Europe’s seeds being privatised by patents - and it could threaten food security
A silent battle is brewing over the control of our food supply's very foundation: seeds.
Europe has one of the most diverse seed industries in the world. In Germany, the Netherlands and France alone, hundreds of small breeders are creating new varieties of cereals, vegetables and legumes.
Mining the ocean floor for critical minerals was already controversial, but a new groundbreaking scientific study has thrown the industry into chaos as countries negotiate its future.
At a meeting of the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Jamaica, running from July 15 to Aug 2, countries are negotiating rules to govern deep sea mining. The regulations have been under development for years, but the clock has been running out on an agreement.
Towering cranes pierce the sky, contrasting with the rural surroundings. It’s an early morning in June, the air already gauzy and thick, and construction is humming at the Toyota Battery mega-site in Liberty, North Carolina.
Trucks and other heavy machines dart in and out of the complex. A line of food trucks is tucked around the corner, alongside a dozen tour buses used to move workers.
Dozens of climate campaigners were arrested for protesting the multinational bank's financing of new fossil fuel development.
Hundreds of activists, largely mothers and their kids, protested outside Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser's luxury apartment building in New York City on Saturday, calling for the multinational bank she leads to stop funding fossil fuel expansion.
