Pirate Congress 2022/Motions/GMOs Precision Fermentation

PM-4 GMOs and Precision Fermentation - Position Statement
Put by: Tyrone D'Lisle

Motion
Adopt the following as a Position Statement.

Statement
Pirate Party Australia is committed to Australia achieving net zero by 2050 and reducing our overall environmental impact whilst also ensuring we retain a high standard of living. This will require the adoption of new technologies across numerous sectors, including agriculture and food production.

Conventional agricultural practices, the farming of crops or livestock with the use of synthetic inputs, including synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, plant growth regulators, nanomaterials and genetically-modified organisms, has demonstrated that in a majority of cases provides higher yields and a lower environmental impact.

Genetically-modified organism (GMO) technology allows for scientists to produce crops that require less synthetic inputs such as pesticides and fungicides which further reduces the environmental impacts of conventional agricultural practices. Crops can also be produced that are more tolerant to extreme weather such as heat and cold or drought and floods, this will become more important as extreme weather increases as a result of climate change.

While the WHO has found that GMOs can be safe, Pirate Party Australia acknowledges the continued need for regulation of safety and environmental impact.

Precision Fermentation and "lab grown" meat are promising food technologies that will allow food production to be taken from the field and into a lab/factory reducing environmental impacts from agriculture and increasing food security by reducing the need for food imports. Food production currently accounts for over a quarter (26%) of global greenhouse gas emissions, half of the world’s habitable (ice- and desert-free) land, 70% of global freshwater withdrawals, and 78% of global ocean and freshwater eutrophication (the pollution of waterways with nutrient-rich pollutants).

The big challenge of a sustainable future food supply can only be achieved by pursuing a number of viable solutions that will only become effective when combined. GMOs, precision fermentation and lab grown meat are among the many possible factors that can contribute to solve the problem. Through greater use of these technologies, we can reduce the environmental impacts of food production which also ensuring we retain a high standard of living and improve food security. For these reasons, Pirate Party Australia supports removing any legislative bans on these technologies, a streamlining of regulations to support their adoption, and government investment into their research and commercialisation in Australia.

This is in the context of our general ban on patents on "naturally occurring living and genetic material" as per our policy A streamlined patent system.

Rationale
The current global food crisis caused by a combination of extreme weather events driven by climate change, global supply chain issues, synthetic input shortages and cost increases, and the war in Ukraine has shown the vulnerability of the existing global food production system. This crisis combined with the climate and biodiversity crises has put a renewed emphasis on finding alternative methods for food production. Pirate Party Australia should show leadership in pushing Australia to be a global leader in this field.