MANIFESTO NFI 2007 MANIFESTO FOR A NEW EUROPE - ΜΑΝΙΦΕΣΤΟ ΓΙ | Page 15

committed to social justice, solidarity, democracy and peace
become established as accepted foodstuffs and that there
will be no way back.
Genetic manipulation is not limited to plants. As evidenced
by successful cloning experiments, animals, too, are being al-
tered. Decoding the human genome has increased the prob-
ability of manipulative interference with human genes. Perti-
nent research is justified with the claim to disease prevention.
Actually, gene technology is a potentially very powerful, bi-
opolicy instrument, which is currently emerging in the form of
prenatal diagnosis in cases of in-vitro fertilisation. Ultimately,
this development might lead to medical eugenics, with health
subjected to the parameters of the market place and the hu-
man body commodified.
WE DEMAND
Hunger and poverty are not the consequence of insufficient
global food production, but of the unfair distribution of food,
which is governed by the logic of capitalist profitability. The
West is morally obliged to help poor countries develop sustain-
able agricultural production. This can only be achieved, if pro-
tectionist measures against agro-imports from the Third World
are phased out. Fair trade in goods by one-world shops needs
to be stepped up. Loans promoting agricultural production must
not be tied to conditions that are bound to further increase
the prevailing economic imbalance, such as the planned ‘part-
nership agreements’ between the EU and 79 states in Africa,
the Caribbean and the Pacific region. This is why we demand
support for small-scale producers in the South without any
unsolicited, neoliberalist strings attached.
Experiments with gene-modified organisms are not aimed
at remedying the inequitable food situation. On the con-trary,
the extremely expensive, patented, genetically manipulated
seeds hold the risk of new dependencies on US-American and
European multinational business groups. In the face of the ex-
panding cultivation of gene-manipulated plants worldwide, we
demand that Europe impose stricter rules on the importation
of gene-manipulated seeds and foodstuffs and that consumer
protection be tightened. Within the EU, more bans should be
imposed on GM-crop cultivation and applied research should
be further restricted. Overall, the development of high-risk
gene technology should be replaced by the promotion of near-
natural farming methods and animal husbandry.
As regards human genome research, we miss a comprehen-
sive ethical discussion on possible biopolitical effects. Several
EU countries have as yet failed to ratify the European Conven-
tion on Human Rights and Biomedicine. Stem cell research, in
particular, still awaits regulation under harmonised laws. What
is particularly important is to prevent any commercial exploi-
tation of biomedical research and of the findings obtained on
the human genome.
Climate change and scarcity of
resources – for an environmentally friend-
ly and resource-saving energy policy
OUR GOAL
A global ‘energy turnabout’ is the only way to protect the cli-
mate as well as natural resources, such as water, air and soil. In
future, renewable energy sources must and will replace fossil
fuels and meet energy demands. This turnabout needs to go
hand in hand with a frugal use of resources.
WE KNOW
Climate change, global warming and greenhouse effect are
the terms used to denote the most massive threats to the bio-
sphere. According to IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change), carbon dioxide emissions, but also methane and other
greenhouse gases have contributed to a global temperature rise
of 0.8 degrees between 1860 and 2000, and forecasts predict a
further increase of up to 6.4 degrees by the year 2100. If green-
house gas emissions are not substantially cut by 2020, global
warming will trigger irreversible processes. Ocean levels may
be caused to rise by between 25 centimetres and one metre,
which would make 80 to 140 million people so-called ‘climate
refugees’. The temperature increase would have devastating
effects on the diversity of species and on marine habitats, and
precipitation disruptions can be expected to have dramatic im-
pacts on agriculture and the spreading of diseases.
These terrifying scenarios urgently call for a sea change
in energy policies, in other words a switch to regenerative
energy sources, such as biomass, wind, geothermal power or
solar thermal energy (photovoltaics). Currently, fossil fuels, in
particular mineral oil and natural gas, account for two thirds
of global electric power generation. Even if the Kyoto Protocol
were to be fully implemented, the above-mentioned global
warming would be only marginally lower (by 0.06 degrees
in 2100). Moreover, fossil fuels are finite sources of energy
There is much to suggest that ‘peakoil’ will be reached within
the next decade.
In the face of impending oil scarcity, nuclear power – the
most hazardous power technology of all – will experience an-
other upswing, even though no one has satisfactorily dealt
with the waste problem. The radioactive contamination of ar-
eas such as Chernobyl as well as the general contamination
of the environment with industrial and consumer waste pose
a growing threat to the anthroposphere. Economic growth is
accompanied by the expansion of landfills and the capacities
of waste management are lagging far behind the production
capacities for consumer goods. The partial statistics provided
under the Basel Convention furnish proof that in 50 countries
waste transfers have increased from two million tonnes in 1993
to 8.5 million tonnes in 2001. In this context, there is serious
cause for concern about the exportation of waste for disposal
in Asia or Africa, if treatment is deemed too damaging to the
environment or simply unprofitable.
Improved resource management appears appropriate also
for the oceans as important sources of food and water. Ever
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