangelisch-reformierte Kirchgemeinde Bern-Johannes Church have passed their own resolutions to become Blue Communities and will be receiving certificates.

To read Maude Barlow’s remarks, go to: http://canadians.org/sites/default/files/water/bluecommunities/Barlow-Blue Community-Bern.pdf

To learn more about the Blue Communities Project, please visit: http://www.canadians.org/bluecommunities

-30-

For more information, please contact:

Gabriella Zanzanaini at: [email protected] or +32488409662 

Dylan Penner at [email protected] or +16137958685 (for interviews with Maude Barlow).

International Civil Society Sends Letter to Governments Opposing Proposed “Trade in Services Agreement” as Negotiators Convene in Geneva

Categories

Food

Today, as governments meet in Geneva to negotiate a proposed Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), 341 organizations representing hundreds of millions of people from nearly every developing and developed country, called on governments to abandon the talks. Among the endorsers were 42 major international and regional networks, such as Public Services International (PSI), UNI Global Union, the European Federation of Public Services Unions (EPSU), the IndustriALL Global Union, the International Union of Food and Allied Workers (IUF), and the ATTAC European network, along with Food & Water Europe. The letter was organized by the OWINFS network.

The letter states, “[t]he TISA negotiations largely follow the corporate agenda of using “trade” agreements to bind countries to an agenda of extreme liberalization and deregulation in order to ensure greater corporate profits at the expense of workers, farmers, consumers and the environment. The proposed agreement is the direct result of systematic advocacy by transnational corporations in banking, energy, insurance, telecommunications, transportation, water, and other services sectors, working through lobby groups like the US Coalition of Service Industries (USCSI) and the European Services Forum (ESF).

“Notwithstanding several financial, economic, social and environmental crises, the services rules proposed for the TISA replicate and greatly expand upon the same rules that ‘discipline’ government measures and limit policy space for regulation, enshrined in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and free trade agreements (FTAs), which contributed to those crises.”

“Strong regulation of and oversight over both public and private services is crucial for democracy, the public interest and development, as well as for the orderly functioning of the services market. We fear that all of these values and goals would be seriously undermined by this proposed TISA,” stated signatories.

PSI General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli says, “We call on our affiliates to urge their national governments to withdraw from talks on this proposed TISA and to mobilize workers and communities against this deal which is an assault on the public interest. We believe this deal is about transferring public services into the hands of private and foreign corporations motivated only by profit. This will undermine people’s rights and affordable access to vital public services such as healthcare, water and sanitation, energy, education, social services and pensions, and exploit common goods and natural resources.”

The letter also called on governments that are not participating in the TISA negotiations “to register your strong opposition to the negotiations and to pledge never to join any potential future TISA.” This is because the TISA is “an attempt to advance developed countries’ corporate wish lists for services while abandoning commitments made in the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda to address developing country concerns, such as fixing existing asymmetries and unfair rules on agriculture.”  Major international signatories with the majority of members in non-participating countries include the ACP Civil Society Forum, LDC Watch, the Africa Trade Network, the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo (PIDHDD), and the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG).

Contact: 

Gabriella Zanzanaini, gzanzanaini(at)fweurope.org, +32 488 409 662

Eve Mitchell, [email protected], +44 (0)1381 610 740

OWINFS is a global network of NGOs and social movements working for a sustainable, socially just, and democratic multilateral trading system. www.ourworldisnotforsale.org

Civil Society Groups and MEPs call on Companies to Drop Bid for Public Water Company in Greece

Categories

Food

Brussels – Over 130 civil society organisations, trade unions and individuals from Greece, Europe and around the world have teamed up with 50 members of the European Parliament to send a letter to the bidders of the public water company in Thessaloniki urging them to drop their bid.

The group has sent letters to companies including the French multinational Suez Environnement, Greek groups Aktor S.A and Terna Energy S.A as well as the Israeli groups Mekorot and Arison Investment concerning their reported bids for EYATH, the Thessaloniki Water and Sewage Company.

Under conditions imposed by the Troika to reduce Greece’s debt, EYATH has been put up for sale by the Greek government against the peoples’ wish. The citizens of the city, the workers as well as the municipalities of Thessaloniki oppose the sale of their public water and have set up different campaigns to stop this privatization.

“While in Greece there is no precedent, the international experience has shown that the privatisation of water has often resulted in the skyrocketing of prices and in some cases in the deterioration of water quality. Although the trend in Europe is towards remunicipalization of our water systems, we are being forced to go the opposite way here,” says Maria Kanellopoulou of initiative Save Greek Water. “EYATH is the first case of water privatization that we need to stop to make sure it does not spread to the rest of Greece,” she added.

“Companies involved in water privatization have often found their reputations tarnished, their risks increased and their profits limited. The companies aiming to buy EYATH would be clearly basing their business model on opportunism and should take this as a warning sign of the difficulties to come,” said George Archontopoulos from the EYATH Workers Union.

“Last week the Eldorado Gold Corporation announced the suspension of production at the Halkidiki goldmine in Greece. This is another example of a company which is not wanted in Greece and which the people are prepared to fight against to stop the exploitation of one of their common resources. The residents have managed to stall the mine’s activities by a durable and dynamic resistance. This is the same situation we see for the protection of public water and EYATH in Thessaloniki,” said Gabriella Zanzanaini, Director of European Affairs for Food & Water Europe.

“50 MEPs from the Conservatives, the Popular Party, the Liberals, the Greens, the Socialists and the Left from 18 countries cosigned the letter. This massive participation shows that international and local opposition to the sale of water services will pose a toll over any company that takes part in these privatizations. Companies should make a profit from the trade of private goods, not from acquiring market control over public goods. The European Parliament is sending a clear warning to the Greek government that the privatization of water is neither welcomed nor helping Greece to exit the crisis,” said Kriton Arsenis, Greek MEP, who helped to circulate the letter in the European Parliament.

The groups support keeping the profitable water company in public ownership, where real participation of citizens and workers in the management of water can happen. Considering the current European context where over 1, 600 000 citizens have signed the European Citizens Initiative to protect the right to water and the European Commission’s recent removal of water services from the controversial Concessions Directive, these companies would be going against the tide if they push forward on their bid for EYATH.

Contact:

Maria Kanellopoulou, savegreekwater(at)gmail.com, +30 694 425 9916

Pablo Sanchez, psanchez(at)epsu.org, +32 474 626 633

Gabriella Zanzanaini, gzanzanaini(at)fweurope.org, +32 488 409 662

Kriton Arsenis, kriton.arsenis(at)europarl.europa.eu, +30 210 324 8222

Food & Water Europe Congratulates MEPS on Endorsing Mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment for Shale Gas Drilling

Categories

Food

Brussels – Today, members of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee overwhelmingly (51 in favour, 18 against) endorsed a proposal to impose a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for all shale gas drilling activities in the European Union. This is in line with the Parliament’s resolution on the environmental; impacts of shale gas, voted in November 2012, which called on the European Commission to include “projects including hydraulic fracturing in Annex I of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive”.* For Food & Water Europe, this is a major victory, as MEPs showed a health dose of suspicion about the empty promises of the shale gas industry about its ability to guarantee so-called ‘safe fracking’. Imposing a mandatory EIA for shale gas drilling is the start of adapting the EU regulatory framework to the ugly reality of unconventional hydrocarbons in the EU. This vote demonstrates a resolve among MEPs to avoid the negative impacts of an out-of-control boom in shale gas drilling in the United States. A mandatory EIA will provide local people and authorities with the necessary baseline data in areas with drilling, increase the preparedness among environmental agencies and local authorities and offer local communities an opportunity to be consulted early on in the process. MEPs saw through the smokescreen of the numerous events to promote ‘sustainable fracking’ in Brussels, organised by the fossil fuel industry and its allies,

“This vote to impose a mandatory EIA for all shale gas drilling was a litmus test for the resolve among MEPs to demand an adequate risk-management framework for shale gas activities in Europe,” said Food & Water Europe policy officer Geert De Cock. “The majority in favour of this proposal should be a boost of confidence for Environment Commissioner Potocnick to bring forward stringent proposals for this risky industry”.

The European Commission is scheduled to publish its proposals for a risk-management framework for unconventional hydrocarbon activities by the end of 2013, covering the wide range of risks associated with the practice of fracking. With today’s vote, MEPs clearly signalled to the Commission that stringent rules on chemicals use, well integrity, waste management, air and methane emissions and liability will find strong support in the European Parliament. 

* European Parliament (2012, November) EP resolution of 21 November 2012 on the environmental impacts of shale gas and shale oil extraction activities (2011/2308(INI).

Contact: Geert Decock tel. +32 (0)2 893 10 45, mobile +32 (0)484 629.491, gdecock(at)fweurope.org