- ETC Group
ETC Group is an international organization dedicated to "the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights." The full legal name is Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration. "ETC" is intended to be pronounced "et cetera." [ [http://www.etcgroup.org/en/about/ About ETC Group] ] [ [http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?id=248 RAFI becomes ETC group] ]
ETC Group, LLC is an energy consulting company that is dedicated to improving the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial businesses and to reducing the impact of energy use on the environment through engineering, analysis, education and advocacy. [ [http://www.etcgrp.com/ About ETC Group, LLC] ] ETC Group, LLC has been providing energy engineering in support of a sustainable future since 1988.
History
Known as RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International) until 1 September 2001, the ETC Group traces its history back to the National Sharecroppers Fund that was established in the 1930s by
Eleanor Roosevelt (amongst others) to alleviate the plight of poor, mostly black tenant farmers in the U.S. In the early 1970s, Pat Mooney, Hope Shand, and Cary Fowler began working on the Seeds Issue through the Rural Advancement Foundation—and, in time, set up an international arm concerned with the rights of farmers in the global south.RAFI pioneered
civil society research, critiques and advocacy on farmers rights, seed monopoly laws, and opposes adoption of genetic engineering in agriculture, patents on life andbiopiracy (a term that RAFI coined) and new life science technologies such asterminator technology , genomic technologies, andnanotechnology . RAFI played a key role is pushing for and shaping UN recognition of farmers' rights and theInternational Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture . By 2000, there was some confusion with the original Rural Advancement Foundation (now called RAFI-USA), so RAFI changed its name to ETC Group to reflect its wider scope of concern.Patenting the Climate Genes And Capturing the Climate Agenda
In this Study, ETC Group found that giant biotech companies are privatising the world's protection against climate change by filing hundreds of monopoly patents on genes that help crops resist it. It has found that nine firms have filed at least 532 patents around the world on about 55 different genes offering protection against heat, drought and floods. If granted, the companies would be given control of crucial natural raw material needed to maintain food supplies in an increasingly hungry world. [ [http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/37358 ENN: Biotech Giants Demand a High Price for Saving the Planet ] ] [ [http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pub_id=687 Patenting the Climate Genes And Capturing the Climate Agenda] ]
ee also
*
Biopiracy References
External links
* [http://www.etcgroup.org ETC group - Action Group on Erosion, Technology, and Concentration]
* [http://www.etcblog.org The ETC Blog]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.