Under heavy pressure from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand and Australia, the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Ninth Conference of the Parties (COP-9) failed to pass a moratorium on the release of genetically engineered trees into the environment despite support for a global ban endorsed by hundreds of organizations around the world, and the unified efforts to stop GE trees carried out by NGOs, Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations, scientists and foresters present at the COP.