Latest news on ethical and eco friendly living in the United Kingdom
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June 2010
The Nonsense of Immigration Caps 29 Jun 10
The Tory policy on capping immigration from non-EU countries is both stupid and also an example of the dangerous way that mainstream politicians approach the immigration issue, says Andy Newman on Socialist Unity
Read moreIFOAM urges FAO to develop work programs based on ecological intensification 28 Jun 10
In 2009 the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) concluded that an ecosystem approach should be adopted in agricultural management in order to achieve sustainable agriculture. With production in over 150 countries Organic Agriculture is the world’s leading ecosystem based farming system. It is the basis on which FAO’s strategy for the sustainable intensification of crop production should be built.
Read moreMinisters to pimp the arms trade 25 Jun 10
A Government Minister has declared that senior members of the Government will promote arms exports to compensate for budget cuts at the Ministry of Defence. Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) says that this brazen support for the arms trade by the new Coalition Government will result in existing arms controls being further overridden or ignored and arms companies gaining ever greater influence over government.
Read moreMeet 3 leading Fairtrade producers at Caffé Culture 24 Jun 10
The Fairtrade Foundation is bringing three representatives from Fairtrade regional producer networks in Africa, Asia and Latin America to speak at this year’s three-day Caffé Culture conference in Olympia, London which starts today ( 23 June ).
Read more2 short satires from War on Want condemns ’sweatshop’ brands 24 Jun 10
Campaigners today step up their drive for a watchdog to prevent supermarkets abusing suppliers’ workers by launching new films which satirise overseas sweatshops. Source: War in Want
Read moreBritannia oils the waves 23 Jun 10
When Barack Obama referred to a major UK-based criminal organisation by its former name, British Petroleum, a storm of outrage followed in the UK’s corporate press and in the statements of Britain’s Liberal and Conservative politicians, writes 21st Century Socialism’s Noah Tucker.
Read moreLucas slams Tory’s 2010/11 Budget 22 Jun 10
Commenting on today’s "budget for pointless austerity," the UK’s first Green MP Caroline Lucas said: "In spite of the Chancellor’s protestations, this budget was neither unavoidable nor fair. Instead it was a massively failed opportunity to shift the economy onto a fairer, greener pathway.
Read more93% of CEO’s say that sustainability is the key to future success 22 Jun 10
In spite of the recent economic downturn, an overwhelming majority of corporate CEOs – 93 percent – say that sustainability will be critical to the future success of their companies. Furthermore, CEOs believe that, within a decade, a tipping point could be reached that fully meshes sustainability with core business – its capabilities, processes and systems, and throughout global supply chains and subsidiaries.
Read moreSunday Times apologises for Amazongate fantasy 22 Jun 10
The media frenzied attacks on the IPCC at the beginning of the year, and continuing in certain right-wing titles, was dominated more by vitriol than scientific facts. This has now backfired on the Sunday Times as it has rather embarrassingly had to back away from from its "Amazongate" expose by leading journalist Jonathan Leake.
Read moreCut salt and saturated fat levels demands NICE 22 Jun 10
Tens of thousands of lives could be saved, and millions of people spared the suffering of living with the effects of heart disease and stroke, simply by producing healthier food says new National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance today (Tuesday 22 June). The guidance calls for the food industry to further reduce the salt and saturated fats in the food it produces, building on the good work already started.
Read moreWork Foundation-A 2020 Low Carbon Economy 22 Jun 10
New research from The Work Foundation shows that confusion over regulation and a proliferation of agencies and bureaucracy is putting the creation of jobs in the low carbon economy at risk. The low carbon economy has been identified as a potential area for economic growth and job creation.
Read moreBP restricts media, can’t restrict oil 21 Jun 10
British Petroleum (BP) has admitted it may not stop the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico until August — at the earliest. But despite the catastrophe, the US government’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has given BP new leases for deepwater drilling write Green Left Weekly’s Simon Butler Source:Green Left Weekly
Read moreGlastonbury 2010 pushes sustainability 21 Jun 10
The Fairtrade Foundation congratulates the Glastonbury Festival (Wednesday, 23 June to Sunday 27 June) at Worthy Farm as it celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year, and commends the festival organisers on their success at placing the sustainability agenda central to the midsummer celebration.
Read moreCo-operatives- formula for 166 years of success 21 Jun 10
Co-operation is back in vogue. The principles developed by the Rochdale Pioneers in the UK over 166 years ago, are now the foundation for a global economy supporting half of the world’s population, a co-operative sector in the UK to which one in five of us belong and the government’s new coalition leadership.
Read moreCuts “destructive and unnecessary” says Green Party leader 20 Jun 10
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP will this week tell the coalition government there is “no good reason for any cuts in public expenditure during the life of this parliament.” On Monday 21 June Britain’s first Green MP is to issue a new report – Cuts: the callous con trick – in which she will make the case that cuts are unnecessary “because the economy could instead be rebalanced using additional tax revenues.”
Read moreAminopyralid Herbicide contaminated manure threat 17 Jun 10
The Soil Association and the Organic Growers Alliance (OGA) are calling on growers and gardeners to be vigilant following renewed cases of damaged crops due to manure contaminated with the herbicide aminopyralid. The symptoms exhibited on the crops are twisted, cupped, and elongated leaves; misshapen fruit; reduced yield; death of young plants; and poor seed germination.
Read moreFood industry has buried Health warnings says Green MEP 11 Jun 10
MEP Carl Schlyter, member of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) is shadow rapporteur on the food labelling dossier for the Greens. In this interview with Corporate Europe Observatory, he reflects on one of the biggest lobbying battles in Brussels in recent years: the food labelling regulation. Source: Corporate Europe Observatory
Read moreFood Industry spends €1 billion in fight against health warnings 11 Jun 10
Next week MEPs are due to vote on new legislation on food labelling – determining what nutritional information should be displayed on the packaging of items such as snacks, soft drinks and ready-meals. The vote has been the subject of a major lobby campaign by the food industry, opposed to mandatory information on food packaging. Source Corporate Europe Observatory
Read more5 Point Guide to Greenwashing Adverts 04 Jun 10
With the rise in public interest in ethical investment a wide number of Banks have tried to re-position themselves, and their investment strategy, as somehow green and ’caring’. Your EthicalMoney, an EIRIS initiative, have done a 5 point guide to the more obvious greenwashing that advertising agencies have dreamed up to try and dress a goat as a lamb.
Read moreUK ethical investment hits record high of £9.5 billion 03 Jun 10
Figures released today by EIRIS, the London based non-profit sustainable investment specialists, show that the amount of money invested in Britain’s green and ethical retail funds (i.e. those funds open to the general public) reached £9.5 billion*.
Read moreLidl Retracts False Claims of Fair Working Conditions 02 Jun 10
Consumer and worker rights organisations are celebrating a historic victory after the giant German retailer Lidl agreed to withdraw public claims that its goods were being produced under fair and decent working conditions. The agreement was reached following a legal challenge, launched by the Consumer Agency Hamburg, which accused Lidl of engaging in false advertising.
Read moreFood Standards dialogue on GM rocked by 2nd resignation 02 Jun 10
Two prominent members of the UK Food Standards Agency’s GM public dialogue have resigned, accusing the initiative and FSA chair Jeff Rooker of pro-GM bias writes Claire Robinson :Source-Spinwatch
Read moreGreen Gone Wrong: Why most environmental solutions are based on lies 01 Jun 10
Faced with the unprecendented threat of climate change, the contemporary world has turned to a solution that is all too prosaic—consumerism. The answer, we are told, is to “go green,” to buy organic food or even a new “clean” car. In a follow-up to her bestselling and acclaimed book Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, Heather Rogers travels from Paraguay to Indonesia, via the Hudson Valley, Detroit and London, to explore the rapid expansion of environmental production and consumption, writes Derek Wall
Read moreRiverside Market Garden looking for £10,000 from ethical investors 01 Jun 10
Riverside Market Garden is a new ethical model for sustainable local food production. This new 10 acre market garden is being created close to Cardiff to make more fresh food available to the local community. To develop the project the project is looking for start up funds of £10,000. Initial investment starts from as low as £50.
Read moreOrganic Plum Baby Food snapped up for £10 million 01 Jun 10
The fact that organic baby food has shrugged off the recession has not been missed by Darwin Private Equity who today announced they have paid £10 million to acquire Plum Baby Limited. Founder Susie Willis will stay on with the company as Creative Director.
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