United nations
Viewpoint: GMO crops are key to sustainable farming — why are some scientists afraid to talk about them?
A shallow piece in the journal Science downplaying the importance of GMO crops belongs in a New Age publication ...
800 million undernourished people: UN says we need ‘overhaul of the world’s food systems’ as COVID highlights devastating and ongoing hunger
The COVID-19 crisis has added between 83 and 132 million to the 690 million people worldwide who were already undernourished, ...
African countries appear ill prepared for crash vaccine distribution effort
According to [a World Health Organization] analysis, based on countries’ self-reporting, the African region has an average score of 33 ...
New crop-destroying locust swarms hitting East Africa ‘nearly every day,’ UN warns in renewed call to fight major food security threat
Dominique Burgeon, FAO’s [the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization] Director of Emergencies and Resilience, said the huge [African] desert locust ...
Pressure builds to switch to ‘open science’ model, facilitating development of COVID vaccines and therapeutics
In October, the head of the [World Health Organization], Tedros Ghebreyesus Adhanom, alongside human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, and Audrey ...
Emergency relief needed: COVID-related lockdowns have led to a 50% crash in immunization rates for polio and measles
According to [the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization], immunization rates in some countries have fallen by as much ...
Viewpoint: UN’s ‘hand-in-glove’ alliance with anti-pesticide groups cripples response to Africa’s ravenous locust swarms
In a year devastated by locust plagues, the COVID-19 pandemic, and massive flooding that displaced over a hundred thousand people ...
COVID-19 cases surge worldwide as WHO confirms virus is not seasonal
Globally, WHO has reported as on [July 28], 16,301,736 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 650,069 deaths. The Americas remains the epicentre by region, ...
Kenya close to eradicating locust infestations, but resurgence possible before end of 2020, UN warns
Kenya is likely to become free from desert locusts in the near future thanks to roll-out of robust containment measures, ...
Viewpoint: Government-funded anti-GMO groups promote hunger in world’s poorest nations
Too many US, EU and UN government agencies have been captured by neo-colonialist elements in their leadership and ranks, and ...
Access to plant genetic data sparks conflict between rich, poor countries trying to breed climate-resilient crops
Ahead of renewed negotiations to revise a global treaty in Rome on [November 11], rich and poor countries are at ...
United Nations FAO biotech expert panel: CRISPR gene editing can ‘transform’ agricultural production
CRISPR gene editing has a pivotal role to play in the fight against global food insecurity, a panel of US ...
Viewpoint: Why agroecology alone won’t boost sustainable farming in the developing world
Global farmers must not only feed ten billion people by 2050 but do so while lowering agricultural greenhouse gas emissions ...
United Nations FAO: 14 percent of food wasted before it reaches consumers
Around 14 percent of global food goes to waste after harvesting and before reaching the retail level, including through on-farm ...
Chinese biologist Qu Dongyu to focus on hunger, poverty eradication as UN Food and Agriculture Organization chief
Qu Dongyu, China's deputy agricultural minister, was elected [June 23] as the new director general of the U.N. Food and ...
Viewpoint: To boost sustainable farming, new UN Food and Agriculture Organization chief should promote science-based policies
The United Nations body is about to elect a new director‑general. The choice will affect the entire globe for years ...
In bid for US support, French candidate to head UN agricultural agency says she’s not necessarily opposed to GMO or gene-edited crops
Europe’s candidate to run the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which guides policymakers around the world, has promised the ...
Viewpoint: Modern farming, economic growth don’t cause biodiversity decline—they prevent it
Driven perhaps by envy at the attention that climate change is getting, and ambition to set up a great new ...
As IARC glyphosate-cancer finding draws more scrutiny, WHO rebukes agency for ‘undermining’ other UN chemical safety assessments
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was once a serious, revered organization with the somber task of tackling ...
Can we boost crop yields by making photosynthesis better with genetic engineering?
Will an improvement of photosynthesis make up for the food shortfalls we expect to face in coming years? ...
UN: ‘Unintended consequences’ of CRISPR gene editing among top 5 ’emerging’ environmental concerns
Genetic engineering, the consequences of thawing permafrost soils and the fragmentation of animal and human habitats through gigantic construction projects ...
After dodging a ban, what’s in store for gene drives in 2019?
With gene drive techniques, we could—perhaps rapidly and inexpensively—wipe out malaria’s hosts for good, and consign it to the list ...
UN rejects gene drive moratorium, but agrees to some limits
Nations rejected a proposal to temporarily ban the release of organisms carrying gene drives — a genetic-engineering technology designed to ...
African nations push back against proposed UN ban on gene drives
Africa has kicked against a proposed moratorium on the environmental release of organisms containing gene drives now under debate at ...
Viewpoint: Political ‘horse-trading’ at U.N. threatens sensible GMO, gene editing crop regulation
[T]he U.N.’s agencies, programs, commissions and international agreements have a dismal record of accomplishment, especially while acting as the world’s regulator-wannabe for ...
Will ‘precautionary mindset’ at UN biodiversity meeting threaten agricultural innovation?
Some 196 countries may decide to limit access to the benefits of pioneering new biotechnological applications at an upcoming international ...
