Pat Mooney (born February 24, 1947) has worked with civil society organizations on international trade and development issues related to

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and emerging technologies for over 40 years.

Career

Pat Mooney had no formal university training, but, together with

Cary Fowler Morgan Carrington "Cary" Fowler Jr. (born 1949) is an American agriculturalist who served as the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security from 2022 to 2025. He was previously executive director of the Crop Trust. Fowler received the 2024 Worl ...

and Hope Shand, he began working on the 'Seeds' issue - the problem that legislation was enabling

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

corporations to control access to the seeds to grow the decreasing variety of crops that supported global food supply - in the 1970s. In 1984, the three co-founded RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International), whose name was changed to ETC Group (pronounced "etcetera" group) in 2001. ETC Group is a small international CSO addressing the impact of new technologies on vulnerable communities. Mooney’s more recent work has focused on

geoengineering Geoengineering (also known as climate engineering or climate intervention) is the deliberate large-scale interventions in the Earth’s climate system intended to counteract human-caused climate change. The term commonly encompasses two broad cate ...

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

synthetic biology Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms. It applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nat ...

and global governance of these technologies as well as corporate involvement in their development. He is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, and led their Long Food Movement project.

Awards and recognition

* 1985 -

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob vo ...

(with

) for "working to save the world's genetic plant heritage." * 1998 -

Pearson Medal of Peace The Pearson Medal of Peace is an award given out annually by the United Nations Association in Canada to recognize an individual Canadian's "contribution to international service". Nominations are made by any Canadian for any Canadian, excluding ...

* Giraffe Heroes award for "people who have the courage to stick their necks out for the common good" * 2017 - Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

, Canada * 2017 - Doctor Honoris Causa from 17, Instituto de Estudios Criticos, Mexico.

Selected works

* *

Personal life

Mooney lived on the Canadian prairies for many years; he now resides just outside the village of Wakefield, Quebec with his second wife in retirement. He has six children and eleven grandchildren.

References

External links

Website of Action Group ETC

Pat Mooney on the Dangers of Geoengineering to Combat Climate Change
- video report by ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mooney, Pat Roy 1947 births Canadian environmentalists Canadian non-fiction writers Living people Synthetic biologists