On the final day of the trial of Caroline Lucas and other anti-fracking protestors, we ask - what about human rights? Entirely neglected by the government in its desperate drive to frack, they ought to trump all other policy considerations.
Fracking - why are human rights being ignored? Damien Short Karen Hulme Steffen Böhm | 25th March 2014 Comment Fracking Law Fossil Fuels Water Pollution UK Politics balcombe-demo-2.png On the final …
Bats serve as a natural reservoir for the Ebola - but we cannot blame them for the epidemic. In Ghana alone people eat over 100,000 fruit bats a year as 'bushmeat', yet the country has escaped the epidemic. Much more research is needed to discover the mechanisms of transmission, and to devise effective, appropriate interventions.
Ebola: don't blame the bats! Alexandra Kamins Marcus Rowcliffe Olivier Restif | 23rd October 2014 News Health Ghana Africa Ecology fruit-bat-ghana-cut.jpg Bats serve as a natural reservoir for the …
Long after we go extinct the human presence on Earth will be marked by a geological stratum rich in plastic garbage, according to a new study. Long-lived plastics are already widespread over the ocean floor, and there's a lot more on its way. Forget the 'Anthropocene' - the human era should rightly be called the Plasticene.
Humans will be remembered for leaving a 'plastic planet' Oliver Tickell | 28th January 2016 News Geology Science Waste Pollution Oceans plastic-beach-cut.jpg Long after we go extinct the human …
Human rights violations have been reported at plantations in virtually all major tea producing countries, while tea growing itself has a profound effect on the local environment. William McLennan reports
Environmental damage and human rights abuses blight global tea sector William McLennan | 13th April 2011 News Tea Africa Food And Farming Pesticides billy-final-tea-image.jpg Tea being loaded in …
The US Congress has outlawed the use of aid to Ethiopia to evict tribal peoples in the SW of the country - where violent expulsions are under way to clear land for cash-crop farming.
Congress over-rules USAID to protect abused Ethiopian tribes The Ecologist | 12th February 2014 News Indigenous Peoples Ethiopia Africa Farming Land Grabs USA omo-2.png The US Congress has outlawed …
Sugar may seem innocuous enough, but sweet-toothed Western consumers could be fuelling conflict between poor farming communities and big business with every spoonful. Sam Campbell reports from Phnom Penh
Revealed: the bitter taste of Cambodia’s sugar boom Sam Campbell | 13th April 2011 News Tea Africa Cambodia Sugar Food And Farming cambodia-im,age-main-piece.jpg Sugar may seem innocuous enough, but …
A 'slow genocide' is unfolding in Ethiopia - one driven by greed rather than hatred. With Chinese and World Bank finance, massive dams and plantations are robbing the Omo Valley's 500,000 indigenous people of their land and water. The UK 'sees no evil'.
20 years after Rwanda - Ethiopia's 'slow genocide' in the Omo Valley Human Rights Watch | 7th April 2014 News Land Grabs Ethiopia Africa Finance Indigenous Peoples omo-water-women.png A 'slow …
WWF’s support for 'fortress conservation' has led to serious human rights abuses for indigenous peoples, writes Lewis Evans, and nowhere more so than in Cameroon, where the Baka are considered trespassers and poachers in their own ancestral forests. A formal complaint against WWF's behaviour is now in process.
Why Survival International has made a formal complaint to the OECD against WWF Lewis Evans | 6th March 2016 Comment Africa Cameroon Natural World Human Rights Indigenous Peoples …
A key chemical used in modern plastics has been found in human tissues at 10 times the concentration considered safe, new research has found.
Plastics chemical found in human tissue at high levels 10th August 2007 News Bisphenol A BPA EFSA New Scientist Chemical Chemicals Health Health Risk Risk Plastics Health Pollution News web pic …
We must beware an 'environmental' agenda that excludes the human dimension, Pope Francis writes in his recent Encyclical: the poor are least to blame for the ecological and climate crises, yet they are its primary victims. Humanity must make enduring decisions about the world we and our children will share.
… crises, yet they are its primary victims. Humanity must make enduring decisions about …
Pollution caused by burning fossil fuels are already causing the premature deaths of 200,000 people a year - in the US alone, writes Pete Dolack. Add up the figures worldwide and it comes to many millions. And that's before we even count the catastrophic long term impacts of global warming. The US response: to loosen anti-pollution regulation and encourage increased oil, coal and gas production.
… on children's health , notes that most of humanity lives in environmentally stressed … estimate of planetary consumption is that humanity is using the equivalent of 1.6 Earths … already has been thrown in the air that humanity may have already committed itself to …
America's shale gas boom threatens families, pets, and food, writes Allison Wilson. Fresh from her reading of 'The Real Costs of Fracking', she finds a host of adverse health impacts on those living near fracking sites, the toxic pollution of the food chain, and a wall of corporate and official secrecy.
Exposed: what fracking really does to you, your family, pets and food Allison Wilson | 25th February 2015 Reviews Fracking Health Energy Toxics Pollution Food Farming USA …
The human family must come together now to stop Ebola in West Africa or risk a global pandemic that could potentially kill billions, writes Glen Barry. And that will mean solving, with equity and justice, the disease's root causes: rainforest loss, poverty, war and overpopulation.
… than the one in western Africa: overpopulated humanity crowded together in destitute … in dealing with many more infections before humanity stops the epidemic in Africa. Besides … are smarter and work hard have more), and humanity lives within Earth's natural limits. …
Groups representing over 5 million Nigerians are resisting Monsanto's attempt to introduce GM maize and cotton, writes Vanessa Amaral-Rogers. With growing evidence of harm to human health and environment, and failing GM crops in other countries, they say Monsanto's applications must be refused.
Nigerians say no to Monsanto's GM crops Vanessa Amaral-Rogers | 30th March 2016 News Nigeria Farming GMOs Corporations Africa Regulation 25017341159_6580237138_o.jpg Groups representing over 5 …
Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson, authors of Walking Thunder, explain why the survival of the elephant is critical for our own future
… the roots of our species and to the roots of humanity as it moved out of Africa. We have … order is upset. We are living in a time when humanity can decide to spare itself the …
Science is helping us to understand why African elephants move between landscapes.
Elephant movement pattern linked to diets Brendan Montague | 21st May 2020 News Elephant Science And Systems Africa african_elephant_188286877.jpg Science is helping us to understand why African …
Many of the substances that make wastewater a pollutant can also be useful as fertilisers for agriculture and in generating gases for small power stations, says report
Human waste could be fertiliser and power source The Ecologist | 24th March 2010 News Food And Farming Waste And Recycling Energy Water Pollution Natural World Health wastewater.jpg A polluted urban …
With the Kimberley Process in a state of paralysis over Zimbabwean diamonds, consumers can no longer be sure they’re buying ethical jewels. Ahead of a BBC Panorama investigation into the issue, Rosie Spinks reports
Export of Zimbabwean diamonds threatens ethical jewellery trade Rosie Spinks | 8th August 2011 News Blood Diamond Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe Alluvial Deposit Mineral Extraction News Society Mining …
This autumn the Monsanto Tribunal will assemble experts from around the world to set out the evidence against the global mega-corporation, which will stand accused of monstrous 'crimes' against people and the environment. The Tribunal's verdict will not be legally binding - this time. But on a future occasion, it may be.
… to try alleged perpetrators of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. Committing …
Environmental toxins have given us lesbian seagulls and transgender crabs, but pollutants may also be causing gender ambiguity in humans, says Eric Francis
Ch-ch-changes Eric Francis | 1st October 2008 News Pollution PCBs Dioxins Hormones Sex Health Pollution Society gender_unspecific.jpg Environmental toxins have given us lesbian seagulls and …
Survival International argues that the activities of WWF in the Congo Basin have been shown to be doing tremendous damage to rainforest tribes like the Baka, without effectively protecting the environment. But efforts to hold them to account have been frustrated, the director of Survival, STEPHEN CORRY, argues.
Survival International claims OECD failed to recognise WWF 'conservation abuse' Stephen Corry | 23rd November 2017 Comment Conservation Africa Survival WWF Indigenous Human Rights Violations …
A proposed factory farm at Foston, Derbyshire, condemned by locals as a 'pig prison' for 25,000 animals has been refused a permit by the Environment Agency because of the powerful stench it would emit and potential risks to health and the environment.
Big stink! 24,500-pig factory farm defeated The Ecologist | 26th February 2015 News Farming Waste Pollution Regulation farms-not-factories-cut.jpg A proposed factory farm at Foston, Derbyshire, …
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened after floods and purposeful destruction has taken its toll in recent months, writes Vanessa Amaral-Rogers. The eight year blockade by Israel and conflict with Egypt has already hit Palestinian families hard but now Gaza is at even greater risk as Egypt diverts seawater into life-line tunnels.
As flooding in Gaza worsens, the most basic of human rights are under threat Vanessa Amaral-Rogers | 9th February 2016 News Middle East Gaza Human Rights Water Pollution Flooding Egypt …
On the first-ever World Giraffe Day, the world's tallest land mammal is threatened by conflict with humans, habitat loss, war, and disease. One subspecies, the West African giraffe, is down to 400 individuals.
Only 80,000 giraffes left in Africa The Ecologist | 21st June 2014 News Natural World Africa west african giraffe_awf_john butler-cut.jpg On the first-ever World Giraffe Day, the world's tallest land …