A new study suggests an alarming link between low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides - the most widely used insecticides in the world - and long-term brain damage. Tom Levitt reports
Pesticide used by UK farmers is linked to long-term brain damage Tom Levitt | 14th December 2012 News sheepbeingdipped.jpg Scientists have now shown a link between the use of sheep dipping chemicals …
Crippling costs of legal action prevents people mounting challenges over environmental damage, finds UN Committee
Activists win historic ruling on 'people's law on the environment' Tom Levitt | 26th August 2010 News Legal Activism Justice Law Society legalearth1.jpg The high costs of bringing a court case is …
Individuals and local campaign groups are being prevented from challenging environmental damage because of the potentially crippling cost of legal action
How the legal system is preventing environmental justice Sarah Lewis-Hammond Tom Levitt | 4th February 2010 News Legal Justice Environment Law Politics And Economics legalearth1.jpg The UK is …
Charities and NGOs complain high costs make it almost impossible for them to bring legal challenges against damaging environmental decisions - despite them being in the wider public interest
Defra rejects claims UK legal system is blocking environmental justice Tom Levitt | 22nd October 2010 News Legal Justice Aarhus Society brownbandedcarderbumblebeesamashfield.jpg The charity Buglife …
Main ingredient of Monsanto's Roundup weed killer is being linked to cancer, birth defects and Parkinson's disease and should be banned, according to campaigners behind new report
Greenpeace takes on Monsanto over 'pesticides arms race' Tom Levitt | 30th June 2011 News Monsanto Pesticides Chemicasl Food And Farming roundup.jpg Monsanto's Roundup is one of the most commonly …
Low-input farming projects, not reliant on chemical fertilisers and pesticides, have brought significant increases in food production in Africa, south-east Asia and South America, according to a UN report
Agroecological farming 'can double food production in Africa over next 10 years' Tom Levitt | 8th March 2011 News Food And Farming Agroecology Africa Pesticides Chemicals Fertilisers malawi-crop.jpg …
Targets for increasing the use of biofuels to power cars, trains and buses will result in more ecosystems being converted to agriculture - actually increasing carbon emissions, says new report
Europe's push on biofuels 'no better than fossil fuels' Tom Levitt | 8th November 2010 News Biofuels Climate Palm Oil News Politics And Economics Food And Farming exhaustpipe.jpg Targets for …
Government lawyers set to argue in High Court that EU rules allow them to delay meeting air pollution targets until as late as 2025 in London despite growing health crisis
UK uses EU 'loophole' to delay tackling air pollution in London Tom Levitt | 13th December 2011 News Air Pollution Health London Air Quality airpollution.jpg Government lawyers set to argue in High …
Major industrialised powers claim progress has been made towards a legally-binding agreement but campaigners warn new deal will be 'weak' and 'wholly inadaquate' in preventing climate change
Cancun climate summit fails to agree successor to Kyoto Protocol Tom Levitt | 12th December 2010 News Climate Change Cancun Greenhouse Gas Emissions globalwarmingworldmap.jpg Scientists have said any …
Campaigners fear 'backward' step in pesticide regulation in UK after testing body scrapped as Government also confirms major budget cuts to Natural England and the Environment Agency
Independent testing of pesticides in food in doubt after quango cull Tom Levitt | 14th October 2010 News Pesticides Food And Farming Natural World Environment DEFRA Natural England …
Government subsidies to replace oil or traditional electric heating with heat pumps ignore the global warming impact of their HFCs, argues new analysis
Heat pumps no more eco-friendly than gas-fired boilers - new research Tom Levitt | 8th October 2010 News Renewables Heat Pumps Energy Carbon HFCs heatpumps.jpg Government subsidies to replace oil or …
Broad welcome for new biodiversity targets, including increase in protected areas, but campaigners express concern that previous 2010 targets have still not been met
UN biodiversity targets now need to be implemented say campaigners Tom Levitt | 1st November 2010 News Biodiversity Natural World Geoengineering Wildlife biodiversityfrogs.jpg Broad welcome for new …
Current 'dump it or burn it' mindset can only be resolved by moving away from incineration and landfill and aiming for a zero waste policy, say campaigners
UK can achieve 'zero waste' without incineration Tom Levitt | 5th October 2010 News Landfill Waste And Recycling Incineration prel.png Plans for greener incineration plants such as this one in …
'Risky and secretive' gambling on the price of coffee, cocoa and wheat is leading to unstable food prices and exacerbating poverty and malnutrition but creating billions of pounds for the banking sector
Goldman Sachs makes $1 billion profit on food price speculation Tom Levitt | 19th July 2010 News Food And Farming Banks Food Crisis Speculation Society marketplace.jpg Dramatic food price rises in …
More than 200 million tons of crude oil have gushed into the Gulf of Mexico since the rupture of Deepwater Horizon. The chemicals used to clean up the spill have received less attention but could have devastating long-term effects on the marine ecosystem
Toxic dispersants in Gulf oil spill creating hidden marine crisis Tom Levitt Nicole Edmison | 6th September 2010 News OIl Spill Toxic Energy Natural World oilinwater.jpg Campaigners are questioning …
High-street customers could be subsidising the role of Barclays Capital in driving up global food prices and leaving millions facing hunger and malnutrition, says campaign group. Tom Levitt reports
Barclays 'making up to £340 million' on food price speculation Tom Levitt | 31st March 2011 News Food And Farming Barclays Food Speculation Politics And Economics barclays-banner.jpg Investment banks …
Lionel Badal was working on his undergraduate dissertation when he suddenly found himself privy to information that he knew must be made public
How a 22-year-old student uncovered peak oil fraud Tom Levitt | 10th March 2010 News Peak Oil Iea Energy Oil Politics And Economics lionelbadal.jpg Lionel Badal is currently a postgraduate student at …
The latest food scare - the contamination of British eggs with the cancer causing chemical dioxin - can be linked to our reliance on complex food chains and industrial production methods, report Joanna Blythman and Tom Levitt
Contaminated eggs: industrial farming leading to dioxin-type food scares Joanna Blythman Tom Levitt | 14th January 2011 News Food And Farming Dioxin Industrial Farming Chickens Chemicals …
Ecuador government urged not to give in to pressure from the US oil giant Chevron to drop record $18 billion fine for its part in the 'Chernobyl of the Amazon'
David v Goliath: Chevron plots to avoid cleaning up oil pollution in Amazon rainforest Tom Levitt | 9th January 2011 News Oil Rainforest Climate Change Chevron OIl Spill ecuador.jpg After an 18-year …
Government orders to use dangerous organophosphate chemicals left hundreds of sheep farmers with debilitating ill health, Tom Levitt reports on the UK's forgotten pesticide tragedy
Ghosts of farming: Britain's forgotten sheep farmers poisoned by pesticides Tom Levitt | 28th March 2012 News Pesticide OP Chemical Farming Sheep Food And Farming Health Sheep Dip News Focus …