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Information Types

  • Side Events (293)

Meetings

  • COP 11 (293)

Subjects

Aichi Targets

Date

Side Event

Synthetic Biology and Potential Impacts on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity

Organizer
Friends of the Earth U.S.

Date and Time
10 October 2012 18:15 - 19:45

Meeting
Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 11)

COP 10’s request for SBSTTA to provide guidance and clarity on synthetic biology’s impact on biodiversity provides a unique opportunity to assess the risks of this emerging technology before many of the potential harms are actualized. From the creation of novel invasive species, synthetic genetic contamination, and requiring major shifts in land-use change, synthetic biology poses numerous challenges to the preservation of biodiversity and livelihoods that must be addressed before this field fully develops. This side event will provide an overview of synthetic biology technologies that are being used and an opportunity to discuss their implications for biodiversity and its sustainable use as is being discussed as a New and Emerging Issue.