Press Release
On 14 October 2020, at 5pm CEST, Navdanya International will launch its new Global Citizens’ Report on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the dangers of philanthrocapitalism – “Gates to a Global Empire”, which has brought together contributions from civil society leaders and organizations in cross-sectoral fields and testimonials from civil society movements across the world.
A panel of contributing authors will present the report through an online Zoom conference, which will also be broadcast live on Navdanya International Facebook Page. Register in advance for this webinar on Zoom: http://bit.ly/14OctGTGE
Vandana Shiva, president of Navdanya International, who will be hosting the online event, has declared: “With his philanthro-imperialism, Gates is emerging as the Columbus of the digital age, the New Monsanto pushing failed GMOs and trying to introduce new GMOs based on gene editing. We must take back our seed and food. We must take back our life & freedom. We must take back justice & democracy”.
The report gathers evidence and throws light on philanthrocapitalism, which is boosting the corporate takeover of our seed, agriculture, food, knowledge and global health systems, manipulating information and eroding our democracies. Over the last 30 years it has emerged as a major force, able to derail the international agenda and push our future and the future of our planet towards extinction and ecological collapse.
Throughout the report, we see how the patterns of technocratic solutionism, powered by an unholy alliance between big-capital, science and technology institutions and states, are embodied by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and put into accelerated action through philanthropic development. Through its various initiatives, sub-organizations, development schemes and funding mechanisms, the Gates weave an intricate web of wide-ranging power and influence, obscured through all its separate strands. The report addresses a large part of this web of power. A power which deliberately ignores the past failures of the very technologies they wish to push, and which disregards any potential problem their initiatives might yield, power focused primarily on profit and market expansion.
The full report, along with a synthesis document, are available for free download on Navdanya International website at this link.
The recorded video of the conference will be made available on YouTube, on October 15th.
Gates to a Global Empire …over Seed, Food, Health, Knowledge and The Earth
A Global Citizens’ Report, coordinated by Navdanya International
Authors:
Farida Akhter, founding Executive Director of UBINIG, Bangladesh.
Fernando Cabaleiro, Attorney at law (University of Buenos Aires), Naturaleza de Derechos, Argentina.
Community Alliance for Global Justice/AGRA Watch.
GM Watch.
Nicoletta Dentico, journalist, and director of the global health program of Society for International Development (SID).
José Esquinas Alcazar, former Secretary of the FAO’s Intergovernmental Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and Chairman of the FAO Ethics Committee for Food and Agriculture.
Seth Itzkan, Co-founder and Co-Director of Soil4Climate Inc.
Dru Jay, Coordinator of GeoengineeringMonitor.org, writer and activist in climate justice and Indigenous solidarity movements, based in Montreal, Canada.
Aidé Jiménez-Martínez, MA in Sciences, Director of Regulations of Biosafety, Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, SEMARNAT, Mexico.
Satish Kumar, Founder of Schumacher College, England, UK.
Jonathan Latham, molecular biologist and former genetic engineer. He now edits the website Independent Science News.
Mantasa, Indonesia.
Chito Medina, founding member of MASIPAG (Farmers-Scientists Partnership For Development), and former National Coordinator of the network. Associate Professor of environmental science in a leading university in the Philippines.
Zahra Moloo, Kenya, Investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker and researcher on extractive industries, land rights, conservation and security. ETC Group, based in Montreal, Canada.
Silvia Ribeiro, Uruguay, Journalist, lecturer, writer, and educator on emerging technologies, Latin American Director, ETC Group, based in Mexico City.
Adelita San Vicente, Doctor in Agroecology, Director General of the Primary Sector and Natural Resources, SEMARNAT, Mexico.
Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (India) and President of Navdanya International.
Tapsoba Ali de Goamma; Human rights activist; Ecologist; President of the Terre A Vie association; Spokesperson for the Collectif Citoyen pour l’Agroécologie (Citizen’s Collective for Agroecology).
Jim Thomas, Co-Executive Director and Researcher, focusing on emerging technologies on human rights, biodiversity, equity, and food systems, ETC Group, currently based in Canada.
Timothy Wise, Senior Advisor at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).