Trawlers in an MSC-certified 'sustainable' lobster fishery producing have been caught in the act of using illegally modified nets to target valuable cod. The MSC has been notified but considers the evidence insufficient to act, so the lobsters still carry the MSC label.
… TBF's International Director, to comment: "Sustainability labels mean very little if … volunteers and supporters around the world. Sustainability labels mean very little if …
A new investigation of palm oil plantations, companies and auditors has found that the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil is failing to deliver on its promise, writes Chris Lang. Widespread fraud, collusion between auditors and companies, conflicts of interest, and a flawed complaints system mean that RSPO-certified palm oil may be destructively and illegally produced.
… community territories. Meanwhile, the head of sustainability at First Resources has been … certification system - meant to ensure ensure sustainability, human rights, labour …
Think tank IPPR report advises government to extend climate change style laws to prevent breakdown across the natural environment.
… include binding targets, a new committee on sustainability to advise the Government … should be supported by a new Committee on Sustainability to advise the Government and a …
The proposed structure of Juncker's new European Commission sidelines sustainability issues and risks undoing years of environmental legislation. The European Parliament must now block his deregulatory assault on the EU’s climate, energy, biodiversity, pollution, chemicals and environmental health policies.
… Juncker's new European Commission sidelines sustainability issues and risks undoing years … demand to: 1. Establish a Vice-President for Sustainability coordinating the environment, … of the objectives of the REACH Regulation. Sustainability has disappeared from EU …
European Union rules to prevent 1.7 million tonnes of fish a year being discarded are being flouted.
… Fishing ministers 'ignoring sustainability' Emily Beament | 16th July 2019 … economic benefits rather than long-term sustainability. "Unless the discard ban is … to introduce other measures to ensure the sustainability of our fish stocks." This …
A 'Friend of the Sea' Dutch-owned trawler certified to supply 'sustainably caught' shrimp to the US and EU was arrested in Liberia after operating in an an area reserved for artisanal fishers, writes Peter Hammarstedt. The vessel, which had no licence and lacked the turtle excluders required by law, was discovered by the crew of Sea Shepherd's 'Bob Barker' in a joint mission with the Liberian Coast Guard to clamp down on rampant illegal fishing.
Sea Shepherd helps arrest 'sustainable' shrimp trawler for illegal fishing in Liberian waters Peter Hammarstedt Sea Shepherd | 26th May 2017 Activism Oceans Fishing Regulation Liberia USA EU …
A pilot study of American mothers' milk has found levels of the herbicide glyphosate around 1,000 times higher than allowed in European drinking water. Campaigners are demanding a ban on the use of glyphosate on food crops.
Glyphosate found in breast milk The Ecologist | 28th April 2014 News Food Farming Water Regulation USA EU mothers-milk-cut.jpg A pilot study of American mothers' milk has found levels of the …
The much-derided Common Fisheries Policy must be one of the EU's most unpopular aspects, write Bryce Stewart & Griffin Carpenter. But in fact it has been a notable success, reflecting public concern over bycatch discards and restoring sustainability to Europe's fishing grounds, and profitability to a long declining industry.
… concern over bycatch discards and restoring sustainability to Europe's fishing grounds, …
With all diesel cars failing EU clean air standards in real world driving, and the worst 22 times over the limit, there's only one real solution, write Steffen Böhm & Ian Colbeck: adopt sustainable transport strategies to keep cars off our streets and break our dependence on them.
… Steffen Böhm is Professor in Management and Sustainability, and Director, Essex Sustainability Institute, University of Essex …
Death threats to an indigenous forest defender in Peru have followed his success in closing down an illegal palm oil operation on his tribe's lands carried out by a member company of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, now meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Peru rainforest defender threatened: 'we will kill you' The Ecologist | 19th November 2015 News Forests Peru Indigenous Peoples Law Regulation palm-oil-peru-cut.jpg Death threats to an indigenous …
This week, the International Maritime Organisation could act to curb fast-rising emissions from shipping under the Paris Agreement, write Barry Gardiner & Richard Burden. But there are growing fears that the UK government may seek to delay and obstruct vital progress.
… the size of the entire EU. We need robust sustainability regulations for shipping that … and China Navigation Company, launched a sustainability roadmap last month, and has …
Brexit is part of a corporate campaign to remove, undermine and attack European Union regulations and increase the rate of growth and profit. But these very regulations are necessary for the protection of the environment - and life itself. PROFESSOR JOHN McMURTRY, author of The Cancer Stage of Capitalism: from Crisis to Cure, raises the alarm.
… market fixes for collective life capital sustainability. All fail to see Brexit’s …
With the EU referendum on the horizon, the Common Fisheries Policy is likely to figure in the debate as an exemplar of EU policy failure, writes Griffin Carpenter. But the much maligned and misunderstood CFP is doing a good job: stocks are recovering, bycatch-dumping is banned, and it may even force the UK to give more quota to small-scale fishers.
The EU is helping, not harming, UK fisheries Griffin Carpenter | 19th January 2016 Comment Fishing EU UK Regulation mackerel-cut.jpg With the EU referendum on the horizon, the Common Fisheries Policy …
The global catch of fish and seafood is falling at three times the rate reported by the United Nations and urgently needs to be slowed to avoid a crash, reports Christopher Pala. The finding comes in a new study for Nature which quantifies the huge illegal industrial fish pillaging taking place around the world, together with artisanal catches, which in 2010 added over 50% to UN estimates.
Oceans running out of fish as undeclared catches add a third to official figures Christopher Pala | 19th January 2016 News Fishing Oceans Regulation Law Un Food fish-auction-tokyo-cut.jpg The global …
A new report on the Channel's fisheries is a timely reminder of the ecological trend to 'simplification' as whole trophic levels are stripped away by over-exploitation, writes Horatio Morpurgo. Yet the government's profit-focused vision of 'sustainability' is missing the essential element - allowing the recovery of marine ecosystems.
… the government's profit-focused vision of 'sustainability' is missing the essential …
After leaving the EU the government could allow dangerous pesticides banned elsewhere in Europe to be used in the UK, writes Keith Tyrell. Today, Pesticides Action Network is launching a new campaign calling on citizens to fight back against the pesticide industry - and ensure that EU directives and regulations serve as a baseline for British pesticide laws.
Fighting the Brexit threat to pesticide laws Keith Tyrell PAN UK | 8th February 2017 Activism Pesticides Regulation UK EU Brexit Corporations spraying-cut.jpg After leaving the EU the government …
British NGOs have objected to two applications for open-air field trials to grow GM crops. One is for a blight-resistant potato that is much less resistant than existing non-GM varieties. The other is an oilseed to be used as fish food whose fatty acid profile has been subject to only 'rudimentary analysis'.
Campaigners' No to UK field trials of GM potatoes, oilseeds The Ecologist | 7th April 2016 News GMOs Regulation UK Food potato-blight-cut.jpg British NGOs have objected to two applications for …
Dissent over the massive USA-EU TTIP trade deal is focused on the 'corporate courts' allowing investors to sue national governments, But largely neglected has been the equally serious issue of 'Regulatory Cooperation' - which would impose a huge burden of 'red tape' on EU and US legislatures, while forcing down health, safety, social and environmental standards.
… on how a regulation contributes to European sustainability objectives (such as emission … upgrading a regulatory proposal. By excluding sustainability checks, the assessment will … acts that do not sufficiently contribute to sustainability objectives, civil society will …
The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands has adopted a new conservation plan for its sea turtles that will protect mature adults so they can breed, and so reverse population declines.
Turks & Caicos Islands protect breeding turtles The Ecologist | 19th March 2014 News Caribbean Natural World Fishing Regulation tci-turtle.png The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands has …
The UK's insistence on opening up the UK to fracking is symptomatic of a deeper malaise, writes Paul Mobbs. Of course we need a change of government, but more than that, we need a deeper, enduring change of the nation's governance if we are ever to effect the transition to sustainable policies on energy and environment. It's time for the UK to become truly democratic.
Fracking plans are driving an even more damaging ideological agenda Paul Mobbs | 21st December 2015 News UK Politics Energy Fracking Regulation Farming Natural World not-for-shale-cut.jpg The UK's …
Cambodia's rainforests are facing destruction from clearance for plantations, and an illegal trade in precious timber, reports Fran Lambrick. Local people who depend on the forest have proved to be its most effective guardians - but they need external support.
Forest communities fight Cambodia's rosewood bandits Fran Lambrick | 15th May 2014 News Forests Indigenous Peoples Cambodia Trade Regulation China pln-patrol-cut.jpg Prey Long Network discover a …
In its second consultation for the EDF's planned Sizewell C nuclear power station there's a strange omission, writes Peter Lux: that the plant would use 1,600 m3 of mains water a day, adding to stresses on important local wetlands like RSPB's Minsmere reserve. The omission is not just strange - it's also illegal and could make the entire exercise invalid.
Sizewell C consultation: EDF 'forgets' to mention 600,000 m3 a year of mains water Peter Lux | 23rd January 2017 Activism Nuclear Energy Water Regulation UK sizewell-c-minsmere-cut.jpg In its second …
A new UN report warns of a threefold increase in extraction of the Earth's primary materials between 1970 and 2010, writes Alex Kirby. The boom in the production of minerals, ores, fossil fuels, timber and biomass and will be to intensify climate change, increase air pollution and reduce biodiversity.
Plunder of Earth's natural resources up 200% in 40 years Alex Kirby | 26th July 2016 News Mining Forests Biodiversity Corporations Regulation quarry-brescia-cut.jpg A new UN report warns of a …
Advocates claim that synthetic biology and the so-called New Breeding Techniques (NBTs) are distinct from genetic engineering (GE), write Helena Paul, Elisabeth Bücking & Ricarda Steinbrecher. In fact synthetic biology and NBTs carry similar risks to old-style GE, and even create novel hazards. The 'new GE' techniques - as they should be named - and their products deserve regulation at least as strict as those applying to GMOs.
… together. 7 . J. Heinemann et al. (2014). ' Sustainability and innovation in staple crop … '. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 12(1): 71-88 and J. Heinemann … et al. (2014). ' Reply to comment on sustainability and innovation in staple crop …