05.04.2011
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Introduction: 

At the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal, Kontext TV talked to Pat Mooney about the dangers of geo engineering (the technical manipulation of earth systems), nano technology and synthetic biology, about the earth summit in Rio in 2012 and his experiences with the protests against "Stuttgart 21".

Guests: 
Pat Mooney, Right Livelihood Award laureate and director of the „Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration“ (ETC), Canada

As a response to climate change and other crisis, big technological solutions are discussed by scientists, governments and industries - reaching from the fertilization of oceans with iron to the dimming of the atmosphere with sulfate. The dangers are unforseeable, says Pat Mooney. Not less dangerous: The creation of new life forms through synthetic biology, a technolgy which "makes classic genetic engeneering look like a child's play".

Nano particles are already in cosmetics, clothes, pesticides and a lot of other products that we are dealing with on a daily basis. But until now there is almost no research on the dangers of this technology. For instance, nano particles could pass through the skin, blood-brain-barrier and placenta - with side effects yet unknown.

In May 2012, a big UN "earth summit" will take place in Rio de Janeiro - 20 years after the earth summit of 1992. This conference raises hopes - but also concerns about dangerous technocratic projects being pushed under the label of "green economy solutions".

Before he came to the World Social Forum in Dakar, Pat Mooney had been in Stuttgart. In the interview with Kontext TV he talks about the dynamics of this movement from the perspective of a Canadian.