Moderation

Maya Graf, National Council (Large Chamber of the Swiss Parliament)

Speakers

Adrian Borgula, President of the Cantonal Parliament of Lucerne

Adrian Borgula, Jg. 1959. Lebt in Luzern, Schweiz.
Biologe mit eigenem Büro für Naturschutzbiologie. Seit 1995 Mitglied des Kantonsparlaments für die Grüne Partei, 2009 Parlamentspräsident.

Niki Berlakovich, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria

Chiara Simoneschi-Cortesi, Speaker of the National Council 2008/2009, Switzerland

Speech of Chiara Simoneschi-Cortesi

Simonetta Sommaruga, Council of States (Small Chamber of the Swiss Parliament), Switzerland

Roseanna Cunningham, Scottish Minister for Environment, Scottland, UK

Renate Künast, Chairperson of the parliamentary group Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Germany

Renate Künast has been Chairwoman of the parliamentary group of Alliance 90/the Greens in the German Bundestag since October 18, 2005. From January 12, 2001, until October 4, 2005, she was Federal Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture. During her term, she was in charge of one of the broadest reforms of the German agricultural sector, promoting small and medium-sized farming and organic food production. Ms. Künast also showed leadership in strengthening the role of biofuels in the agricultural and energy sectors.
Renate Künast started her political career by joining the “Alternative List of West Berlin” in 1979 and assuming various functions for the Party since: She acted as parliamentary group chairwoman during the Red/Green Coalition in Berlin before being elected to the German Bundestag for Alliance 90/the Greens; first as a chairwoman until 1993 and then as a legal policy spokeswoman. From 2000 until her appointment as a federal minister, she was chairwoman of the federal party executive board of the Alliance 90/ The Greens. Renate Künast was born in Recklinghausen in North-Rhine/Westphalia in 1955. She studied social work in Düsseldorf. From 1977 to 1979, she worked as a social worker in the penal institution of Berlin-Tegel. She subsequently studied law, graduating in 1985 with the second state examination. She is a lawyer.

Karel Bláha, Czech First Deputy Minister of the Environment, Czech Republic

Born in 1953, he studied organic chemistry at the Institute for Chemical Technology, Prague, where he became Candidate of Sciences in this specialisation. He also took post-gradual studies in industrial toxicology at the Institute for Chemical Technology, Pardubice; management of chemical-toxicological risks at the Medical College of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London; post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona in Tucson;. After his studies, he worked at the National Institute of Public Health in Prague. He has worked at the Ministry of the Environment since 1995. In 1998-2006 he was Director of the Environmental Risks Department (chemicals, GMOs, prevention of industrial accidents); he has been Deputy Minister for Environmental Protection Technology. Karel Bláha is married, has two children, and is not a member of any political party.

Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, Member of the European Parliament, Germany

Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, geb. 29.11.1942, staatl. geprüfter Landwirt und Dr.phil., ist seit 1984 für Die Grünen/Bündnis 90 im Europaparlament. Ab 1989 war er stellvertretender Vorsitzender des Agrarausschusses, von 1999 bis 2002 war er dessen Vorsitzender, seit 2002 ist er stellvertretender Vorsitzender.
Nach langjähriger Mitgliedschaft in der nordrheinwestfälischen Landjugend und in der EJL (Evangelische Jugend auf dem Lande) war er 1980 Gründungsmitglied der Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft, deren Vorsitzender er seit 1996 ist.
Er betreibt (in Bewirtschaftungsgemeinschaft) einen 50-ha-Hof in Ostwestfalen, auf dem 550 Hühner mit Auslauf und 20 Schweine leben. Getreide, Kartoffeln, Gemüse, Obst und Eier werden in erster Linie direkt vertrieben oder auf Wochenmärkten der Umgebung verkauft. Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, geb. in Spenge am 29.11.1942
1968 Prüfung zum Landwirtschaftsmeister
1971-75 Studium der Pädagogik, Staatsexamen
1980 Gründungsmitglied der "Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft"
Anfang der 80er Jahre:
Umstellung des Betriebs auf biologische Wirtschaftsweise 1982 Promotion zum Dr. phil. über "Arbeitserziehung und Sozialisation junger Bauern"
seit 1984 Mitglied des Europäischen Parlaments
seit 1989 Stellvertretender Vorsitzender des Agrarausschusses im EP
seit 1996 Vorsitzender der “Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft - AbL”
1999-2002 Vorsitzender des Agrarausschusses im EP
Seit Januar 2002 Stellvertretender Vorsitzender des Agrarausschusses

Hansjörg Walter, Swiss National Council and President of the Swiss Farmers’ Union, Switzerland

Der 58-jährige SVP-Nationalrat und Meisterlandwirt Hansjörg Walter ist seit 9 Jahren Präsident des Schweizerischen Bauernverbands. Zusammen mit seiner Familie, einem Lehrling und einem Angestellten bewirtschaftet er in Wängi im Kanton Thurgau einen 25 ha grossen Bauernbetrieb mit Milchwirtschaft, Obstbau und Lohnunternehmung.

Carlo Bogliotti, Secretary Slow Food Italia, Italy

Born 9th august 1973. He studied Commuication at the University of Turin. Governor of the association Slow Food Italy, he works as a writer for Slow Food Editore (publishing house) and for the Presidential Office of Slow Food International. He is a member of the editorial office of the review "Slowfood" and he wrote for many italian newspapers and reviews, like La Stampa, Micromega, Famiglia Cristiana. He is Co-author of the book of Carlo Petrini (president and founder of Slow Food International) "Buono, Pulito e Giusto - principi di nuova gastronomia" (in english "Slow Food Nation - Why our food should be Good, Clean and Fair"). Actually he is working on a new book by Carlo Petrini on local economies, small-scale agriculture and new visions for the future of food systems.

Steve Emmott

Helen Holder, Friends of the Earth Europe, Belgium

Helen Holder has a degree in biochemistry (Bristol University, UK) and a Masters in Business (E.M. Lyon, FR). Helen started campaigning on GMOs in 1998 with ASEED Europe (Action for Solidarity Equality Environment and Diversity) in Amsterdam. Moving to Brussels in 2001 she worked for 4 years for a development NGO whilst continuing GMO activism with the Collectif d’Action GenEthique (CAGE). She joined FoEE in 2005 where she works on GMOs and farming issues.

Tina Goethe, Swissaid, Switzerland

Tina Goethe works as a Policy Advisor for Food Sovereignty at SWISSAID, the Swiss Foundation for Development Cooperation. Formed as a sociologist she holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Development Cooperation. She is engaged in information and advocacy work for a diverse, small-scale and organic agriculture that is GMO free – in the North as well as in the South.

Ana de Ita, Centro de Estudios para el Cambio en el Campo Mexicano (CECCAM), Mexico

Jochen Koester, TraceConsult: GMO-free products

Jochen Koester founded TraceConsult in 2004 in order to facilitate communication and successful interaction between European industry buyers and retailers on the one hand and producers and agricultural raw material suppliers in Brazil and other producing countries on the other. His main focus rests on the area of soy production while he has a broad global background ranging from PCR-testing, Non-GMOcertification, Non-GMO logistics and Non-GMO market analysis to the legal aspects of GMO labeling and GMO-free claims.

Wolfgang Heck, Life-Food, Germany

Gesellschafter und Geschäftsführer der Firma Life Food GmbH/Taifun-Tofuprodukte , Deutschland, Freiburg im Breisgau

Marco Contiero, Greenpeace European Unit, Belgium

Marco Contiero is the EU Policy Director on Genetic Engineering and Sustainable Agriculture of the Greenpeace European Unit in Brussels. He holds a Masters of Laws in European Environmental Law from the University of Amsterdam (2003-2004) and a Masters of Laws in International Trade Law from the University of Padua (2003) were he also graduated in law. Before joining the Greenpeace campaign on Genetic Engineering in 2006, he worked for Greenpeace as an expert on toxic trade and the EU Regulation on chemicals REACH and for the European Environmental Bureau as a legal advisor since 2004. Between 2000 and 2003 Contiero has also worked as a lawyer in Padua.

Daniel Ammann, Schweizerische Arbeitsgruppe Gentechnologie SAG, Switzerland

1975 Promotion an der ETH Zürich.1986 Habilitation (Lehrgebiet Zellbiologie). 1975-1987: Forschungstätigkeit an der ETH (110 wissenschaftlichen Publikationen). Seit 1990 Geschäftsleiter der Schweizerischen Arbeitsgruppe Gentechnologie SAG. Initiant der Gen-Schutz-Initiative. Seit 1990 Lehrauftrag an der ETH Zürich: Sicherheit und Risikoanalyse, Umweltsoziologie. Seit 1991 Mitarbeiter im Büro für Umweltchemie. 1995 Mitglied der Eidgenössischen Ethik-Studienkommission. Seit 1996 Mitglied der Eidgenössischen Fachkommission für Biologische Sicherheit.

Florianne Koechlin, Blauen-Institut, Switzerland

Hans Herren, President Millennium Institute, USA; Co-president of the International Assessment on Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology (IAASTD); President of the Swiss foundation BioVision

– President, Millennium Institute (MI) USA, since May 2005. MI provides tools (system dynamics models) and capacity development to empower developing countries in the design and ex ante evaluation of their sustainable development policies.
– Director General, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) Kenya, 1994 - 2005. Introduced new research and capacity development paradigm in insect and ecosystem sciences as relevant to human, animal, plant and environmental health.
– Director Biological Control Program, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Nigeria, 1979 - 1994. Designed and implemented one of the world’s largest and most successful biological control program, saving over 20 million lives and the livelihood of 200 million people in the African cassava belt. – Post Doc University of California, Berkeley,1977 - 1979.
– MSc (Agronomy) and PhD (Biological Control) Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Switzerland 1969 - 1977.
– Co-Chair of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) 2003 – present
– Member CGIAR Science Council
– Member US-NAS and TWAS
– Laureate, World Food Prize 1995; Kilby Award 10995; Tyler Prize for the Environment (2003) among others.

Benny Haerlin, Foundation on Future Farming/Save Our Seeds, Germany

Benedikt Haerlin works for the German Foundation on Future Farming in Berlin, Germany. He co-ordinates the European initiative "Save our Seeds" (www.saveourseeds.org) to keep conventional and organic seeds free of GMOs, has organised previous GMO free Regions conferences and is also a member of the International Commission on the Future of Food (www.future-food.org). Haerlin was global co-ordinator of Greenpeace International’s Genetic Engineering Campaign from 1996 to 2002. He continues to advise the organization. He represented European and North American NGOs in the Bureau of the United Nations International Agricultural Assessment of Science and Technology for Development (www.agassessment.org). From 1984 to 1989 Haerlin served as a Member of the European Parliament (Green Group), where he specialised in genetic engineering issues. Before, he worked as a publisher and journalist in Berlin. He studied philosophy and psychology in Tübingen and Berlin. He was born in Stuttgart in 1957. Websites: www.zs-l.de +++ www.planet-diversity.org +++ www.saveourseeds.org +++ www.agassessmentwatch. org Zukunftsstiftung Landwirtschaft / Foundation on Future Farming Marienstr.19-20, D-10117 Berlin, Germany, Tel +49 30 27590309