GM crops and climate change
When GM crops first came on the scene, they were promoted as a vital tool for feeding a growing world population from a limited supply of agricultural land. In recent years, they have been equally likely to be presented as a key weapon in the race to tackle the problems of climate change.
On the one hand, GM crops are claimed to help mitigate climate change by reducing carbon emissions from agriculture – by reducing the need for mechanised ploughing, fertiliser applications and pesticide spraying.
On the other hand, transgenic crops, with traits like drought-tolerance or the ability to use nitrogen more efficiently, are proposed as vital tools to enable farmers to adapt to a warmer, drier climate. Finally, genetic engineering of crops, including trees, is put forward as an important step towards making them more valuable as, and easier to process into, sustainable biofuels that will help us to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
In this area, arguments about GM agriculture overlap with wider debates about the environmental impacts of biofuel production, trade-offs between food production and energy supply, and issues of risk, uncertainty and equity in relation to the causes and consequences of climate change.
Recommended reading
- Can crops be climate-proofed?
- ( T. Padma / SciDev.Net , 2008)
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Among the most worrying aspects of climate change is its effects on the world's food supply. This article explores the urgent need to put climate change at the heart of agricultural research p...
- Biofuels, climate change and GM crops: who is really benefiting?
- ( R. Harbinson / id21 Development Research Reporting Service , 2007)
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Biofuels are attracting increased attention and investment as an alternative to fossil-based fuels and a means of combating climate change, yet there are many critics. This one-page briefing explor...
- The next genetic revolution?
- ( R. Maynard;P. Thomas / The Ecologist , 2007)
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In recent years, the biotech industry has put considerable effort into attempting to reposition genetically modified (GM) crops as a non-food, industrial “green” energy commodity. While...
- Frankenstein fuels
- ( M. Lynas / Biofuelwatch , 2006)
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Increasingly, biofuels are being sold as a solution to global warming. This article challenges the recent enthusiastic adoption of biofuels by industrialised nations, highlighting the environmental...
- GM and climate change: a hungry world needs answers on GM crops
- ( Ethical Corporation Online , 2008)
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Climate change will cause a net drop in food production. This editorial argues that genetically modified (GM) crops have an important role to play in addressing the impending climate-related ...
- Global impact of biotech crops: socio-economic and environmental effects in the first ten years of commercial use
- ( G. Brookes;P. Barfoot / AgBioForum , 2006)
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Genetically modified (GM) crops have now been grown commercially on a substantial scale for over a decade. This paper assesses the impact this technology is having on global agriculture from both e...
- GM crops: biotech agriculture: time to take GM seriously
- ( R. Stancich / Ethical Corporation Online , 2008)
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Biotechnology companies assert that genetically modified crops enable better pest control, reduced spraying, safety for non-target species, higher stress tolerance and more consistent yields. In sh...
- New generation of GM crops could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than grounding all the aircraft in the world
- ( P. Aldhous / Soyatech , 2007)
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There is a growing realisation that climate change will present a serious challenge for farmers – and that could mean big profits for companies that can help them adapt to environmental stres...
