Apply precautionary principle to biotechnologies, scientists & policymakers urge at COP15 Montreal

Apply precautionary principle to biotechnologies, scientists & policymakers urge at COP15 Montreal

Subject : Environment

Context-

• A white paper detailing the potential dangers of genetically engineered trees and biotechnologies was released at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada.

Paper title- Biotechnology for Forest Health?

• The paper detailed the harm genetically engineered trees can bring on if allowed to grow in the wild as a solution to conserve biodiversity.
• Forest certification regimes Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative have also banned the use of genetically engineered (GE) trees.

CoP15 to Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)-

• Originally had to take place in Kunming, China, in October 2020, but delayed due to covid-19 pandemic.
• Currently taking place in Montreal, Canada.
• Theme- Building a shared future for all life on Earth
• Goal- 
  • Negotiating this decade’s biodiversity targets and a new global framework for biodiversity protection.
  • The focus is expected to be on 30×30, a push to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by the end of this decade.
  • Emphasising the Human right to a healthy environment.
  • Push to require mandatory nature disclosures from all large businesses and financial institutions as a measure of their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity.

Genetically Enegineered American chestnut (GE AC)

• The tree species was once dominant in eastern North American forests and was decimated in the first half of the 20th century by a fungal blight (Cryphonectria parasitica, also referred to as chestnut blight) and logging.
• The researchers are trying to get the government’s approval to release GE AC into the wild.
• If they are successful, it will be the first GE forest tree species planted specifically to spread freely through forests.
• The GE AC tree has been engineered with an oxalate oxidase enzyme, or OxO, derived from wheat, along with other marker and promoter genes.
• The OxO trait does not eliminate the pathogen but inhibits it from spreading on the tree, making it less lethal.

Repercussions-

• Direct and indirect financial links between organisations promoting GE trees and the non-profit The American Chestnut Foundation.
• It can be used to sway public opinion towards the use of biotechnology for forest conservation and to pave the way for the introduction of other GE trees.
• Threat to pollinators population.
• Efforts to genetically engineer pathogen resistance, even in common agricultural crops, have been unsuccessful. Pathogens evolve to overcome plant defences and increasing resistance to one pathogen may lead to higher susceptibility to others.
• Problem of invasive species may increase.

Precautionary principles tobe followed for handling of GE Species-

• Adequate handling of the precautionary principle outlined in the biosafety protocol could contribute to a well-balanced mechanism for the Genetically engineered species and its transboundary movements.
• Measures should be:

1. proportional to the chosen level of protection,
2. nondiscriminatory in their application,
3. consistent with similar measures already taken,
4. based on an examination of the potential benefits and costs of action or lack of action,
5. subject to review, in the light of new scientific data, and
6. capable of assigning responsibility for producing the scientific evidence necessary for a more comprehensive risk assessment.