After years of campaigning by Greenpeace, a court in the Philippines has revoked the permit to grow “Golden Rice”, a genetically modified crop designed to combat malnutrition. The move is a highly controversial one, with some scientists saying the decision could potentially cost “thousands and thousands” of lives.

The Philippines became the first country in the world to approve Golden Rice in 2021. However, the Court of Appeals in the capital Manila revoked the permit for the commercial production of the rice in April 2024, citing “conflicting scientific views and uncertainties on the risks and effects of Golden Rice,” according to AFP.

The decision comes after the case was brought to the court by Greenpeace Southeast Asia and other groups.

“This decision is a monumental win for Filipino farmers and Filipino people who have for decades stood up against genetically modified (GM) crops,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Wilhelmina Pelegrina said in a statement.

“We reiterate our stance: the involved companies and agencies have yet to show concrete evidence that these crops would be in the best interest of Filipinos, our environment, and our agricultural sector,” she added.

Bear in mind that scientists have yet to find any confirmed negative health or environmental consequences linked to the consumption of Golden Rice or any other genetically modified organism (GMO) crops – although some researchers claim they have identified several potential benefits. 

“The court’s decision is a catastrophe,” Matin Qaim, Professor of Food and Agricultural Economics at Bonn University and a member of the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board, which supports the crop’s introduction, told the Guardian.

“It goes completely against the science, which has found no evidence of any risk associated with Golden Rice, and will result in thousands and thousands of children dying,” added Professor Qaim.

The debate around Golden Rice is a long and fiery one. Developed over two decades ago, Golden Rice is white rice that has been genetically tweaked to include certain genes from maize and common soil bacterium. The additional genes enable the rice to produce beta-carotene, an orange-colored pigment found in many fruits and vegetables that is converted into vitamin A in the body.

Its purpose is to address vitamin A deficiency, a pervasive problem in developing countries that puts around 140 million children at greater risk of illness, hearing loss, blindness, and even death. Advocates of Golden Rice claim that enriched GMO super-rice has the potential to save millions of children’s lives while posing minimal threat to human health or the wider environment.

Greenpeace has been one of the loudest voices of opposition against its roll-out, arguing the purported benefits have been massively over-hyped. They also suggest it could open the door to more GMOs and allow big agribusiness to dominate the market at the expense of smaller farmers. 

However, the environmental NGO’s stance has been heavily criticized over the years. In 2016, over 100 Nobel laureates signed a letter calling on Greenpeace to review its position on genetically engineered Golden Rice, claiming they were pushing a “fact-challenged propaganda campaign against innovations in agricultural biotechnology." 

"GMOs are extensively tested and subjected to a higher degree of regulatory review than any other crops and foods," the letter read. "Greenpeace have also claimed that Golden Rice would not work; that it would not deliver enough vitamin A to be effective, or that it would produce so much as to be dangerous. All these claims are false."

Greenpeace has remained dogmatically opposed to GMOs, especially Golden Rice. They doubled down against the 2016 letter by responding: “Corporations are overhyping ‘Golden’ rice to pave the way for global approval of other more profitable genetically engineered crops.”

“Rather than invest in this overpriced public relations exercise, we need to address malnutrition through a more diverse diet, equitable access to food and eco-agriculture.”