Essays by Eric Worrall
University of Canterbury Institute Tessa Hiscox and Professor Jack Heinemann think that the claim that biotechnology can save us from the climate crisis is slowing down real progress.
Pursuing future biotech solutions to climate change risks delaying action in the present – possibly even making things worse.
Published: November 29, 2022 6:04 am AEDT
Tessa Hiscox PhD Candidate in Microbiology, University of Canterbury
Jack Heinemann Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of CanterburyPublished: November 29, 2022 6:04 am AEDT
The world is under increasing pressure to find sustainable solutions to cut emissions or lessen the impact of climate change.
Tech entrepreneurs from around the world claim to have solutions – not now but soon. In particular, the field of biotechnology is currently using climate change as an urgent argument for more government funding, public support and fewer legal barriers for their industry.
But the urgency of climate change poses a greater risk to superficial claims and actions. in our new researchWe describe the current “technology push” cycle that repeatedly promises to save humanity from climate change, and in so doing, delays actual progress.
The pipeline for rescue technology is long and the benefits are hypothetical. Like Wimpy in Popeye, tech developers want their hamburger today but will give back to society with climate solutions some Tuesday in the future.
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Biotechnology can make a valuable contribution to preventing or ameliorating the effects of climate change. Contributions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or plants that are better adapted to a changing climate will help. However, these address the symptoms, not the cause of environmental degradation.
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In my opinion, the claim that any problem from global warming cannot be solved by adapting technology is absurd.
We know Earth’s ecosystem can adapt to much warmer temperatures, because it has done so many times in the past. For example, one of my favorite times, Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum5-8 degrees Celsius hotter than it is today, is a world of tropical forests filled with fruit, rich animals and fish. Perfect conditions for our primate ancestors who especially developed and settled most of the planet during this extremely warm period.
Every species alive today is descended from ancestors that survived and likely thrived during those extremely warm times.
If biotech professors can’t help us replicate the changes that we know nature is capable of doing on its own, maybe we need some new biotech professors.
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