{"id":7612,"date":"2024-10-09T13:26:31","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T11:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/?p=7612"},"modified":"2024-10-09T13:28:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T11:28:43","slug":"iucn-regional-meeting-avoids-discussion-on-genetic-engineering-in-natural-ecosystems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/iucn-regional-meeting-avoids-discussion-on-genetic-engineering-in-natural-ecosystems\/","title":{"rendered":"IUCN regional meeting avoids discussion on genetic engineering in natural ecosystems"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As scientists and environmentalists grapple with synthetic biology, a crucial debate failed to materialize at the IUCN regional meeting in Bruges, Belgium. Instead, the meeting revealed significant concerns about the organization&#8217;s policy development process on synthetic biology and its implications for nature conservation.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Process Under Scrutiny<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Despite IUCN Chief Scientist Tom Brooks characterizing it as &#8220;the most participatory process the IUCN ever had,&#8221; many members are raising red flags. During a recent side event \u2013 that explicitly aimed to merely talk about the process; not the content of the policy &#8211; Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher voiced a concern that echoes throughout the conservation community: &#8220;This topic is so complex, and something is lacking in the process. How can members vote on a policy in 2025 when many still haven&#8217;t grasped what synthetic biology truly entails?&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Path to Policy: A Rocky Road<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The journey began in 2021 in Marseille with Resolution 123, which called for a balanced working group representing diverse perspectives, genders, regions, and knowledge systems. However, the implementation has sparked controversy. Instead of relying solely on this comprehensive group, the Secretariat:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Created a separate &#8216;citizens council&#8217; of just 15 IUCN members<\/li>\n<li>Partnered with the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) for training workshops\u2014a decision that raised eyebrows due to potential conflict of interest<\/li>\n<li>Drew criticism from over 80 NGOs who called for a halt to the process, citing concerns about participation and transparency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>The Current Draft: More Questions Than Answers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The draft policy, to be presented at the World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi in October 2025, has significant shortcomings in its current form:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Uses overly broad definitions of synthetic biology<\/li>\n<li>Avoids specific references to concrete technologies like Gene Drives<\/li>\n<li>Lacks clear guidelines on risk assessment and cut-off criteria<\/li>\n<li>Relies heavily on case-by-case assessments without establishing firm frameworks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>The Stakes Are High<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>As one IUCN member pointedly noted, transparency requires explicit discussion of genetic engineering in the wild. The current approach risks creating a &#8220;zero impact document&#8221; that could be interpreted in vastly different ways by governments, industry, and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Time for Action<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The window for meaningful debate is closing rapidly. A growing coalition of NGOs is already mobilising to push for strong regulations that prioritise ecological and ethical standards. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/PM-IUCN-regional-congress.pdf\">press release<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Briefing_SynBio_Bruges.pdf\">briefing<\/a> for this regional meeting can be found here, including ways to get engaged.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As scientists and environmentalists grapple with synthetic biology, a crucial debate failed to materialize at the IUCN regional meeting in Bruges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7612"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7618,"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7612\/revisions\/7618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stop-genedrives.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}