A/HRC/34/48 pesticides that go along with it, benefiting the pesticide industry without considering the economic burden on famers or the cost to the environment. 79 Farmers’ right to assess technologies such as genetically engineered crops and weigh these in the light of other possible alternatives has also been ignored under the assumptions of conventional economics.80 Indeed some argue that the development of alternatives has been undermined by the emphasis on investment in genetically engineered technologies. 81 98. Replacing highly hazardous pesticides with less hazardous pesticides is necessary and overdue but not a sustainable solution, as many pesticides initially considered relatively “benign” are later found to pose very serious health and environmental risks. 99. Measuring the success of agroecology in comparison with industrial agricultural systems requires further research. Studies using short time frames and focusing on individual crop yields underestimate the potential long-term productivity of agroecological systems. Comparative studies are increasingly showing that diversified systems are advantageous and even more profitable when looking at total outputs, rather than specific crop yields. Aiming to build balanced and sustainable agroecosystems, agroecology is more likely to produce constant yields in the longer term owing to their greater ability to withstand climate variations and naturally resist pests.82 100. Success must be calculated in terms other than economic profitability, and take into consideration the costs of pesticides on human health, the economy and the environment. Agroecology prevents direct exposure to toxic pesticides and helps improve air, soil, surface water and groundwater quality. 83 Less energy intensive, agroecology can also help mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses and by providing carbon sinks. VI. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 101. While the present report has illustrated that there is no shortage of international and national legislation, as well as non-binding guidelines, such instruments are failing to protect humans and the environment from hazardous pesticides. These instruments suffer from implementation, enforcement and coverage gaps, and generally fail to effectively apply the precautionary principle or meaningfully alter many business practices. Existing instruments are particularly ineffective in addressing the cross-border nature of the global pesticide market, as proven by the widespread and often legally permitted practices of exporting banned highly hazardous pesticides to third countries. These gaps and inadequacies should be confronted on the basis of human rights mechanisms. 102. International human rights law sets forth comprehensive State obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. In particular, the rights to adequate food and 79 80 81 82 83 International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, From Uniformity to Diversity, p. 16. Daniela Soleri and others, “Testing economic assumptions underlying research on transgenic food crops for third world farmers: evidence from Cuba, Guatemala and Mexico”, Ecological Economics, vol. 67, No. 4 (1 November 2008), pp. 667-682. Oye Ka and others, “Biotechnology: regulating gene drives”, Science, vol. 345, No. 6197 (8 August 2014). International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, From Uniformity to Diversity, pp. 31-37. International Foundation for Organic Agriculture, “Agroecology”. 21