Five international judges say Monsanto's activities have negatively affected individuals, communities and biodiversity, writes Claire Robinson. The Monsanto Tribunal's damning ruling denounces the company's harmful impacts on food sovereignty, agricultural production, access to nutrition, the natural environment, seed diversity, climate change, pollution and traditional cultural practices.
Tribunal judges: Monsanto isn't feeding the world - it's undermining food security Claire Robinson GMWatch | 24th April 2017 News Corporations Law Farming Food GMOs Health Seeds Pesticides …
The respected Russian campaign group Sakhalin Environment Watch is being forced to choose between registering as a 'foreign agent' label and closing down, writes Oliver Tickell. Environmental campaigning, it seems, is now a 'political activity'.
Russia aims 'foreign agent' law at green NGO Oliver Tickell | 15th September 2015 News Law Russia Conservation Finance dmitry-cut.jpg The respected Russian campaign group Sakhalin Environment Watch …
Extreme energy in the UK is arousing extreme reactions, write Jess Elliot & Damien Short. On the one side stand citizens committed to preserving the quality of the local and global environment. And against them, a government determined to let fracking rip, and police forces prepared to ignore legal norms to suppress the growing popular resistance.
Fracking is driving UK civil and political rights violations Jess Elliot Damien Short | 30th October 2014 News Fracking Law Human Rights Energy Politics UK barton-moss-steven-speed-cut.jpg Extreme …
Prime Minister Modi's government has frozen the bank accounts of Greenpeace India, writes Praful Bidwai - provoking widespread protest from the environment and civil rights community. It's all part of a wider campaign against 'anti-national' movements that challenge India's development policies based on the aggressive exploitation of coal, minerals, big hydro and nuclear power.
Indian government sanctions Greenpeace to send a menacing message Praful Bidwai | 23rd April 2015 News India Law Finance Development Coal Politics coal-india-hyderabad-cut.jpg Prime Minister Modi's …
The European Commission was guilty of maladministration and acted unlawfully in approving pesticides for which there was insufficient safety data, the EU Ombudsman has ruled. It must now reform its practices, writes Vanessa Amaral-Rogers, or face legal action.
'Unlawful'! EU's hasty approval of pesticides condemned Vanessa Amaral-Rogers | 22nd February 2016 News Food Farming EU Regulation Toxics Law farmer spraying field.jpg The European Commission was …
The EU's food and farming safety regulator is trying to create a 'back door' system to licence the use of herbicides that have been banned for their toxic impacts on people and wildlife - under a clearly inapplicable 'plant health' exemption.
EFSA creates 'plant health' loophole for banned weedkillers Oliver Tickell | 8th September 2016 News Pesticides Health Law Farming EU Food poppies-cut.jpg The EU's food and farming safety regulator …
The United Nations has voted to legislate against human rights abuses carried out by transnational corporations, reports Lucia Ortiz. But the resolution, proposed by Ecuador and South Africa, was opposed by the US and the member states of the EU.
UN to outlaw corporations' human rights abuses Lucia Ortiz | 1st July 2014 News Human Rights Corporations Un Law corporate-violence-cut.jpg The United Nations has voted to legislate against human …
A federal judge has ruled that the US Environmental Protection Agency is under no obligation to force pesticide makers to disclose supposedly 'inert' ingredients in their products - even where those ingredients are seriously hazardous to health or environment.
Judge rules: no right to know hazardous pesticide ingredients Oliver Tickell | 14th June 2016 News Law Toxics Pesticides FOI Regulation USA pesticide-packs-cut.jpg A federal judge has ruled that the …
Canada's 'Anti-Terrorism Bill' proposes a massive increase in the power of security services, writes Pete Dolack - and in the crosshairs are campaigners against a tar sands industry that's intent on releasing 240 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, and those fighting the pipelines needed to get the heavy crude to market. Who are the real 'extremists'?
… national police agency, claims that public activism against the problems caused by oil …
The recently announced Snoopers Charter 2.0 gives the state enormous powers to delve into our lives, writes Paul Mobbs. And all the more so when combined with other data to which the government has access - by simply buying it from commercial providers. If you don't like the idea, it's time to get your systems secure and shrink your digital data trail.
… Square on the theme of '800 years of activism'. While waiting around in Parliament … easy way to get around this issue - make activism direct . Do it in person, not …
The EU's nature directives provide effective protection for endangered species and habitats, writes Leonardo Mazza. So why the Commission's decision to 'review' and 'modernise' the laws? With its commitment to business-friendly deregulation and uninterest in the environment, the aim is surely to gut them - something only EU-wide citizens' mobilisation can prevent.
European Commission's deregulation drive threatens EU nature laws Leonardo Mazza | 11th July 2015 News EU Natural World Biodiversity Law Poland augustow-forest-cut.jpg The EU's nature directives …
Russia is rich in nature reserves and national parks, writes Mikhail Kreindlin. But the government body meant to be protecting them is in fact promoting logging, building and mining projects. Conservationists are fighting back, but the odds are stacked against them.
Russia's wildlife protector is on a mission of destruction Mikhail Kreindlin | 5th July 2014 News Russia Natural World Forests Development Law kurils_nature_reserve igor shpilinok-cut.jpg Russia is …
Post Brexit, get ready for a massive attack on our liberty, especially on the right to protest, writes Paul Mobbs. With the UK likely to secede from the European Convention on Human Rights, prepare for a new empowerment of police to act with impunity against peaceful activists. We must be ready to stand up, with honour and dignity, for our ancient British right to dissent.
… some things have not changed in the world of activism, some things - particularly our … difficulty is that our 'collective memory' of activism in Britain seems to have been lost - … have - allowing you to push the boundaries of activism in all sorts of strange and inventive …
After five months of wrongful imprisonment, an environmental activist has finally been set free and reunited with his family, writes Rod Harbinson. His case highlights the way Cambodia's Government subjects eco-defenders to harsh, unjust and arbitrary detention, while illegal logging barons and large-scale timber smugglers lead charmed lives, always above the law.
… | 22nd March 2016 News Cambodia Law Logging Activism venvornrelease2.jpg After five months … harassment as a result of his continued activism to protect the lands of the … Cambodia in order to criminalize legitimate activism and to keep activists under close …
The Government is struggling to spin its policy to fast track fracking, writes Paul Mobbs. So as it cuts the public out of the regulatory process, exempts exploratory wells from controls, and forces the Environment Agency to issue permits with 1-2 weeks, its spin machine has resorted to outright lies and misinformation to conceal the scale of the attack on our environmental rights.
… and lecturer, and maintains the Free Range Activism Website (FRAW). Paul will be speaking …
A new report from Global Witness places India fourth in the league table of killings of environmental activists. As part of our collaboration with CLIMATE TRACKER, environmental law researcher MRINALINI SHINDE looks at the human trauma behind the statistics - and calls on India's urban elite to act.
… the repression of peaceful protests and civic activism,” according to the Defenders of the …
International judges today condemned China's great 'water grab' of the South China Sea - not least for its destruction of over 100 sq.km of pristine coral reefs, dredged and ground up to build artificial islands, and the ransacking of their wildlife, from endangered sea turtles to giant clams.
China condemned for massive coral reef destruction Oliver Tickell | 12th July 2016 News Oceans Conservation China Fishing Coral Law Philippines scc-fb.jpg International judges today condemned China's …
Poland's environment ministry has a plan for a huge increase in logging in Europe's last great primeval forest, writes Zachary Davies Boren. Officials claim it's to control bark beetles. But ecologists say the insects are regulated naturally within the forest ecosystem, while logging threatens huge damage to irreplaceable biodiversity.
Timber! Poland's bid to increase logging 8-fold in primeval Bialowieza Forest Zachary Boren Greenpeace Energydesk | 18th February 2016 News Forests Biodoversity Ecology UNESCO Poland Belarus EU Law …
Plane Stupid's Heathrow 13 escaped immediate incarceration yesterday for occupying Heathrow's northern runway last summer. But the threat of imprisonment remains firmly in place, writes Ali Tamlit, from a state determined to defend the corporations that are inflicting the systemic violence of climate change on us all. The peaceful fight for a better world must go on.
#Heathrow13: the systemic violence of climate change Ali Tamlit | 25th February 2016 News Climate Change Aviation Law War heathrow-cut.jpg Plane Stupid's Heathrow 13 escaped immediate incarceration …
The Scottish government has announced that its wild beaver populations will be given the full protection of both UK and EU law. The decision has been welcomed by campaigners who point out all the benefits of beavers to biodiversity, water management and flood control. Now, they say, England and Wales should follow suit.
Scotland's wild beavers win legal protection Oliver Tickell | 24th November 2016 News Beavers Scotland UK EU Mammals Biodiversity Water Farming Law Conservation Rewilding beaver-cut.jpg The Scottish …
The first year of Sea Shepherd's campaign to close down illegal fishing operations in the Southern Ocean, dubbed 'Operation Icefish' has already led to the detention of two 'bandit' fishing vessels while a third is under pursuit.
Fishing bandits arrested in Sea Shepherd's 'Operation Icefish' The Ecologist | 31st March 2015 News Oceans Fishing Law bob-barker-sea-shepherd-cut.jpg The first year of Sea Shepherd's campaign to …
The European Union's top court ruled today that increased logging in Białowieża broke EU nature laws. The Polish government must now reverse decisions that allowed logging, or face fines of up to tens of millions of euros. CATHERINE EARLY reports
… Early | 17th April 2018 News Forest Campaign Activism European Court Of Justice Law …
A growing protest movement is demanding strong controls on international investors and logging companies buying up Romania's forests, writes Raluca Besliu. In its sights is Austria-based Schweighofer, which stands accused of criminal malpractice and accepting illegal timber shipments. The popular outrage stirred up by corporate misdeeds is now stimulating a wider democratic revival.
Romania's 'occupy forests' movement demands clampdown on corporate crime Raluca Besliu | 21st August 2015 News Romania Forests Regulation Law Corporations Politics agent-green-attack.jpg A growing …