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In Populorum Progressio, the encyclical that livesimply commemorates, Pope Paul VI says that a basic freedom is having enough food to eat - being free from starvation. Terminator technology is a direct threat to poor people's livelihoods and food sources.

Terminator seeds are genetically modified by big seed companies to become sterile after the first planting. They spell trouble for the 1.4 billion farmers who routinely save seeds from one harvest to replant for the next crop. Many farmers in poor countries don't want or can't afford to buy seeds each year. Instead, they save, swap and share seeds that have been developed over generations to thrive in local soils and climates.

Terminator will force farmers to buy new seeds every year, making them poorer - and the big seed companies richer.  This is not true progress, as it only benefits the rich and takes control of meeting their own food needs out of farmers' hands:  "Genuine progress must be complete.  No one can be left out."  Populorum Progressio

Terminator is also a contradiction to the Bishop's Conference statement 'Call of Creation' that:  'The environment is a prime example of a good that is essentially shared, and is not to be monopolised by powerful individuals and groups.'

Prayer for the UN Convention on Biodiversity

LET US PRAY: Dear Lord, thank you for the abundance of creation you have provided for all and for the justice you promise to deliver for the poor and marginalised. As the UN Convention on Biodiversity draws near, we ask you to be present in the preparations and the meetings.

We pray that you would work to strengthen the influence of those countries who are working to maintain the current moratorium on Terminator and you would change the hearts and minds of those who seek to weaken it. Lord we pray for justice to be done and for your creation to be protected.

Amen