The authorization of GM corn crops in Mexico and the attempt by the FAO to legitimize this practice are strongly questioned by tens of organizations meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the parallel activities to the FAO Conference.

In what is being described as the first ever and most comprehensive study of the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers have linked organ damage with consumption of Monsanto's GM maize.

Modifications to intellectual property laws that the Peruvian government "rushed through" to enable the go-ahead of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Peru and the US could facilitate biopiracy and hamper Peru's position as a protector of traditional knowledge.

The Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) Policy for Kerala, released a policy that all traditional knowledge, including traditional medicine, must belong to the domain of "knowledge commons" and not to public domain.

Under heavy pressure from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand and Australia, the Convention on Biological Diversity's 9th Conference of the Parties failed to pass a moratorium on the release of genetically engineered trees into the environment.

The adoption of international standards for the sustainable production of biofuels emerged as a controversial approach at the recent United Nations conference on biodiversity here.

In a statement delivered on the final day of COP9, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity requested that all Parties, delegates and agencies go beyond rhetoric and take action.

As the ninth meeting of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) drew to a close in Bonn, Germany the world’s governments unanimously agreed a wide-ranging “de-facto moratorium” on ocean fertilization activities.

An intense North-South debate over genetically engineered trees has sidetracked delegates at a U.N. conference on biodiversity here: African nations want a global moratorium, while a few rich countries led by Canada say it should be up to individual countries to regulate.

Stalled at the eleventh hour by three isolated countries that are attempting to block consensus, most of the world’s environment ministries and others are on the brink of reaching agreement on a worldwide moratorium on commercial ocean fertilization – controversial proposals to dump nutrients in the ocean to artificially alter the climate.