Critically analyse and appraise campaign objectives Due Wednesday 10th, midnight 1. Background to the Issues (20% : 600 words) a. Identifying the problems/issues the campaign aims to address (200 words) FoE Australia (Friends of the Earth)’s campaign is meant to tackle several issues caused by emerging technologies. 12 years ago, its Australian branch launched the Nanotechnology Project which has since expanded to include other new technologies, which are rapidly growing, such as geoengineering and synthetic biology. FoE-A wants to stand against these technologies as they lack regulation and control, and threaten the environment and public health. In fact, this organization aspires to ensure that these emerging technologies do not only serve the interests of companies or the military, but that they serve those of the people. • Nanotechnology is the study and examination of matter at the nanoscale (one nanometre equals one billionth of a meter). However, on this small of a scale, particles behave differently and thus have different interactions that we are unaware of. For instance, the matter’s shape and size change on a small scale, leading to a change in regards their bioactivity and level of toxicity. Also, the particles are so small that it is easier for them to penetrate into living systems and the environment (e.g through pesticides) and hence cause harm. For instance, a correlation has been proven between Sunscreen containing nanoparticles and skin cancer. Synthetic biology is modeling existing genes to create new synthetic life forms. Like any type of organism, these new ones would evolve in a way that is unknown. Even if this technology could really benefit medicine, science and the environment, it is still very risky. For example, releasing new organisms into the environment could harm the ecosystem in an unprecedented way. FoE’s campaign intends to raise awareness about both these emerging technologies, and ask for their suspension until their risks are more clearly measured and that some safety regulations (e.g. testings, labelling, registering of products) are put into place. • Geoengineering, aka climate intervention, is the intentional manipulation of the ecosystem in order to modify the environment in a large scale, to fight climate change. Its two main techniques are: eliminating the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to reduce global warming and controlling solar radiation to fight some of the consequences of the greenhouse effect. Geoengineering could be very dangerous as it has unpredictable side effects on the environment, and it also has ethical implications. For these reasons, FoE opposes it. FoE also wants to raise awareness on how new technologies (e.g.: artificial intelligence or cloning) and the merging of different technologies could have negative consequences for living beings and their environment. A total of 15-20 references are expected for the report, with at least 4 types: 1. Minimum of 6 journal articles (students are required to use scholarly and peer-reviewed articles) and textbooks. 2. Newspaper/Magazine articles 3. Company Sustainability reports Links used: http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/about-us/ http://www.foei.org/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/nanotechnology/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/sunscreen-and-cosmetics/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/food/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/nano-silver/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/environmental-impacts/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/health-concerns/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/synthetic-biology/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/geoengineering/ http://emergingtech.foe.org.au/other-emerging-technologies/ http://www.nano.gov/nanotech-101/what/definition http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-the-possible-dangers-of-nanotechnology.htm http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1997447,00.html https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-hidden-dangers-of-geoengineering/ http://www.ouest-france.fr/environnement/cop21/cop-21-la-geo-ingenierie-lillusion-de-controle-sur-le-climat-3888147