ETC Group: NanoGeoPolitics

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" ETC Group " <etc

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 16:01:18 -0400

ETC Group: NanoGeoPolitics

 

 

Nonotechnology is very dangerous. This is the next big push on for

techno dominance/monopoly.

 

 

 

Thursday, 28 July 2005

News Release

www.etcgroup.org

 

ETC Group today releases a new 48-page report on the geopolitics of

nanotechnology. NanoGeoPolitics, offers an in-depth survey of the

current state of nanotechnology policy debates ranging from regulatory

initiatives to social dialogues and from G8 statements to CSO activism

(civil society). ETC describes three main approaches being adopted by

nano players: the so-called optimists, realists, and skeptics. Seven

current issues/areas of rapid change and ample controversy are also

discussed, including efforts to develop nanotech standards, safety

protocols, the role of nano-ethicists and public relations firms, and

more. In conclusion, ETC Group puts forward a civil society proposal to

create a UN International Convention for the Evaluation of New

Technologies (ICENT).

 

The full text of the 48-page report, with original cartoons by Reymond

Page, is available on the ETC Group website in PDF format:

www.etcgroup.org

 

Summary:

 

At the Gleneagles Summit earlier this month, the G(whiz)8 saw 'More

Science' as the South's solution to poverty and global warming. Behind

the scenes, the leading nano nations are rushing to set the rules for

global nanotechnology governance.

 

Issue: Fearful that nanotech may face the same fate as biotech crops,

the G8 used their Gleneagles summit to promote " new technologies "

(including nanotech and biotech) as the magic bullet to " make poverty

history " and to neutralize global warming. By hinting at the

possibility of billions for science capacity-building in the South,

the North hopes to make allies of South governments, scientists,

development NGOs, and environmentalists. Meanwhile, the real action is

behind the scenes where various government/industry and scientific

institutions are rushing to negotiate what the EU hopes will become a

nanotech " code of conduct " (but, in light of US opposition may turn into

a " framework of shared principles " ) and lay down the global standards,

regulations, and market modus operandi for the greatest industrial

revolution society has ever (not) seen coming. Social policy is being

replaced by science policy. In this Communique, ETC Group reviews the

emerging nanogeopolitics landscape.

 

Impact: According to industry, nanotechnology will contribute to a

commercial market exceeding $1 trillion by 2011 and $2.6 trillion (15%

of global manufacturing output) by 2014 - 10 times biotech and equaling

the combined informatics and telecom industries. OECD countries -

convinced that technological convergence at the nano-scale is the

" future " - are in an all-out race to secure economic advantage: health

and environmental considerations are secondary; socioeconomic impacts

will have to wait; regulations, if they can't be avoided, must be

voluntary to keep the train speeding from lab to marketplace on track.

By some industry estimates, the die will have been cast for the

strategic shape of a New Nano Economic Order within the next 12 to 24

months.

 

Fora: In keeping with the G8's pro-poor science push, the European

Commission in Brussels hosted a second meeting to consider a draft Code

of Conduct / Framework of Shared Principles for nanotechnology. In

march-step, the OECD is conducting meetings in Paris to hammer out a

global regulatory approach to address nano's unresolved (and

increasingly worrisome) health and environmental issues. Only the

Macro-South (i.e., Brazil, China, India, Korea, Singapore, South

Africa, Argentina, Mexico, etc.) usually attend these closed-door nano

policy-setting meetings. To date, the UN and its specialized agencies

have been sidelined. If all South governments hope to have a say in

this technological upheaval, the role of converging technologies should

be discussed during the Millennium Development Goals Assessment in New

York Sept. 14-16 and by each of the specialized UN agencies as soon as

possible.

 

Policies: With public confidence in both private and government science

at an all-time low, full societal dialogue on nano-scale technological

convergence is critical. It is not for scientists to " educate " the

public but for society to determine the goals and processes for the

technologies they finance. There is no need for a sui generis (and

inevitably voluntary) code of conduct for nanotech, but there is need

for a much broader and legally-binding International Convention for the

Evaluation of New Technologies (ICENT). South governments negotiating

commodity and manufacturing trade-offs at the WTO Ministerial in Hong

Kong in December will be asked to give away sovereignty in exchange for

market access for raw materials or finished goods that may quickly

become irrelevant with nanotechnology's development.

 

For more information:

 

Pat Mooney: etc Ottawa, ON (Canada) +1 613 241-2267

Hope Shand: hope Carrboro, NC (USA) +1 919 960-5767

Kathy Jo Wetter: kjo Carrboro, NC (USA) +1 919 960-5223

Silvia Ribeiro: silvia Mexico City (Mexico) +52 5555 6326

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