March 2010 printable subscriber newsletter

Ecologist

26th February, 2010

In this month's newsletter we print a special, two-part investigation in jatropha biofuels, look at the horrors of the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh, examine the possibility of a trade war as a result of climate change policy, and ask whether we are paying too high an environmental price for the convenience of the Pill. To download, login and scroll to the bottom of the page...

There’s a certain air of smugness that seems to accompany the UK in international environmental negotiations.

On the surface, much of it might appear legitimate: the country looks set to surpass its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto protocol; it has one of the only domestic legal obligations in the world to hit a 2050 carbon reduction target in the shape of the Climate Change Act; and it campaigns noisily for international action on tackling global warming.

In other areas, the UK has played a role in some progressive European legislation, on chemical usage (REACH), on carbon trading (the EU-ETS) and, recently, with a call by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn for an endangered listing for bluefin tuna. But, despite this (undeniably good) progress, there’s much that the fervent policy-making hides, or shifts out of view.

This month’s features help to shine a light on some of these inconsistences. Dan Box’s unravelling of the complex world of trade disputes highlights the extremely awkward situation that is fast emerging in the world of climate change policy – that countries (like the UK) that have been proactive on legal action to...

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