Veal, Anglesey pollution and multilateralism

In the BBC's Green Room this week is Dr Richard Ladle of Oxford University and Sustainable Solutions Worldwide. He is talking about environmental blogs and the risks thereof. Whilst he can see benefits in more in more readers being made aware of environmental issues, he also warns of potential risks of misinformation. As blogs are unregulated and the information that they contain is often not verified, internet consumers unquestioningly taking posts at face value and assuming scientific objectivity are in danger of being inaccurately informed. I imagine this is particularly the case with blogs, since they are usually written on a topic close to the writer's heart and therefore have a tendency to slant with the blogger's own ideology. Dr Ladle is concerned that misinforming the public is dangerous and may detract from focus on the very real green concerns that face us. He recommends reading posts with care and looking for verifiable information and a reasonable style of writing. It seems to me that blogs should reference, and where possible link, their sources to avoid any of this doubt. They still serve a useful purpose in raising the awareness Dr Ladle so wants, as long as their authors report responsibly. To read more of Dr Ladle's concerns, here's the link.

Another important scientist, Sir Professor David King is set to speak out on environmental matters this week when he outlines the challenges that we face in trying to deal with greenhouse gases and how we might urgently confront them. The talk will be on Thursday, so we'll have to look out for reports after that. Here's some suggestions on what he is expected to say.

The Daily Mirror, not a publication I often read, covers this frightening story on British veal production and transportation and a return to pre-BSE conditions. The detailed report in today's paper covers the conditions in which the animals are transported and slaughtered, the economic reasons therefore, the organisations on each side of the debate, the farming industry's future and development and recommendations for what the public can do. It cites representatives from both sides of the argument as well as referencing undercover footage and reports. It's not cheerful reading, but it's good that it's back in the public arena. It also provides references and this link to Compassion in World Farming, which I'll put in the links section later under Animal Rights. And here's the CIWF's blog, which I'll try and add as well to the blog section. Through the CIWF main site, you can find the ECFA (European Coalition for Farm Animals) too, so here's their link.

This story's from the Independent, so the link probably won't last long, but briefly it's a story about Britain's first olive grove. It has been set up in Devon and is seen as a clear indicator of global warming that what was once a plant of the Mediterranean can now be commercially viable crop in Southern England.

There were also claims of oil pollution in the Menai straits over the weekend. This is an area of Wales I know and love, so I'm especially sad about it. Here's a link to the Holyhead Coastguard service's reports. Here's confirmation and increased coverage of the slick.Hopefully it can be tracked down with continued help from the public.

This Guardian story today is actually about US economics and interest rates, however, it goes on to discuss the environment, Al Gore's take on how it must be placed in an economic context and multilateralism and how the UK will tackle similar issues and factor green issues into the equation. Let's hope it happens soon, eh?

And finally here's another positive example of individuals trying to live more sustainably. A housing association in Edinburgh has erected two turbines to generate green electricity on its roof. It is hoped that the energy produced will power communal lighting etc. in the housing block, and in time lower residents' bills. It is estimated that the initiative will have paid for itself within seven years and the residents will be enjoying 'free' electricity, safe in the knowledge that they are not damaging the environment unnecessarily. Hopefully more of these stories to come, as they get increasingly affordable and accessible, especially with government grants...

Britain's not doing too well...

on the climate change front. Despite being one of the countries that talks the most about the importance of fighting climate change and encourages other countries with great rhetoric, it is not doing enough to limit CO2 emissions at home and is lagging behind many other countries in developing renewable energy alternatives. Here's a report from a couple of weeks ago form politics.co.uk

France and Cameroon have both signed an agreement to protect some of the rainforests in the Congo River Basin. They will donate money over the next five years, which will be used to protect some of the species it homes and to help raise sustainability and reduce illegal logging. The countries will provide debt relief and invest in protected area management. Environment News Service covers this.


The Independent reports that Al Gore believes tyhe fact that the three major British parties are all vying to be seen as the most ecologically aware is positive. I'll put the link here, howver, I don't suppose it will stay live for very long. When we saw Al Gore at the Hay festival a couple of weeks ago, he advertised his new environmental website, so I'll put a link up to that soon.


Here's a horrid story about the consequences of what should have been a minor chemical spill in Essex. I found coverage of it in the Telegraph, so here it is! The Environment Agency (see links) has fined Rentolkil and the other parties responsible, however, this won't do much for the thousands of fish and connected wildlife that have now been killed.

It is estimated that British businesses will waste £570 million on energy bills this summer. They suggest that this is equivalent to 15% of industry's annual bill, and would be enough energy for the entire city of Birmingham for the whole year. The Carbon Trust has launched a campaign. Here's the full story.

Liverpool!

Liverpool's John Lennon Airport has founded a programme to plant hundreds of trees in order to reduce the negative effect of CO2 emissions produced by its aircraft. The project will run over the next few years and has been organised in conjunction with Liverpool City Council, who hope that other local organisations will follow this example and set up similar initiatives. Plainly, any project that aims to reduce the horrific damage air travel does to the environment is to be encouraged, however, we have to ensure that it does not become an excuse and method of justifying flying. People need to accept that every time they fly they are making a choice to do serious damage to the world's atmosphere, and that CO2 offsetting, whilst positive does not make it neutral. Offsetting Carbon Dioxide is no easy task and rarely undoes the negative effects produced. The general consensus is that tree planting is not one of the more efficient methods of doing so either. I will try and cover other CO2-offsetting projects at some stage and put some links up to those that seem useful. Anyway, as long as people don't use it as a means to justify their actions and reduce their guilt enough to not worry about their impact, it's got to be a step in the right direction, so congratulations Liverpool. Here's coverage of the story.

This report is from the EU and is about directives on Air Quality. The Environment Committee voted on Outdoor Air Quality. This will allow anti-pollution measures to be postponed more than a decade and allow particle rates to rise. There are severe health risks involved and some commentators suggest it will allow polluters to continue ignoring the consequences of their actions.

And, very briefly, another EU political story is that talks are taking place between the EU and US government in Vienna at the moment. They have agreed to try and encourage dialogue on the key issues of Climate Chance, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development, issues which proved fundamental in preventing Kyoto agreement. This is good news, though at a press conference it emerged that Bush is still a complete idiot and still thinks we can rely on improving technology rather than reducing CO2 emissions to solve our greenhouse gas problem?! The silver lining is that there is more eagerness for the countries to pool ideas on these technologies to accelerate potential environmental gains. Read a fuller report here.

Couple More Things...

The Guardian discusses Air Conditioning this week. It considers the rising dependence we have on it, not least because of global warming and hotter summers, whilst flagging up the damage the energy-hungry aircon does to the environment, thus precipitating the vicious circle. It also asks us to be forward thinking in our plans for future buildings so that we can limit our need for air conditioning.


A rather more uplifting story is about elephant populations in Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The latest census was carried out last week and showed that numbers had increased since the last survey three years ago. The succss has been attributed to the dedicated national park guards, who have been protecting the animals from poachers at great personal risk and for a meagre salary. The EU has now agreed to fund more support in the near future. Many hope that tourism to the area to see the wildlife will bring revenue and reduce the local need to profit from poaching (though it seems that travel will come at an enormous environmental cost too, not to be encouraged without reflection). It will be interesting to see how this situation continues to develop.

Pandas and Pesticides

It appears that the giant panda may in fact be further from extinction than was previously feared, according to new studies. Although the bear is now only found in the forested hills in China, there are hopes that there may be as many as 3,000 of them, three times as many as was estimated. They are, obviously, hard to keep track of and monitor, however, new techniques using DNA-profiling are being used. Although the news is positive, it is not an excuse to slacken efforts to protect the species, and it remains to see whether similar results will be seen across other areas, or whether there is a particularly high concentration of bears in the site tested. Here's the BBC report on it.

The Guardian runs this interesting story, in which it considers the way in which different countries' environment ministers are facing the futures of their states. The article looks at Iran and her oil and compares approaches with Burkina Faso and her desert.

I read about this project today. In the lake district, builders are underway construcitng an eco-friendly training building near Windemere. It is being constructed from recycled tyres, lime, straw and wool. The team are going to give courses throughout the summer on the green skills they have been using for this project to encourage others. Here's a link to the company undertaking the work.

Here's a report on a study which will look into assertions that there may be links with pesticide use and the development of Parkinson's disease. It is being funded by Defra (I'll add them to the links list later). The Parkinson's Disease Society support the research and hope that it will contribute to understandings of the disease. Whilst there have long been suggested links between pesticide use and onset of Parkinson's, thus far no conclusive causality has been proven. It is hoped that this three-year study, with partners in other European countries and the US, will be able to test the observed correlation and explain why most people do develop the disease, since genetic mutation is a rare cause.

Tuesday's round-up

Here's a nice, simple story about a pensioner from Oxford who's just won an award for transforming her house into Britain's most eco-friendly home. She's planning a website too to guide others who might want to follow in her footsteps more easily.

This story appeared today. It doesn't tell us a great deal we didn't already know, but it's quite well reported. It discusses whether we are more of a burden to our environment living in the countryside or the city. The answer is (perhaps disappointingly) the city. It's no great surprise, surely? And, this appears after it has been in the news recently that for the first time, more people in Britain live in cities than the countryside. Good news, then. There is a really interesting and related report here, using information from New Scientist about what an eco city actaully is and how it would operate.

Postive story from Reuters, South Africa here. Equitorial Guinea have set aside more than 500,000 hectares of land to help protect and preserve some of the continent's rarest species, especially in forests. Despite past declarations of dedication to the green cause, there appears to have been little official progress thus far, so this is a major step. Whilst some remain sceptical and await results before feeling too positiv,e it is surely a step in the right direction.

And, there's a sensible-sounding conference in Leeds at the moment about business and ecology. It emphasises that business must be actively involved in the fight against climate change, and highlights the opportunities rather than the downsides that come with a more green approach. The Yorkshire Post covers it here.

And, finally... Although it's from the Telegraph, this report is about being green whe you drive. If you really must drive at all! They are simple mechanisms that would give drivers an immediate sense of the damage they were doing and the amount of fuel they were consuming. They could well form part of future plans in cities to reward the carbon neutral and to punish the carbon wasters.

Really Bad News...

from the Annual International Whaling Commission's meeting. It's the news conservationists and anti-whaling countries had feared. It was known that the decision would be in the balance, but it's gone Japan's way, being backed by a majority of just one. Japan have described the decision, the first pro-whaling step in twenty years, as 'historic'. Pleased with the result, Joji Morishita, Japanese Deputy Whaling Commissioner, suggested that this meeting would mark the start of more, but managed whaling: 'It's not going back to the commercial whaling, it should be the beginning of sustainable whaling, pus ptotection of depleted and endangered species'. Countries including Brazil and New Zealand have vowed to challenge the decision and environmentalists such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare are understandably disappointed. Apart from the problems associated with overwhaling, they raise concerns as to the torturous way in which the animals are killed and the drawn-out death that ensues after harpooning. Here's a slightly older BBC report discussing just how it can be tested once a whale is actually dead. Pretty horrid. Check out Whalewatch's coverage of the whole issue.

On a more positive note, Lebanon's Daily Star reports on the foundation of a new environment forum for the Arab world. It aims to raise awareness of conservation issues across the Arab world and to encourage environmentally responsible development strategies. It will be called the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) and will be based in Beirut. It has yet to be officially recognised, but is certainly a step in the right direction. Several environmental groups from a variety of countries discussed work they had already been engaged in, so hopefully pooling experiences and resources will allow them yet further success. Here's the story.

Similarly, in India the state government has announced that it will formulate a new environment policy. They have so far drafted a proposed policy and in a bid to encourage suggestions, they are setting up a freephone number for the public. The Environment Minister, Ujjawal Raman Singh is also keen to push youth participation and is encouraging workshops to raise awareness and involvement. He believes even government officials remain ill-educated on such matters and is keen to raise public responsibility through knowledge. The Hindustan Times, not a publication I know well(!), covers it well here.

There is also good news coming from Israel at the moment. Although policy here has been little concerned with sustainable development thus far, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) has been working hard to raise awareness and encourage conervation projects across the country. Although public awareness is very low, when greeted with the facts, Israelis seem eager to help protect their country's natural resources and green spaces. SPNI's educational programmes are being run in public schools and community centres throughout the country. Read about it at Israel21C.

I saw this crazy story today. It begins 'We hear in the news all the time how automobiles are hurting the environment, but we rarely see any reporting on how the environment can harm our cars.' It goes on to discuss environmental nastiness such as acid rain and blames them for damaged paintwork and the like. I don't doubt that acid rain's not great for the bodywork of a car, but let's not forget, it's not the environment's fault we have acid rain, but precisely the damage that we are doing to the environment. Not least with our frightening number of motor vehicles! It goes on to recommend various treatments for such problems. Oh good, I'm sure more unnecessary chemicals to pump back into our water systems will help the whole sorry situation?!

In Sweden, there are tests being undertaken at Arlanda airport, Stockholm to make landings more environmentally friendly. If we must all insist on flying so much, then this is kind of good news. The new approach should reduce emissions, fuel burn and noise. According to the project's manager, Peter Larsson, the EU aims to make the system operational Europe-wide within ten years and has sponsored the research. It will also save airlines money in fuel, which to me seems dubious news. I certainly don't want it to encourage more inexpensive flights and make them yet more widespread, but for now it seems positive. More on that here.

Round-up of some of the weekend's news

A few more stories that came to light on Friday, firstly...
More reports of ill or dead fish in Britain's rivers spark a request on the part of the Environment Agency (see links) for anglers to report any unusual observations in the West Midlands. This is believed to be due to the hot weather reducing Oxygen levels in the water.

Here's the latest on the Stone Henge story and whether or not it will be possible to maintain the Unesco site whilst also providing adequate transport links.

More reports on the whale trade in St. Vincent in the Caribbean. Fisherman are hunting both pilot whales and dolphins, and it would appear that the International Whaling Commission has no power to make any changes, despite believing that they are at risk and in serious decline. This BBC report also discusses ecotourism on the island as well as the links with Japan, who are heavily investing in such hunting and making it increasingly finaically viable for the islanders.

On a related note, the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting is underway in St. Kitts. Although pro-whaling Japan lost two important votes, it seems the vote could still go either way, so there's a lot of work ahead for the environmentalists. Japan has also threatened to leave the IWC altogether, unless there is a move back towards commercial whaling. Japan's fading results surprised many, as several key representatives, expected to vote pro failed to arrive and others changed their vote. The rest of the week will see several more key votes, however... It remains to be seen how far the pro-conservation movement will have spread among the smaller, developing nations. Talks will finish on Tuesday.

The Guardian, covering the same story, focused on Japan's methods for coercing pro-whaling votes (even from land-locked nations!) and its reasons for the extreme pro-whaling stance. The UN Environment Programme (see links) also warns of the gravity of the overfishing situation. Here's Conservation International's take on the current overfishing problems.

Anglers have once again been called upon to help study the state of fish stocks. The Environment Agency (see links) is producing logbooks for fishermen in the Northeast to record their catches. This is aimed at identifying necessary conservation projects. Though I'm not pro-fishing as a harmless passtime, it's good that we are making efforts to be responsible about it, so here's the link.

One final fishing story (I promise) is about South Cumbria and the Environment Agency's ten-year plan for local fisheries. They aim to consider issues for aquatic ecosystems and shows priorities for future development.

This article rounds up the basic information on the current situation with hosepipe bans in the UK, especially in the South. It lists the current problems and attempted solutions, discussing who's most affected.


This story reports BP's plans to begin investigating biofuels and their potential. It is welcomed by many, however, Greeenpeace (see links) remain cautious. Whilst biofuel seems to present environmental solutions to our carbon crisis, there are concerns that the landspace they require will lead to inevitable deforestation and competition with biomass spaces. Here's BP's press release on the matter and the Research newspaper's report on it.

Thursday's catch-up and Friday too...

There's a story about Finnie, the environment minister. He's asking all European countries to support a move to manage climate change.

Also, BBC's Green Room is a space in which some of the UK politicians expound their thoughts on and plans for the environment. There are opinions and answers to questions by David Miliband, Chris Huhne and Peter Ainsworth.

There are also new reports of a study that suggest that night-time flights cause more environmental damage and global warming than daytime ones, read about that here.

And, for some of the news that I neglected yesterday...
There is the sad news about the state of the Guernsey beaches and their pollution here.

The more cheery news to balance this is that a group of volunteers has been cleaning a stretch of the Thames this week.

Other bits and pieces that I've kept track of in the last couple of days include news that scientists believe that the recent hot weather in Cambridgeshire has caused the deaths of thousands of fish in water courses.

One very interesting story concerns who our environmentalists are. Several ethnic minority community leaders complain that it is exclusively held by and for white, middle-class people. They also complain that several of their religions place the environment at the centre, and are dismissed as hippyish rather than wise. This discussion will be continued at London sustainability week.

Also, I failed to mention the protests that were held last weekend at British airports against plans to expand them. They were backed by organisations such as Friends of the Earth (see links)

Good News

It's great news that in the headlines today is a story about the environment and climate change. There are plans to introduce a scheme in June, whereby houses will be rated from A to G on energy efficiency, allowing buyers to appreciate both the amount they are liable to pay in domestic bills and the impact they are having in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. Hopefully such legislation will also encourage sellers and constructors to build more energy-efficient homes, both complying with and surpassing government guidelines. Here's the BBC's coverage of the story today.

In a not-unrelated story, reports released show that energy bills have recently risen more than they have in the past twenty-five years. This is obviously having an impact in inflation. It's easy to see why it's a concern. On the other hand, if people worry about the cost of their energy more,it may encourage them to consider more conscientiously the amount of energy they are using, which would be a massive positive. Here's the Guardian's version of events.

And here's an article about potential construction of new nuclear plants. It's a discussion of carbon pricing and what alternatives it will encourage.

Martin Reese Essay

Here's some of the stuff I've read today, then:
There's an essay Martin Reese, whom I saw at the Hay festival just a week or so ago, in the Guardian. It's advocating and discussing the reponsible use of science and makes suggestions as to how we should deal with the environmental challenges that face us. Here's a link to 'Dark Materials'. And, here's the letters in today's Guardian in response to it

More news stories from today...

Another couple of stories linked to the environment that I skimmed in the Guardian, if anyone's interested...
Here are the links, hopefully:
Firstly, 'Why Washing your Jeans can cost the Earth' by Kim Willsher in Paris and secondly, a really interesting article by Larry Elliot, the Guardian economics editor. This article, 'Blue Chips see the Green Light' discusses the move from large corporations towards a more ecological way forward. If even they have worked it out, it must be serious, right? Hopefully this will encourage a move in a positive direction

Some of today's environmental news

So, I'll try and put up a few more links today and find some photos that I can attach that might be useful or goodlooking, without stealing bandwidth from others.

Anyway, I wanted to highlight the link to this story, appearing on the BBC website today:

'New Environment Chief Targets Poverty' by Richard Black, environment correspondent.

Also appearing today is this story:
Labouring for a greener planet
It is an interesting piece and focuses on Klaus Töpfer, who is Germany's former environment minister and now the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep). He argues that Greens show more concern for animal habitats than they do for workers' conditions and living standards. He believes that the trade union movement should be key in constructing a greener, cleaner, fairer Earth.

I'll write more later, and try and post some more of the relevant stories and articles I've been flicking through today.

Current Affairs and Links

I'm going to start looking for some general links to put on the site now, such as the BBC one I've just added here. Once I get enough to make it worthwhile, I'll put them under headings too.

I'm also going to start writing about topical events that are related where possible. And, there shouldn't be any shortage of those, alas. From Al Gore [who I saw last week!]'s aims to give publicity to the issue to the hosepipe ban at the moment, there will be plenty of relevant stories.

Back soon...

Aims

Don't know where this blog will go, but its aim is to put together some useful environmental info. I've spent a fair while trying to encourage my family, friends and acquaintances to lead eco-friendly lives, often much to their irritation, I think, but this will be an attempt to let more people know what they can usefully do. A common complaint seems to be that people don't know how to access simple, useful, reliable information on such concerns, so this blog will be an attempt to put some of it together to make it easy for people. Seems plenty of people want to do the right thing by the planet and would do if it was made easy for them. This should be for those people, then and to raise general awareness. Hope it helps.