Eco-extremism has brought Sri Lanka to its knees
Matt Ridley
An obsession with organic farming ‘in sync with nature’ triggered an unsustainable but predictable economic crisis My article for The Telegraph: Sri Lanka’s collapse, from one of the fastest growing Asian economies to a political, economic and humanitarian horror show, seems to have taken everybody by surprise. Five years ago, the World Bank was extolling […]
We’re wasting our big Brexit gene-editing opportunity
Matt Ridley
The Government’s half-hearted support for the process is denying us a huge chance to progress My article, for The Telegraph: The Government wants to unleash innovation. If it were to be presented with a magic wand that could by 2040 feed millions more people, avoid tens of millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and […]
Organic lobbyists show ‘sheer hypocrisy’
Matt Ridley
Organic lobbyists show ‘sheer hypocrisy’ opposing UK emergency authorization of neonicotinoid sugar beet seed treatments — while supporting environmental waiver for ‘acutely toxic’ copper sulfate My article for the Genetic Literacy Project: The Government was right to make provision for a temporary and limited derogation for the use of the neonicotinoid seed treatment Cruiser SB […]
Genome-edited crops help farmers and environment
Matt Ridley
My article for The Times: The agriculture bill before the House of Lords today offers a chance for plant breeders to make safer, more productive crops that need fewer chemicals. Britain has a long track record of safe and efficient plant breeding but the industry is unable to use the latest techniques because of a […]
The Brexit boost for British bio-science
Matt Ridley
World-class laboratories have been freed from the dead hand of Brussels regulation Update: My House of Lords Speech on Genome Editing from 4th March My article for The Critic: Britain is really good at biology. In physics and chemistry, or painting and music, we have often failed to match the Germans, the French or […]
Matt Ridley
My Speech in the House of Lords I believe it is absolutely vital that the UK government signals its encouragement of genome editing in agriculture. My speech in the House of Lords today: View the full meeting and transcript To stay updated, follow me on Twitter @mattwridley and Facebook. My new book How Innovation Works is coming May 2020, and […]
The EU’s absurd risk aversion stifles new ideas
Matt Ridley
Excessive regulation means the health and environmental benefits of new technology are suppressed My article from The Times: With tariffs announced against Brazil and Argentina, and a threat against France, Donald Trump is dragging the world deeper into a damaging trade war. Largely unnoticed, the European Union is also in trouble at the World Trade […]
GM Crops Like Golden Rice Will Save the Lives of Hundreds of Thousands of Children
Matt Ridley
My recent article in Quillette: Any day now, the government of Bangladesh may become the first country to approve the growing of a variety of yellow rice by farmers known as Golden Rice. If so, this would be a momentous victory in a long and exhausting battle fought by scientists and humanitarians to tackle a huge […]
