Dossier: Biodiversity

We are losing ecosystems, species and biological diversity on a daily basis – worldwide and often forever. Humankind with its ways of producing and living endangers the planet’s biodiversity to an extent that scientists are speaking of a sixth mass extinction.

At the same time, synthetic biology and new genetic engineering technologies pose various risks and challenges for regulation. How can we protect biological and genetic diversity? What trends are threatening and destroying our ecosystems? And what does that have to do with global justice? Our dossier illustrates new developments and their background.

Articles

“Net Gain” is a lose-lose for rights, gender justice and social equity in biodiversity policy

Recommendation

A new policy paper by the Global Forest Coalition addresses offsets to biodiversity. It shows that offsets mostly do not contribute to biodiversity conservation and also have significant negative impacts on women and indigenous peoples.

Saving biodiversity

Background

With the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the global community wants to make a new attempt to halt the rapid and dramatic loss of ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, or biodiversity.

By Lili Fuhr, Kristin Funke, Dr. Christine Chemnitz, Linda Schneider and Lisa Tostado

Regulated destruction of biodiversity

Corporations and governments can legally destroy natural areas, even those that are protected, if they promise to compensate for the loss of biodiversity elsewhere. Such biodiversity compensation does not stop the loss of biodiversity, but it has nonetheless become an increasingly popular practice.

By Jutta Kill

Infographic from the Ocean Atlas – The Blue Mussel and Its Neighbors in the Continually Submerged Area of the Wadden Sea

Biodiversity: The Danger of Declining Diversity

Gourmets visiting Sylt, Germany’s idyllic North Sea vacation destination, can choose between fresh Pacific oysters and native blue mussels. But what seems like fine dining is actually a cautionary tale as the foreign oysters threaten to overrun the native mussels.

A new Global Biodiversity Framework …for what and for whom?

Analysis

Nearly a decade after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) set the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, evidence shows that the actions undertaken to implement them have not been sufficient. What should a new Global Biodiversity Framework look like?

By Gadir Lavadenz

Videos

Event series: Contested Nature

UN-Biodiversitätskonvention am Scheideweg? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

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UN Convention on Biological Diversity at a Crossroads?
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Gene Drives – Protecting People and Nature through Genetic Extermination? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

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Gene Drives – Protecting People and Nature through Genetic Extermination?
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Le forçage génétique - Protéger les personnes et la nature grâce à l'extermination génétique? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

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Le forçage génétique - Protéger les personnes et la nature grâce à l'extermination génétique?
Language: French

Who will Profit from Biological Diversity in the Future? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

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Who will Profit from Biological Diversity in the Future?
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Saving biodiversity and the climate with “natural climate solutions”? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

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Saving biodiversity and the climate with “natural climate solutions”?
Language: English
Presentation: Contested Natures: Saving biodiversity and the climate with "natural climate solutions"? by Dr. Kate Dooley (University of Melbourne) download as PDF >>

¿Quién sacará beneficio de la diversidad biológica en el futuro? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

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Who will Profit from Biological Diversity in the Future?
Language: Spanish

Audio recording

Event series: Contested Nature

Events

There are no events planned.

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology (or Syn Bio) describes a set of new genetic techniques for designing and engineering lifeforms for industrial purposes. As an 'extreme' form of genetic engineering, Syn Bio also creates new genetic codes.

So far, there is neither a public debate worth mentioning nor any regulation by law. This debate is currently very important for the future of food and agriculture where so-called „New Breeding Techniques“ are supposed to produce plants with new characteristics.

We look at the risks Synthetic Biology poses for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and shed light on the controversial gene drive technology.

What is Synthetic Biology?: Engineering Life and Livelihoods - ETC Group

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Cutting Corners on Consent

A new UN agreement requires organizations seeking to release gene-drive organisms to obtain the “free, prior, and informed consent” of potentially affected communities.

By Zahra Moloo

Just Say No to Agricultural Gene Drives

By forcing laboratory-made genes on an entire population or species, cutting-edge gene-drive technologies have the power to transform entire ecosystems in one fell swoop. But where leading industrial agriculture firms see dollar signs, farmers in the regions where gene drives could be unleashed see a mortal threat to their livelihoods.

By Mariann Bassey-Orovwuje

A Call to Protect Food Systems from Genetic Extinction Technology

Gene drives are new tools that force genetically engineered traits through entire populations of insects, plants, animals and other organisms. The Global Food and Agriculture Movement Says NO to Release of Gene Drives.

Gene drives: Who decides for Hawai’i and beyond?

At this year's World Conservation Congress in Hawai'i ethical and social concerns about the use of a controversial synthetic biology technology were raised: gene drives. This genetic engineering technique has the ability to change the world we know.

By Dana Perls

Gene Editing and Seed Stealing

At the moment regulations for the trade with genetic material help to safeguard the rights of providers of genetic resources. This could change with the use of digital gene sequences.

By Chee Yoke Ling and Edward Hammond

A Bad Bet on Synthetic Biology

Las Vegas seems to be an apt place to launch a risky corporate gamble that could destroy the livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers.

By Silvia Ribeiro and Jim Thomas

Forcing The Farm

This report is being issued as an alert to governments, civil society organisations and grassroots movements. It points to how gene drives, while promoted as a tool for medicine and conservation, will find their real use in food and farming by agribusiness.

pdf

New Economy of Nature

How did forests become ‚natural capital‘? Our web dossier illustrates what the concept of the „New Economy of Nature“ stands for and explains nature’s role in the Green Economy and why this approach has been of increased interest to economy and politics recently.

The perils of planned extinctions

The gene-drive technology is supposed to enable deliberate extinctions of “pest” species, in order to save “favored” species and stop the global biodiversity loss. The risks are obvious - and the existing regulatory framework is absolutely unsuitable.

By Claire Hope Cummings

Call for a global moratorium on gene drives

Along with 160 global groups the Heinrich Böll Foundation signed the call for a global moratorium on genetically-engineered gene Drives. Support against gene drives also comes from the German government.

Publications

Further Resources

Disputed Nature - Biodiversity and its Convention

Species are vanishing at such high speed that researchers are talking in terms of a sixth major mass extinction happening within human history. This introductory publication clarifies the vital development-policy significance of the discussion over biodiversity.

pdf

Synthetic Biology and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will hold its 13th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Mexico in December 2016. This briefing explains why synthetic biology is threatening all objectives of the CBD unless the parties act on five key issues.

pdf

CBD Alliance: Provides civil society briefings and regular newsletters on biodiversity and CBD issues

DOs & DON'Ts

Flyer

Nineteen Dos and nine Don'ts explained, which are helpful for developing a successful Global Biodiversity Framework.

pdf

Gene drives have not been tested for unintended consequences, nor fully evaluated for ethical and social impacts.

Further Resources

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

The Convention on Biological Diversity is a multilateral treaty. It entered into force in 1993 and has 196 parties.

The Convention has three main goals including: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its components; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation follows the CBD negotiations and is a member of the civil society network CBD Alliance.

COP 15

CBD COP 15: Biodiversity’s ‘Paris’ or ‘Copenhagen’?

Commentary

With the future of biodiversity on the line, UN member states meeting in Montreal this December must set a framework for a new conservation paradigm.

By Simone Lovera

Saving biodiversity

Background

By Lili Fuhr, Kristin Funke, Dr. Christine Chemnitz, Linda Schneider and Lisa Tostado

“Ecological civilisation” and the conservation of biological diversity – a glance at China ahead of CBD COP 15

Interview

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will kick off in October 2021 in Kunming, China. What is the importance of biodiversity in China and what are the Chinese government's goals for COP 15? Lili Fuhr, Head of the International Environmental Policy Division, spoke with our Beijing Office Director, Paul Kohlenberg.

By Lili Fuhr

The Heinrich Böll Foundation’s position on COP14

The 14th Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the Convention on Biological Diversity will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from the 17th to the 29th of November 2018. The Heinrich Böll Foundation stands in solidarity with Egyptian civil society and will therefore not take part in this year’s COP in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Dossier on the UN Biodiversity Conference in Cancún (CBD COP 13)

Mainstreaming Biodiversity was the central motto of the Cancún conference taking place 4-17 December, 2016. The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung followed the negoations in Mexico particularly on the issues of Synthetic Biology, New Economy of Nature and Geoengineering.

Publications

Synthetic Biology and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

pdf

Outsmarting Nature? Synthetic Biology and Climate Smart Agriculture

Many of the world's largest agro-industrial corporations are pushing forward the poorly-defined idea of "Climate-Smart Agriculture"(CSA) to re-market industrial agriculture as 'climate-ready'. This report uncovers how some advocates of CSA are embracing the extreme genetic engineering tools of synthetic biology ("Syn Bio") to develop a set of false solutions to the climate crisis.

pdf

Extreme Biotech meets Extreme Energy

The extreme genetic engineering industry of Synthetic Biology (Syn Bio) is shrugging off earlier pretensions that it would usher in a clean, green ’post-petroleum’ economy. Now they are partnering with big oil, coal, gas and mining interests. This report details this emerging fossilbiotech alliance.

pdf

Reckless Driving: Gene drives and the end of nature

Imagine that by releasing a single fly into the wild you could genetically alter all the flies on the planet. This is the terrifyingly powerful premise behind gene drives: a new and controversial genetic engineering technology that can permanently alter an entire species by releasing one bioengineered individual. Civil society groups are alarmed by this newfound ability to reshape the natural world.

pdf

Dossier: Biodiversity

Articles

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: A Historical Deal for Biodiversity

CBD COP 15: "The loss of biodiversity poses an existential threat"

CBD COP 15: Biodiversity’s ‘Paris’ or ‘Copenhagen’?

“Net Gain” is a lose-lose for rights, gender justice and social equity in biodiversity policy

Saving biodiversity

Regulated destruction of biodiversity

Biodiversity: The Danger of Declining Diversity

A new Global Biodiversity Framework …for what and for whom?

Videos

Event series: Contested Nature

UN-Biodiversitätskonvention am Scheideweg? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

Gene Drives – Protecting People and Nature through Genetic Extermination? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

Le forçage génétique - Protéger les personnes et la nature grâce à l'extermination génétique? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

Who will Profit from Biological Diversity in the Future? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

Saving biodiversity and the climate with “natural climate solutions”? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

¿Quién sacará beneficio de la diversidad biológica en el futuro? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

Events

Synthetic Biology

What is Synthetic Biology?: Engineering Life and Livelihoods - ETC Group

Cutting Corners on Consent

Just Say No to Agricultural Gene Drives

A Call to Protect Food Systems from Genetic Extinction Technology

Gene drives: Who decides for Hawai’i and beyond?

Gene Editing and Seed Stealing

A Bad Bet on Synthetic Biology

Forcing The Farm

New Economy of Nature

The perils of planned extinctions

Call for a global moratorium on gene drives

Publications

Further Resources

Disputed Nature - Biodiversity and its Convention

Synthetic Biology and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

DOs & DON'Ts

Further Resources

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

COP 15

CBD COP 15: Biodiversity’s ‘Paris’ or ‘Copenhagen’?

Saving biodiversity

“Ecological civilisation” and the conservation of biological diversity – a glance at China ahead of CBD COP 15

The Heinrich Böll Foundation’s position on COP14

Dossier on the UN Biodiversity Conference in Cancún (CBD COP 13)

Publications

Synthetic Biology and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

Outsmarting Nature? Synthetic Biology and Climate Smart Agriculture

Extreme Biotech meets Extreme Energy

Reckless Driving: Gene drives and the end of nature