Furthermore, Herren was co-author and co-chairman of the World Agriculture Report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) in 2008, which was initiated by six UN organisations and the World Bank. Further Memberships: Until 2007: President of the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS)(now Honorary President). Until 2006: Two-term member of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR) Science Council. Until 2011: Member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Associate US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Associate TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world. Member Entomological Society of America Member African Association of Insect Scientists Member International Organization for Biological Control Member American Institute of Biological Science Member American Association for the Advancement of Science. Member of Club of Rome Founding member of Regeneration International Founding member of the Monsanto Tribunal Member Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group. Member of the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility. Member of the World Future Council Opinion Based on his deep and long experience in biological pest control, sustainable agriculture and rural development issues Herren is an outspoken proponent of agro-ecology, organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. He criticises that GMOs currently, and most probably also in the future, offer no significant economic or social advantages to poor small-scale farmers, that they reduce the resilience of agricultural systems through reducing the diversity of crops and the genetical diversity within varieties at a time when more diversity is needed from crop/animal to system levels. According to Herren: "Today’s GMOs don’t produce more food, they help cut production costs - in the first few years until insects and weeds catch up again - as we have seen earlier with the use of insecticides. That’s why we introduced Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which was meant to treat the causes of pest outbreaks. The GMO crop cultivars that are used today are basically a step back, to the pre-IPM period. Many pest problems can actually be solved with classical breeding and marker assisted breeding methods, that do not force farmers into costly licensing agreements with seed companies or lock them into the use of specific herbicides." Dr Herren believes the way forward was well described in the IAASTD Report. It called for a shift in paradigm, the transition of the industrial and external energy