ETC Group is an international organization dedicated to "the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights." The full legal name is Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration. "ETC" is intended to be pronounced "et cetera."[1][2]
The term ETC Group may also refer to an energy consulting company, ETC Group LLC.
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Known as RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International) until 1 September 2001, the ETC Group traces its history back to the National Sharecroppers Fund that was established in the 1930s by Eleanor Roosevelt (amongst others) to alleviate the plight of poor, mostly black tenant farmers in the U.S. In the early 1970s, Pat Mooney, Hope Shand, and Cary Fowler began working on the Seeds Issue through the Rural Advancement Foundation—and, in time, set up an international arm concerned with the rights of farmers in the global south.
RAFI pioneered civil society research, critiques and advocacy on farmers rights, seed monopoly laws, and opposes adoption of genetic engineering in agriculture, patents on life and biopiracy (a term that RAFI coined) and new life science technologies such as terminator technology, genomic technologies, and nanotechnology. RAFI played a key role is pushing for and shaping UN recognition of farmers' rights and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. By 2000, there was some confusion with the original Rural Advancement Foundation (now called RAFI-USA), so RAFI changed its name to ETC Group to reflect its wider scope of concern.
The organisation has taken a public campaigning stance against geoengineering,[3] including a campaign called "Hands off Mother Earth!", which was launched in April 2010.[4] In October 2010 a comprehensive report titled "Geopiracy - The Case Against Geoengineering" was published[5], covering proposed technologies, governance discussions, geoengineering key players and the roles and interests of military and corporations.
Diana Bronson, of the ETC Group, stated global warming was caused by "the scientific, corporate and political establishment of developed countries", to now think those same people will correct the climate crisis and the biosphere is little bit naïve.