Alliance for Science
 Alliance for Science(Lobbyist)     | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Formation | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Cornell University |
| Interests | GMO |
| Sponsored by | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, US/Department/Agriculture, USAID |
| Gates Foundation-funded GMO and pesticide lobbyist organizations. | |
The Alliance for Science (AfS) is a public relations campaign that trains spokespeople and creates influence networks, particularly in African countries, to persuade the public and policymakers to accept GMOs and pesticides.[1] The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the effort in 2014 with a $5.6 million grant and has since donated $22 million to the effort.[2]
Contents
Own words
We conduct policy advocacy, communications campaigns, and research amplification, to promote an enabling environment for science-based solutions to challenges of food and nutrition security, climate change, global health, and misinformation.[3]
The Alliance focuses its efforts around: Establishing a global network. We are building and engaging an international alliance science advocates.... We empower science champions around the world with the tools and skills needed to communicate effectively...and continually updating our comprehensive collection of photographs, videos, blog posts, podcasts, fact sheets, and other multimedia resources that provide accurate information about agricultural biotechnology, climate change, vaccines, COVID-19, and other global science issues.[3]
The Alliance based at the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University.[3]
Creating leaders
The Alliance for Science Global Leadership Fellows Program is a 12-week intensive training course held on the Cornell University campus. It is designed "to equip and empower emerging international leaders who are committed to advocating for science-based communications and access to scientific innovation in their home countries. The training focuses on strategic planning, grassroots organizing, and innovative communications with a strong focus on stories of science and effective communications around agricultural biotechnology."[4]
Co-opting the legacy of Wangari Maathai
In 2023, the AfS attempted to co-opt the legacy of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai (1940-2011), in a move that the Nigerian environmentalist and poet Nnimmo Bassey called "truly shameless" and that other African environmentalists also condemned. The Alliance tweeted a series of posts, including a graphic that included a photo of Wangari Maathai next to the all-caps message, "CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF WANGARI MAATHAI", adding to the impression that the Alliance and the spirit of Wangari Maathai are as one.[5]
Monsanto had previously attempted to recruit Wangari Maathai to their "feed the world" advertising campaign. But Maathai not only refused to sign on to Monsanto's campaign, but, in direct response, wrote her essay, The linkage between patenting of life forms, genetic engineering and food insecurity[6], where she warned her fellow Africans that "if we thought that slavery and colonialism were gross violations of human rights, we have to wake up to what is awaiting us down the secretive road of biopiracy, patenting of life and genetic engineering.[5]
Astroturf demonstrations
In March 2023, Patricia Nanteza, a graduate of the Leadership Fellows Program, arranged pro-GMO demonstrations in the capitals of both Uganda and Kenya in support of the widely opposed[7] lifting by Kenya’s President of his country’s GMO ban.[8]
Funding
The Alliance is "in large part" funded by the Gates Foundation.[9] Other sponsors include the US department of Agriculture and USAID.[10] One sponsor is the American Endowment Foundation, a cut-out which makes funding from anonymous backers possible. disguised as "philanthropy".[11]
Sponsors
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Very influential and rich foundation established to take leadership of global health. |
| US/Department/Agriculture | |
| USAID | US govt organization to provide "international development", including funding of Ecohealth Alliance. Called "CIA's little sister". |
References
- ↑ https://www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20200-outrage-as-the-alliance-for-science-tries-to-co-opt-the-legacy-of-wangari-maathai
- ↑ https://usrtk.org/pesticides/cornell-alliance-for-science/
- ↑ a b c https://allianceforscience.org/about/
- ↑ https://allianceforscience.org/training/global-leadership-fellowship/
- ↑ a b https://www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20200-outrage-as-the-alliance-for-science-tries-to-co-opt-the-legacy-of-wangari-maathai
- ↑ http://www.ukabc.org/gaiam4_1.htm
- ↑ https://qz.com/kenyas-gmo-question-is-a-polarizing-one-1849678096
- ↑ https://www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20192-africa-s-first-pro-gmo-peoples-march-is-classic-astroturf
- ↑ https://allianceforscience.org/blog/2018/04/bill-gates-gene-editing-can-help-humanity/
- ↑ https://allianceforscience.org/about/funders/
- ↑ https://allianceforscience.org/about/funders/
