Isn't it daft it is to use plastics that last for centuries to make short-life packaging? Now there's an alternative, writes Sophie Morlin-Yron - using fungi to bind farm and forestry waste into strong, non-toxic, complex forms. When the job is done, the material can be safely burnt or composted - and it even works for buildings ...
Farm waste and mushrooms challenge plastic, concrete, steel Sophie Morlin-Yron | 29th September 2014 Comment Waste Consumerism mushroom-tower-2-cut.jpg Isn't it daft it is to use plastics that last …
Cutting-edge molecular profiling analyses reveal that the popular weedkiller Roundup causes serious liver damage to rats at low doses permitted by regulators, reports Claire Robinson. The findings suggest that residues of glyphosate-based herbicides in food could be linked to rises in the incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity, diabetes and 'metabolic syndrome'.
Roundup residues in food cause fatty liver disease Claire Robinson GMWatch | 9th January 2017 News Science Health Pesticides obesity-cut.jpg Cutting-edge molecular profiling analyses reveal that the …
160 global groups have called for a moratorium on new 'genetic extinction' technology at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Cancun, Mexico. Gene drive technology, they say, poses serious and irreversible threats to biodiversity, national sovereignty, peace and food security.
Biodiversity Convention call to block new 'genetic extinction' GMOs GMWatch The Ecologist | 6th December 2016 News GMOs Science Biodiversity Un Mexico aphids-cut.jpg 160 global groups have called for …
The 'Kevin Folta affair' has cast the hard light of day into the dubious PR tactics of the GMO industry, writes Claire Robinson - recruiting and paying scientists as secret shills to promulgate a pro-GM message without revealing their funding sources.
Monsanto's scientist shill exposed Claire Robinson GMWatch | 8th September 2015 News GMOs Corporations Media USA monsanto-toxic-seed-twtr.jpg The 'Kevin Folta affair' has cast the hard light of day …
Has Monsanto, dubbed the 'world's most evil corporation', turned a new leaf? It has taken the 'probably carcinogenic' glyphosate out of a new version of its market leading 'Roundup' herbicide, and replaced it with vinegar. The bad news is it's only available in Austria. That, and it may still contain toxic 'adjuvants' to increase its effectiveness.
Monsanto's new 'glyphosate-free' Roundup is vinegar! Claire Robinson GMWatch | 8th May 2017 News Pesticides Organic Farming Austria Corporations Health vinegar_bottle_and_roundup_container-cut.jpg …
Monsanto has acquired a commanding role in the biotech, seed and agro-chemical industries, writes Carmelo Ruiz. So why is the company desperate to merge with its rival Syngenta? The truth is the company is in deep trouble, as its top-selling Roundup herbicide runs out of steam, and its rivals combine to challenge its dominance.
Monsanto defeated? That's what the Syngenta merger shows us Carmelo Ruiz GMWatch | 27th January 2016 Comment Corporations Farming GMOs Finance monsanto-march-cut.jpg Monsanto has acquired a …
We remember activist and former Philippine environment secretary Regina “Gina” Lopez .
Remembering Gina Lopez Sophie Morlin-Yron | 6th September 2019 News Philippines Regina Lopez Obituary Change Makers Activist and former Philippine environment secretary Gina Lopez has been awarded …
Six environment heroes, one from each continent, are honoured for their work today - fighting threats from giant coal mines to forest destruction, fracking, high dams, illegal development and toxic waste dumps. Sophie Morlin-Yron reports.
2014 Goldman winners - fighting coal, dams, palm oil, fracking, toxic waste Sophie Morlin-Yron | 28th April 2014 News Fracking Fossil Fuels Waste Water Energy USA Indonesia Russia Peru Africa India …
With the proposed connection between the Zika virus and Brazil's outbreak of microcephaly in new born babies looking increasingly tenuous, Latin American doctors are proposing another possible cause: Pyriproxyfen, a pesticide used in Brazil since 2014 to arrest the development of mosquito larvae in drinking water tanks. Might the 'cure' in fact be the poison?
Argentine and Brazilian doctors suspect mosquito insecticide as cause of microcephaly Claire Robinson GMWatch | 10th February 2016 News Health Toxics Pesticides Argentina Brazil …
A recent scientific study found the same long-chain omega-3 oils that are engineered into a new GM Camelina oilseed variety make butterflies grow up with deformed wings, writes Claire Robinson. Attempts by the 'pro-science' non-scientist Mark Lynas to discredit the study are a mixture of ignorance, research failures, 'straw man' arguments and outright errors.
GMO lobby's false claims to defend GM oilseed against deformed butterfly findings Claire Robinson GMWatch | 9th May 2016 Activism GMOs Science Media Health Ecology UK …
The Reuters news organisation has just sullied its reputation with a disgraceful attack on the WHO's specialist body on cancer, the IARC, writes Claire Robinson. Resorting to smear, innuendo and anonymous critics, it relies heavily on discredited industry sources including tobacco defenders in its attempt to undermine IARC's view that glyphosate probably causes cancer.
… to hype industrialized agriculture and attack organics, or, as a key member of the Global …
It looked like such a good idea: take the pressure off wild fish stocks by growing GM oilseeds that produce health-enhancing long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, writes Claire Robinson. But as a new study has established, those fish oils, novel in terrestrial ecosystems, cause wing deformities in cabbage white butterflies. Yet a third open field trial of these GM crops could soon be under way.
Nutritionally-enhanced GM crops? Too bad about the deformed butterflies Claire Robinson GMWatch | 18th April 2016 News GMOs Nutrition Food Ecology Fishing Health cabbage-white-cut.jpg It looked like …
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 …
2013's illegal rhino slaughter in South Africa was the biggest ever. The population of the critically endangered black rhinos is now near the tipping point with only just over 4,000 animals left in the wild.
South African rhino slaughter hits all-time high Sophie Morlin-Yron | 26th January 2014 News Rhinos Poaching South Africa white-rhino.jpg 2013's illegal rhino slaughter in South Africa was the …
The world's biggest slaughterhouse for endangered whale sharks has been uncovered in southeast China, writes Sophie Morlin-Yron. It's products are being traded across the world in health and cosmetic products.
World's largest whale shark slaughterhouse uncovered in China Sophie Morlin-Yron | 3rd February 2014 News Wildlife Trade Oceans China Natural World Fishing ws-butcher.png The world's biggest …
A new study shows a strong link between exposure to the pesticide DDT and Alzheimer's dementia. Sophie Morlin-Yron reports.
DDT link to Alzheimers Sophie Morlin-Yron | 29th January 2014 News Pesticides Farming Health ddt-is-good-for-me.png A new study shows a strong link between exposure to the pesticide DDT and …
The Council of Monte Maiz, a small town in Argentina surrounded by intensive GMO soya farms, has enacted a law that forbids the spraying and storage of pesticides and other agrochemicals after severe health impacts were detected.
Argentine GM soya town bans pesticides Claire Robinson GMWatch | 14th July 2015 News Farming Health Law GMOs Toxics Argentina argentine-town-puts-the-brake-on-pesticides-cut.jpg Photo: TV interview …
Cornell’s 'no pest' Bt brinjal project in Bangladesh appears to be going great with 200 farmers signed up, reports Farida Akhter. Only its not - hardly any of the farmers who grew the GM plants in previous years have come back for more after their crops wilted, failed to ripen, or were devastated by pests.
Bangladeshi farmers ditch GM brinjal Farida Akhtar GMWatch | 5th February 2016 News Bangladesh GMOs Farming bt-brinjal.png Cornell’s 'no pest' Bt brinjal project in Bangladesh appears to be going …
There's absolutely no evidence for BBC Panorama's claim of 90% success for Bt brinjal in Bangladesh, writes Claire Robinson. But that has not stopped the BBC Trust from dismissing all complaints against its monstrously dishonest report. Nor has it diminished the jubilation of GMO cheerleaders.
BBC's GMO coverage 'fair and accurate'? You decide Claire Robinson GMWatch | 14th April 2016 Comment GMOs Science Bangladesh Media UK Regulation Farming Corporations brinjal-cut.jpg There's …
Protesters have now blocked a Monsanto seed factory in Córdoba, Argentina for over two years, writes Ciara Low. Another eviction attempt is now imminent, and campaigners are calling for a big mobilization this Sunday to fortify the blockade and send out a strong message to Monsanto and its acolytes: 'No Pasaran!' - 'They shall not pass!'
'No Pasaran!' After two years, Argentina's Monsanto blockade is fighting on Ciara Low GMWatch | 29th January 2016 News Argentina GMOs Seeds Farming Corporations Protest Law bloqueo-no-se-toca-cut.jpg …
SOPHIE MORLIN-YRON talks to activist and former Philippine environment secretary Gina Lopez about banning open-pit mines, battling climate change and winning the 2017 Seacology Prize
Meet the woman drumming up resistance against mining companies and future typhoons in the Philippines Sophie Morlin-Yron | 1st December 2017 News Seacology Activist Philippines Coal Mining Activist …
Commuting between land rights negotiations in the city and herding goats on the plains, Edward Loure is at once a traditional Maasai and a modern urbanite, writes Sophie Morlin-Yron. That ability to straddle the two very different worlds he inhabits has been key to his success at having 200,000 acres of land registered into village and community ownership - and his own 2016 Goldman Prize.
Securing communal land rights for Tanzania's Indigenous Peoples Sophie Morlin-Yron | 25th April 2016 Comment Tanzania Africa Indigenous Peoples Farming The Land Commons 2016_edwardloure_06-cut.jpg …
A BBC documentary claimed 90% success for a controversial GM crop in Bangladesh, Bt brinjal, writes Claire Robinson. But as journalist Faisal Rahman discovered, there's no evidence to support the claim, the BBC relied on biased sources, and its journalists failed to investigate reports of widespread crop failure. Was it all an exercise in pro-GMO propaganda?
GMO propaganda over facts? BBC Panorama and Bt brinjal Claire Robinson GMWatch | 30th July 2015 News GMOs Food Farming Media Bangladesh UK …