Celebrating Earth Day with Biotech's Achievements

As the world celebrated the 46^th year of the Earth Day movement on April 22, 2016, GM crops are already contributing to protect the environment for 20 years.

The Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970, with the objective of giving voice to the emerging consciousness, channelling human energy toward environmental issues. Since then, technologies have also evolved to contribute towards food security, sustainability, and climate change mitigation.

According to the latest ISAAA report, 20^th Anniversary (1996-2015) of the Global Commercialization of Biotech Crops and Biotech Crop Highlights in 2015 (Brief 51), herbicide tolerant crops, which are planted to 95.9 million hectares of land in 2015, reduce the negative impact of farming on the environment by decreasing the need for tilling. This leads to a plethora of environmental advantages such as conserved biodiversity, prevented deforestation, less soil erosion and water pollution, and decreased carbon dioxide emissions, among others. With these benefits, biotechnology ensures that the society's needs are addressed and at the same time, the environment is protected.

To know more about the contributions of biotech towards food security, sustainability, and climate change mitigation, download the full Brief 51 infographics. Read related articles about Earth Day and biotech from Earth Day Network and Forbes.