US Promotes Genetically Modified Food

[Guest guest]

Zambia refuses GM 'poison' - BBC

Zambia's president has refused to overturn his ban on genetically modified (GM)

food aid despite the food crisis which is threatening up to 2.4 million people.

 

Levy Mwanawasa said he would not allow Zambians to eat " poison " .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/2233839.stm

 

Powell criticized Zambia's president for his decision...

 

Powell Booed and Jeered at Global Environment Meeting - NYT

By RACHEL L. SWARNS with TERENCE NEILAN

JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 4 — Jeers, boos and shouted protests interrupted Secretary

of State Colin L. Powell today as he defended the United States' record on the

environment and help for the poor at the World Summit on Sustainable

Development.

Delegates from American and Australian environmental groups repeatedly

interrupted him, shouting " Shame on Bush! " Some held up banners reading,

" Betrayed by governments " and " Bush: People and Planet, Not Big Business. "

The secretary's address came after an early-morning agreement among diplomats,

following a week of intensive negotiations, on a plan intended to reduce

poverty and preserve the earth's natural resources.

" The United States is taking action to meet environmental challenges, including

global climate change, " Secretary Powell insisted as the heckling persisted. He

also said there was a deep desire in the United States to " help people build

better lives for themselves and their children. "

Breaking off from his speech he said: " Thank you, I have now heard you. I ask

that you hear me. " But the boos continued when he said later that the United

States was taking action to address climate change.

President Bush, who has been criticized for not attending the meeting, angered

many leaders last year when he rejected the Kyoto Protocol, which would set the

first binding restrictions on releases of carbon dioxide and other

heat-trapping greenhouse gases by industrial nations.

Mr. Bush maintains that it could harm the American economy and that it is

unfair because the required emissions cuts apply only to industrial powers, not

to fast-growing developing countries like China and India.

On Tuesday Russia announced it would ratify the treaty, virtually ensuring it

would go into effect despite its rejection by the United States.

As the heckling of Secretary Powell continued today, South Africa's foreign

minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was chairing the session, shouted at the

protesters to stop, calling the outbursts " totally unacceptable. "

The heckling started when Secretary Powell criticized Zimbabwe for pursuing

land reform policies that have pushed " millions of people to the brink of

starvation. "

He also criticized Zambia, which is also facing a food crisis, for rejecting

genetically engineered corn of the kind that Americans eat every day.

" We have plans to end the despair and offer hope, " Secretary Powell said. " Now

is the time to put those plans into action to expand the circle of development

to all God's children. "

The breakthrough on an agreement came after diplomats worked late into the

night on Tuesday to resolve a dispute over language in the conference's plan on

health care for women.

Canada wanted the words " in conformity with human rights and fundamental

freedoms " linked to health care to avoid condoning practices like female

genital mutilation. Representatives of developing countries initially opposed

the language, but backed down this morning.

" We're very pleased, " Kelly Morgan, a spokeswoman for the Canadian delegation,

said. " We are finished. "

The plan is meant to set the global agenda for coming years. It calls on

nations to reduce by half the number of poor people who lack sanitation by

2015; to commit to the sound management of chemicals with the goal of

minimizing their adverse effects on health and nature by 2020; and to reduce

significantly by 2010 the number of animals and plants having endangered

status.

The plan calls for the reduction of agricultural subsidies in wealthy

countries, which, poor nations say, protect farmers in the United States and

Europe from competition. It also urges nations to promote renewable energy

sources like solar and wind power as well as to expand access to energy

services by the poor.

Officials from the United States and the United Nations praised the document,

but it was sharply assailed by environmentalists and advocates for the poor,

who complained that wealthy countries had weakened the language.

The United States, along with Canada, Japan and oil-producing countries,

blocked an effort by the European Union to set a target and a timetable for the

conversion from oil and gas to renewable sources of energy. The Europeans had

sought a commitment to ensuring that renewable energy sources would account for

15 percent of the world's total energy production by 2010. But American

officials opposed the target, saying they preferred concrete action to goals

that might ultimately prove meaningless.

In the end, the nations agreed to promote an increase in renewable energy, but

rejected the specific target and time frame, officials said.

The United States praised the plan and the negotiations that preceded it. " It's

a message of hope to impoverished areas of the world, " said John F. Turner,

assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and

scientific affairs. " I think it builds an excellent framework for going

forward. "

But Brooks Yeager of the World Wildlife Fund said most environmentalists were

disappointed. " We're particularly disappointed at the outcome of the energy

discussions, " he said. " In terms of setting a framework of goals for the next

10 years, we could have done better. "

The secretary general of the conference, Nitin Desai, emphasized that leaders

had succeeded in finding common ground in difficult discussions. But he, too,

acknowledged that the plan was weaker than many hoped. " In some areas, " he

said, " I wish we could have done more. "

Russia's decision was hailed as a step forward in the struggle to prevent the

droughts, floods and agricultural disruptions many experts think is caused by

climate change.

Prime Minister Mikhail M. Kasyanov said Russia planned to ratify the Kyoto

treaty " in the very near future. " Diplomats said they expected ratification by

the end of the year.

The treaty would set the first binding restrictions on releases of carbon

dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases by industrial nations.