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Green Philosophy


GM vs Climate Change


Andrew Lewis considers the ethics of using GM to help prevent global warming.



There seems little serious doubt among climate scientists that a key factor in global warming is the
amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and that there is a need to very quickly reduce these levels
very substantially. Reforestation is one proposed contribution. What if, to speed up the reduction in
CO2 levels, it was decided to implement a ‘Tree Solution’? Here GM (genetic modification)
technology would be used to develop trees which were optimised genetically to convert large amounts of
carbon dioxide into oxygen using the minimum of other natural resources. The genetic modification of
suitable trees could mean a big increase in the amount of CO2 they convert to O2 for
the same amount of sunlight; a reduction in the conversion of O2 to CO2 during
the night-time; an acceleration of the maturation of the trees; an extension of the peak conversion lifecycle
of the trees, to optimise return on investment; faster decay when the plants die, and the introduction
of anti-pest enzymes to minimize the overheads and maintenance costs of large-scale reforestation. What
might moral philosophy have to say about this? In a nutshell, do existing objections to genetic modification
on moral grounds hold good when applied to an imaginary macro project such as using GM to minimize threats
to human civilization from climate change?

Initial Reactions


What are the objections to genetic modification of crops in general? A sceptic might point out that
GM ’s impact on our ecosystem is unpredictable and potentially destructive.


…