Britain's Got Talent

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn

2nd May 2008

Environmental talent key to economic growth: Ministers

Britain must remain at the forefront of the green industrial revolution, creating jobs and economic growth, ministers said today as they published plans to work with business to build a low carbon economy in Britain.

The Government has committed to working with business to make the UK one of the best places in the world to develop and introduce low carbon, resource efficient products and services, and has today published Building a Low Carbon Economy: Unlocking Environmental Innovation and Skills in response to the Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance (CEMEP), which reported late last year.

The Government has identified four main prerequisites for building a low carbon economy:

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:

“The UK has a history of moving early on green issues. For example, the Climate Change Bill currently before Parliament is the first of its kind in the world, and it will create certainty for businesses and investors in green industry for decades to come.

“The Government is committed to building a low carbon economy, here and around the world.  That means a complete change in the way we live and an economic transformation that will put Britain at the forefront of a technological revolution in the way we use and source our energy. It is the talent of our people that will bring about that revolution.”

Business Secretary John Hutton said:

“By the end of the decade, global green industries will be worth as much as the global aerospace industry – in the order of £350 billion a year – and with the potential to create thousands of new green collar jobs in Britain. So there is a clear business case for maximising the opportunities presented by climate change and making sure that Britain unlocks these business opportunities. 
“That's why next month we will hold, with the Royal Bank of Scotland, a low carbon economy summit to help identify what further action both government and business need to take.  At the same time, we continue to work to ensure a secure, diverse and increasingly low-carbon energy mix for the UK."

The Government has already:

The City of London has become a global hub for carbon trading and the UK is also poised to become the world leader in installed capacity of offshore wind.  We have a strong history of innovation and remain world leaders in scientific research.

CEMEP was established in November 2006 to examine what Britain needed to do to ensure we are in the best possible position to seize the new opportunities presented by the environmental sector, and how Government can support this. Chaired by two Cabinet ministers, the Commission’s members were drawn from business, trade unions, NGOs and universities across a range of sectors. 

UN Acts on Food Crisis

John Holmes, USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

1st May 2008

The United Nations is aiming to have a comprehensive plan to tackle the global food crisis in place by the beginning of June, “around which the institutions and leaders around the world can coalesce,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said today.

Mr. Holmes is one of two coordinators, along with UN System Influenza Coordinator David Nabarro, of a new high-powered task force that was announced yesterday by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to organize responses to the global rise in food prices.

Mr. Holmes told Eco in Geneva today that although the breadth and complexity of the issue needed to be recognized, there was no need to panic:

“I think it is clear we can fix these problems. The solutions can be found; the solutions are there. They are very difficult, some of them, in the short term, but they can be done.”

On the role of biofuel production in the current crisis, Mr. Holmes said: “It is something that needs a new look in present circumstances without wanting to fall in any sense into knee-jerk reactions of saying all biofuels are bad or good. We need to look at it in a careful, sophisticated and differentiated way, between different regions of the world and between different products.”

The Under-Secretary-General also said the crisis was not affecting every country in the same way. “For many countries and population groups it is inconvenient, a problem for their daily budget and their purses, but it is not a matter of life and death. In some places and for some groups, particularly those living on less than a dollar a day, that quickly could become a matter of life and death, or certainly of increased suffering and malnutrition.”

The UN’s action plan is to be in place in time for a meeting of UN agencies in Rome at the beginning of June. The task force is chaired by Mr. Ban and consists of the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and other organizations which will be invited to join.

Labour MPs rebel on energy vote

1st May 2008

33 Labour MPs - half of the Government's majority - voted against the Government in favour of an amendment to the Energy Bill which would have encouraged homes, businesses and communities to install renewable energy systems such as solar panels. Although the amendment was not successful it had drawn widespread public and cross party support. Friends of the Earth's Economics campaigner, Dave Timms said: "This vote clearly shows that Labour MPs are unhappy with the Government's appalling record on renewable energy.

"Feed-in tariffs could provide a real financial incentive for homes, businesses and communities to install green energy systems and help tackle climate change.

"There is enormous and growing support for a UK feed-in tariff. The House of Lords must amend the Energy Bill to introduce this vital policy for supporting renewable energy."

The amendment - tabled by Labour MP Alan Simpson and backed by Friends of the Earth - would have required energy companies to give long-term contracts guaranteeing a premium price for all renewable energy generated by homes, businesses and communities.

The scheme, known as a feed-in tariff, would make renewable technologies significantly more cost-effective to install.

The Government has said that it will look at a feed-in tariff as part of a review of renewable energy later this year. However they have refused to include powers in the Energy Bill to set one up.

Welcome to Eco Island

Isle of Wight to host Big Green Picnic

29th April 2008

Thousands of Isle of Wight residents and tourists alike are being invited along to a green themed extravaganza taking place in Newport at the end of May. 

Isle of Wight Council is hosting its "Big Green Picnic" in Newport town centre over the weekend of 24th and 25th May, where businesses, arts organisations and public sector bodies such as Isle of Wight Council will be showing off fun-filled ways in which the Isle of Wight can go Green. 

The Big Green Picnic follows on from the hugely successful Eco Island conference which was staged on the Isle of Wight in March this year. 

This time, the emphasis of the weekend is exploring ways in which individuals and families can do their bit to help the Island with its long term aim of having the lowest carbon footprint in England by 2020. 

Exhibitors range from a solar powered toy exhibition staged by the Medina Valley Centre to a special "Bestival" bandstand organised by one of the Island's most popular music festivals which will feature local bands. 

Other exhibitors include Quay Arts and Smallfoot - a new local eco-friendly mobile coffee company which has just started on the Island and sells organic fairtrade tea, coffee and hot chocolate from the back of a 1940s Italian moped. 

There will be exhibitions from firms selling solar panels, wind turbines and rainwater harvesting equipment, a Women's Institute tea tent, and an exhibition of new eco-friendly buses by Southern Vectis. There will be an exhibition from the Isle of Wight Council's Parks and Countryside section showing a range of the Isle of Wight's stunning walks in its beautiful landscape as well as a planter of drought tolerant plants. 

Also at the council exhibition will be information about composting and Eco Island. 

Hosts of voluntary organisations, public bodies and traders will also be present at the event which takes place in Quay Street and the car park. 

Isle of Wight Council leader Councillor David Pugh said:"Our ambitious Eco Island strategy sets out how the Isle of Wight will become a dynamic and thriving community in balance with its local environment. We staged a successful Eco Island conference last month which set out our vision and encouraged local businesses to play their part in creating a place which residents and visitors alike can be proud of. 

"But it is also down to individuals to do their bit to protect our beautiful environment for future generations. The Big Green Picnic will give visitors, residents and their families a marvellous fun day out, whilst at the same time furthering our Eco Island vision."

Gardening leave:

Afghan style

A girl in a potato field in Bamyan

29th April 2008

A United Nations gardening and literacy project for Afghan women and ex-combatants seeks to pave the way to peace and prosperity in the war-torn nation.
Aimed at reversing environmental damage wrought by decades of conflict, uncontrolled grazing and illegal logging, the Green Afghanistan Initiative (GAIN) – run by six UN agencies, led by the World Food Programme (WFP) – will give participants the chance to make a fresh start through literacy classes and setting up their own nurseries to generate an income.

“These nurseries are making a huge difference to the lives of ordinary Afghan people and also to our environment,” Obaidulla Ghafouri, the programme’s coordinator told Eco, at the GAIN's Heart centre, noting that rural communities and farmers’ livelihoods have been impacted by deforestation.

He noted that the nurseries provide regular jobs for ex-combatants and also for women, who can support their families with income earned while attending literacy classes.

More than 500 GAIN nurseries have been set up throughout Afghanistan since 2005, and by the end of this year, more than 5 million plant saplings will have been grown and over 1 million trees planted.

The country is prone to desertification, and this has been exacerbated by limited rainfall, mismanagement, abuse of natural resources, droughts, floods and population growth.

GAIN-backed provincial re-forestation centres – seeking to boost public awareness on the issue – will be established, serving as both agricultural knowledge centres and high-yield nurseries.

    "Green Show" Postponed

The Green Show which was due to take place at London Olympia in May has been postponed due to a clash with other green events, and to allow time for a larger event to take place at the same venue on 25th-26th October.

Illegal fishers

plunder Arctic waters

17th April 2008

The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) has warned in a new report that Alaska pollock, a species increasingly being promoted in the UK as an alternative to overfished cod, is at threat from illegal fishing. While progress is being made in tackling illegal fishing for Atlantic cod in the Arctic, huge number of illegal landings of both Atlantic cod and Alaska pollock are continuing to make their way to international markets.
"Pervasive and highly profitable illegal fishing for Alaska pollock and Atlantic cod in the Arctic is threatening the health of these globally important ecosystems," said Giles Bartlett, Fisheries Policy Officer at WWF-UK.
"WWF-UK is concerned about the ability of Arctic fish to cope with climate change, with illegal fishing being an added stress that can reduce the capacity of fish populations to adapt and survive. This comes at a time when the UK is importing significant quantities of cod and pollock from the Arctic, due to depleted cod stocks in European waters," he explained.
About 70% of the world's white fish supply comes from the Arctic, with the world's last large cod stock found in the Barents Sea. According to Norwegian government figures, more than 100,000 tonnes of illegal cod, valued at €225 million (£180 million), was caught in the Barents Sea in 2005.
Concerted efforts by industry, government and environmental groups to clamp down on this illegal activity has seen illegal landings cut by 50%, but illegal fishing for Alaska Pollock in the Russian Far-East remains a problem.
While investigation into illegal fishing in the Russian Far-East is less exhaustive than in the Barents Sea, the new report, Illegal Fishing in Arctic Waters, shows that in the Sea of Okhotsk alone, illegal landings of Alaska pollock can reach a value of more than €45 million (£36 million) annually. The economic loss to the legitimate fishing industry and public purse is estimated at €210 million (£168 million).
"Illegal fishing in the Arctic is a serious international crime crossing European, African, Asian and American borders," said Dr Neil Hamilton, Director of WWF International's Arctic Programme.
"Cheats are putting short-term profits ahead of the long-term survival of Arctic fisheries," he explained.
Barents Sea cod is taken mainly by Norwegian, Russian and EU fishers, while the bulk of the Alaska pollock catch, fished mainly in the Western Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk, is taken by Russian fleets with China the largest buyer. With markets spread across the globe, the distribution of black market cod and pollock is a global problem.
WWF-UK is alarmed that several EU member states are opposing the current European Commission (EC) proposal to address illegal fishing. The EC is calling for a ban on illegal fish or fisheries products entering the EU market and major fines for EU and non-EU vessels caught fishing illegally.

Rising Tide

16th April 2008

A new study has predicted that sea levels will rise by one and a half metres by the end of the century. That means that within the lifetimes of today's children, low-lying nations such as Bangladesh will become uninhabitable, displacing millions of people.

The new analysis comes from a UK/Finnish team which has built a computer model linking temperatures to sea levels for the last two millennia. This is substantially more than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast in last year's landmark assessment of climate science. The IPCC was unable to include the contribution from "accelerated" melting of polar ice sheets as water temperatures warm because the processes involved were not yet understood.

"For the past 2,000 years, the [global average] sea level was very stable, it only varied by about 20cm," said Svetlana Jevrejeva from the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL), near Liverpool.

"But by the end of the century, we predict it will rise by between 0.8m and 1.5m. The rapid rise in the coming years is associated with the rapid melting of ice sheets. We know what's happening today from satellite data, but trying to predict what that means in the future is very difficult science," noted Steve Nerem from the University of Colorado, whose own research concerns global sea levels.

"There's a lot of evidence out there that we're going to see at least a metre of sea level rise by 2100," he said.

"We're seeing big changes in Greenland, we're seeing big changes in West Antarctica, so we're expecting this to show up in the sea level data as an increase in the rate we've been observing."

Scientists fiercely debate how much sea levels will rise, with the IPCC predicting increases of between 18 cm and 59 cm.

"The IPCC numbers are underestimates," said Simon Holgate, of the Proudman Laboratory.

Developing nations in Africa and Asia who lack the infrastructural means to build up flood defences will suffer most. They include countries like Bangladesh, almost of all of whose land surface is a within a metre of the current sea level. However the developed will world will not be unaffected, and will have to help house climate refugees. If the sea level rises by one metre, 72 million Chinese people will be displaced, and 10 percent of the Vietnamese population.

Sea Shepherd Boat Boarded

12th April 2008

At 0700 Hours (PST) and 0800 Hours Atlantic time the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Farley Mowat was attacked by officers from two Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers the Des Groseilliers and the Sir Wifred Grenfell.

Captain Alex Cornelissen informed the boarders that the Farley Mowat is a Dutch registered ship in international waters and that Canada had no legal right to restrict the free passage of the vessel through international waters.

The ship was in the Gulf of St. Lawrence well beyond the Canadian twelve mile territorial limit.

Captain Paul Watson was speaking by phone with Farley Mowat communications officer Shannon Mann when he heard the voices of men screaming for the crew to fall to the floor. The men carried guns according to Mann and could be heard by Captain Watson threatening the Farley Mowat’s crew. As Captain Watson was speaking with Shannon Mann, the Satellite phone went dead and nothing more has been heard from the Sea Shepherd crew.

The Farley Mowat was documenting violations of the humane regulations and gathering proof that the seals were being killed in an inhumane manner. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is assuming that the video tapes will be seized by the Canadian authorities.

There are 17 crewmembers onboard the Dutch registered Farley Mowat from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, South Africa, Canada and the United States.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been cut off from communication with the crew and has no information on where the vessel will be taken. Sea Shepherd has no information on the condition of the crew and the Society is deeply concerned for their crew.

“This is an act of war,” said Captain Paul Watson. “The Canadian government has just sent an armed boarding party onto a Dutch registered yacht in international waters and has seized the ship. Considering that the mission of the Farley Mowat was to document evidence of cruelty by sealers to support a European initiative to ban seal products, I can predict that the Europeans will not be very pleased with this move and most likely this move by Loyola Hearn will guarantee that this bill is passed. In other words the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has just handed us the victory that we were looking for.”

Melting Planet

27th March 2008

Scientists have expressed alarm at news that another ice shelf, the size of the Isle of Man, is about to break away from Antarctica. Satellite images suggest that part of the ice shelf is disintegrating, and will soon crumble away.

The Wilkins Ice Shelf has been stable for most of the last century, but began retreating in the 1990s. A large part of the Shelf, measuring 5,000 square miles in western Antarctica, is now supported by just a thin strip of ice and is unlikely to survive another year.

Professor David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said: "Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula yet to be threatened. I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread - we'll know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be."

Since an ice shelf is a floating platform of ice, the break-up will have no impact on sea level. However scientists say it heightens concerns over the impact of climate change on this part of Antarctica. Temperatures in the Antarctic peninsula - the large "finger" of the continent which points towards South America - have gone up by 3C in the last 30 years. It is the biggest increase in temperatures observed anywhere on Earth over the past half-century.

Although the summer melting period in Antarctica is coming to an end, making it unlikely there will be further collapse before next year, Prof Vaughan said a major storm in the coming days could accelerate the disintegration.

Professor Vaughan, who in 1993 predicted the northern part of Wilkins Ice Shelf was likely to be lost within 30 years, said: "Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on the Antarctic peninsula yet to be threatened. I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly".

Defra in Flights Scandal

Francis Maude MP exposes Defra hypocrisy

27th March 2008

The Department for Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA)  is at the centre of a scandal, accused  of hypocrisy after the Conservatives revealed that government departments flew the equivalent of 12,240 times around the world last year. Defra spent £1.8m in 20 months, including £316,750 on flights to the USA. 

A Conservative party spokesperson commented: "You can understand the travel by the Foreign Office, the MoD and the Department for International Development. But the amount of travel by some domestic government departments is extraordinary. The travel by Defra is ridiculous. It lectures everyone else and then lets its officials take to the air." Shadow Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: "Ministers and Ken Livingstone are failing to practise what they preach on the environment, as they and their civil servants jet around the world on foreign jaunts."
Using government carbon offsetting statistics, the Tories calculated that public servants managed 306m air miles last year, of which 176m were by the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development. Cabinet Office staff traveled 38.4m miles and the Metropolitan Police staff flew nearly 17m miles. Even Greater London Authority staff flew 600,000 miles. 

A Government spokesman told Eco: "The government would never indulge in unnecessary air travel but no one should try to suggest Britain's interests can only be pursued over the phone. For example, Defra sent delegations to important international environmental talks helping to secure crucial environmental commitments."

Time for a

Green MP?

24th March 2008

Around the world Green Party members are getting elected to Parliament, from Australia and France, to Canada. Scotland and Ireland have Green Members of Parliament. But not yet England. That could be about to change. Awareness of environmental issues has never been greater, and there is a growing sense of frustration with the traditional parties, and their failure to practice what they preach, and their mixed messages, calling at the same time for protection of the environment while promoting economic growth as the mantra that will solve all ills. People are questioning how the Government can claim to be taking action on climate change while planning the expansion of Heathrow and other airports, the growth of the road network, and the opening of a new coal –fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. The Green Party now has dozens of local Councillors, and the next step is an MP. So where might this happen?                            

Adrian Ramsay

The Green Party has strong representation in Norwich, where Adrian Ramsay is the candidate. Norwich is a City keen to keep its unique character, and its many independent local businesses rather than the monotonous chain stores which have taken over so much of Britain. In local elections Norwich has turned in an impressive array of Green councillors, and it will be one of the contenders to elect a Green Party MP at the next General Election.

Darren Johnson

Also in the running is Greater London Assembly Member Darren Johnson, who is also leader of the Greens on Lewisham Council, securing the highest vote of any councillor on the entire council last year. One ward in Lewisham saw a 46% vote for the Greens recently. Darren is a confident and entertaining speaker, and has a long record of election successes. With his high profile from working on the Greater London Assembly, he will be a strong contender in the Lewisham Deptford ward at the next General Election.  

Caroline Lucas

Perhaps the front-runner to be the first Green MP is Caroline Lucas, a Member of the European Parliament. A former Councillor in Oxford, she has moved to Brighton and is prospective candidate for the Brighton Pavilion Ward. Brighton has 12 Green councillors, and in a recent by-election in the Regency ward, the Greens polled 41%. At the last General Election the Greens polled an impressive 22%, and effective work by the local party has given a strong platform for further success.  Caroline has a high profile and may also be in the running to be the Green Party’s first leader, following the internal vote last year to drop the confusing “Principal Speakers” model it has had for many years.  

If the Green Party in England does finally get its first MP, it will have been a long time coming. The Party was years ahead of its time in highlighting the many environmental problems the world now faces, and representation at the national level might shake the traditional parties out of their complacency.

Mafia Mozzarella Mahem

24th March 2008

The topping on a billion pizzas is at the centre of a health scare involving the Mafia and illegal dumping of waste. Mozzarella cheese is made from buffalo milk to produce the purest form of the rubbery, cream-coloured delicacy – mozzarella di bufala. Now it has emerged that some of the cheese contains dangerously high levels of dioxin, one of the dealiest known toxins.

Italy's public health authorities believe that the contamination is the result of illegal dumping of toxic waste in Campania, an area of Italy where the waste industry is under the control of the "Camorra", a local branch of the Mafia, the same area which has been hit by the waste disposal crisis in Naples, where the streets have been clogged with rubbish for months.

Many people are naturally linking the contamination of buffalo milk with the local waste and pollution scandal. "Of course we don't know for sure scientifically, but the high rate of dioxin is most likely linked to what the buffaloes ate," an Italian environmental official has admitted, adding that the buffalo "grazed in areas where we know that toxic waste has been dumped in recent years".

Italian officials have investigated dozens of buffalo dairies and seized milk samples for testing, after higher-than-permitted levels of dioxins were discovered in products from 29 mozzarella producers. Chemists analysed milk samples taken from some 2,000 herds of buffalo, the herds attached to 66 dairies have been quarantined pending further investigations.

Naples  prosecutors have placed 109 people under investigation on suspicion of fraud and food poisoning. As as result, sales of mozzarella across Italy have fallen by up to 50 per cent, and are destined to fall further as news of waste scandal spreads.

A consortium of mozzarella producers has hit back by taking an advertisement saying:

"Considering these norms, buffalo milk – before being transformed – is placed under the most stringent health and chemical controls which guarantee the safety and quality of Campania's DOP buffalo mozzarella."

Fiddling While Home Burns

13th March 2008

The Chancellor Alistair Darling had promised a Budget with sustainability at its heart. What has been delivered is a business as usual Budget with measures that have minimal environmental benefit if any at all. Instead of urgent taxes to curb air travel there are measures to cut queues at airports. Instead of raising fuel duty, it has effectively been cut. The Chancellor found a few million for home insulation, while billions are being spent on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were headline grabbing measures on plastic bags (still relying on voluntary co-operation), and to tax gas guzzling cars (if you are spending £30,000 on a car, a little more is unlike to put you off).

At a time when the world faces the worst environmental crisis in 10,000 years, due to climate change, and is staring the worst recession in generations in the face, due to peak oil, the Government has failed to show leadership or vision. Realistically the Budget delivered what the public expected, but if we are looking for leadership at a time of crisis, it clearly is not going to come from this Government.

For what they are worth, the environmental measures in the Budget are listed below, but sadly it is too little too late to have any significance:

Cars, Fuel and Road Pricing

• From 2009, major reform of the vehicle excise duty. For new cars from 2010, the lowest-polluting cars will pay no road tax in the first year, with the highest-polluting cars paying £950.

• Funding set aside for road-pricing proposals.

• 2p increase in fuel duty is postponed until October this year.

• For environmental reasons, fuel duty will rise by 0.5p per litre in real terms in 2010.

Air Travel

Increase in the amount airlines will have to pay to become "greener" - an extra 10% on plane duty in the second year of the new per-flight tax regime.

Environmental measures

Laws will be introduced by 2009 to tax plastic bags if shops do not do more to charge for their use.

• £26m to help make homes greener (although it emerges this is not new money).

• New non-domestic buildings to become zero-carbon from 2019.

• The government is asking the European Commission for tougher targets on car fuel emissions

• Consideration is being given to raising the UK target for emissions cuts to 80% by 2050.

Responding to today's budget, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:

"Darling's safe pair of hands have dropped the ball on climate change. Suspending the promised increase in fuel duty has fatally undermined his boast that this is a green budget, and tinkering with tax on planes and cars isn't going to reduce emissions when he's also promising new runways and roads. The Chancellor should have channelled cash into clean technologies, energy efficiency projects and support for the renewables industry. On all these counts, his measures have failed to match the scale of the challenge we face."

The cost of motoring fell by 10 per cent in real terms (after accounting for growth in household income) between 1997 and mid-2007. Despite recent fuel price rises, the cost of motoring is still cheaper in real terms than when Labour came to power in 1997. Over the same period, rail and bus fares rose in real terms by 6 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

Road transport emissions of carbon dioxide continue to rise and account for nearly 22 per cent of total UK emissions. The government's Climate Change Programme shows that fuel duty escalator was one of its most effective measures for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the late 1990s. The latest science shows that the UK must cut its emissions by 80 per cent to play its share in avoiding dangerous climate change. Policies which increase emissions are incompatible with this goal, and a ½ p rice in 2010 is too little, too late.

Responding to the Chancellor's proposals on aviation Greenpeace's senior transport campaigner Anita Goldsmith said:

"Increasing the revenue from flight taxes is hypocritical posturing from a Chancellor who wants to see Heathrow and Stansted almost double in size. The modest carbon savings that might be achieved by bumping up fares by a few pounds will be wiped out in no time by a third runway at Heathrow. A truly green Chancellor would have told the aviation industry their tax subsidies worth billions are being cancelled and the money is being channelled into the railways. Instead Labour is still committed to more runways, more emissions and more climate change."

The proposed expansion of Heathrow would increase flights from 480,000 a year to over 700,000 while plans to expand Stansted - published yesterday - would see the Essex airport become bigger than Heathrow is now. The government accepts that aviation currently accounts for 13 per cent of the UK's climate impact and is rising fast.

Responding to Darling's proposals on Vehicle Excise Duty Anita Goldsmith:

"This showroom tax is welcome but the new incentives to drive cleaner cars are too small to spark the kind of pollution reductions we need to see on our roads. The Chancellor is right to bash gas guzzlers but it means little while he's also ploughing billions into motorway widening schemes to make room for more cars."

Responding to the contradiction between Darling's comments on biofuels and the finding of Julia King's transport review, published today, Greenpeace Chief Policy Advisor Benet Northcote said:

"At the same time that Alistair Darling was telling the house he was pressing ahead with the government's biofuels plans, Julia King's report was published warning ministers that increasing the efficiency of our cars is a far better way of reducing transport emissions than encouraging biofuels. Government policy means that in a month's time motorists will be forced to pump biofuels into their tanks, with no way of ensuring they're sustainable. This is madness when the science says that most biofuels are even worse for the environment than fossil fuels."

Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said:

"The Chancellor promised to put sustainability at the heart of today's announcement, but he has merely tinkered in the margins. Mr Darling should have used this Budget to tackle climate change - the biggest challenge the world faces - by making it cheaper and easier for people to go green, including tax breaks for greening the home, and grants for renewable energy. He did announce a number of welcome green initiatives, such as a car purchase tax and an increase in aviation duty, but the overall package falls a long way short of what is required. We urgently need real political leadership on this issue."

"Another freeze in fuel duty will further undermine the Government's already weak green credentials. The cost of motoring has fallen over the past 10 years, and carbon emissions from road transport have risen. Raising fuel duty would encourage people to choose greener transport options. And the money raised could have been used to cut taxes on people and jobs, and helped to fund a range of green initiatives, including better sustainable transport options."

Stormy Weather

Extreme weather is 'a sign of things to come' unless there is tougher action on climate change, warns South East politician

12th March 2008

Climate change is not just a matter of global weather patterns. This week's storms are a taste of what is to come.

The turbulent weather conditions hitting the South East this week are a worrying sign of things to come unless the Government takes a tougher line on climate change, Green MEP for the South East Caroline Lucas warned today.

Dr Lucas said: "Studies have suggested that the South East of England is likely to be one of the regions worst affected by climate change. In a report as long ago as 2004 entitled 'Global Warming, Local Warning', I drew on such studies to set the particular consequences of global warming for my South East constituency, where the dense population, long coastline and low-lying land are increasingly vulnerable.

"Climate change is not just a matter of global weather patterns - it is affecting and will continue to affect the people and the land of the South East - and this week's storms are a taste of what is to come.

"We are at a crucial stage in the battle to control rising temperatures in the Earth's atmosphere, but this Government looks likely to give the go ahead for new coal-fired power facilities and a massive expansion of aviation.

"To prevent the devastating consequences of climate change, we should be looking to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions by reducing demand, investing in carbon neutral sources of power and developing widescale energy efficiency measures.

She concluded: "According to the Government's own figures, 30% of the UK's energy demand could be saved by using energy efficiency technologies that would also save more money than they cost to implement."

Golden Standard best for carbon offsets

12th March 2008

The jointly NGO-created Gold Standard for carbon offsets has been singled out for praise in the first independently commissioned report to rate voluntary offset standards according to their environmental and social benefits. "Offsetting should only be an option when every effort has been made to avoid or reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Kirsty Clough, Climate Change Policy Officer at WWF-UK.
"Only when all other avenues have been exhausted should consumers think of offsetting, using Gold Standard credits," she added.
Making Sense of the Voluntary Carbon Market - a Comparison of Carbon Offset Standards is an independent report commissioned by WWF.
The report rates the seven main standards on the market and of these, the Gold Standard performed particularly highly.
Gold Standard is an independent, internationally recognized benchmark for carbon offset projects that was created by environmental and development NGOs, including WWF, and is currently supported by 51 NGOs from around the world.
"WWF believes that people should be able to trust that the carbon offsets they are purchasing come from high-quality projects, which are actually helping to combat climate change," said Clough.
The voluntary market for carbon offsets is a small but fast growing industry, but while WWF welcomes increased awareness of the need to cut carbon pollution, it also urges consumers and business leaders to use offsetting only as the final part of a three-pronged approach known as 'avoid, reduce, then offset'.
"If carbon offsets are to be credible, and if businesses want to avoid being accused of 'greenwashing,' the projects they finance must have clear social and environmental benefits. Otherwise, offsetting will be seen as the rich transferring responsibility for tackling climate change to the developing world," concluded Clough.

Stansted Slated

12th March 2008

Environmental groups have attacked plans to expand Stanstead Airport, which mirror similar proposals for Heathrow.

Responding to BAA's submission of a planning application for a second runway at Stansted airport, Anna Jones, Greenpeace Aviation campaigner said:

"Whatever their executives might say, BAA's dangerous expansion plans smack of growth at any cost. Doubling the number of flights from Stansted and Heathrow at a time when the scientists are telling us we need to urgently slash our emissions is madness. The company will find a passionate majority of people who are ready to fight this runway, for the sake of the local area and their children's future.

Only this week we’ve seen proof that BAA are a company who cannot be trusted, who are willing to play fast and loose with the science in order to push through their expansion plans.

The Government must stop cosying up to them and instead put the safety of the planet first. It must scrap this out-of-control aviation policy and give real support for a sustainable transport system instead."

Save and Prosper

11th March 2008

• Comprehensive programme of energy efficiency is only permanent solution to fuel poverty and would simultaneously tackle climate change
• Windfall tax on energy companies in Budget needed to kick-start programme to super-insulate the fuel poor

The Government must massively expand its efforts to increase levels of energy efficiency in the homes of the fuel poor, Friends of the Earth said today. The green group warned that Government efforts to boost the income or lower the bills of the fuel poor would neither provide a permanent solution to fuel poverty in the face of rising energy costs or tackle climate change. Friends of the Earth is calling for a £5 billion windfall tax on energy companies' excessive profits in the Budget this week. This money should be used to kick-start a programme of low carbon home zones across the UK to provide super insulation and low or zero carbon energy for all households in fuel poverty. The environmental campaign group is also urging the Chancellor to put climate change at the heart of Wednesday's Budget, and has published a blueprint for a green budget.

Friends of the Earth is still waiting for the Government's formal response to its earlier legal letter challenging the failure of its fuel poverty strategy.

Ed Matthew, Friends of the Earth's Low Carbon Homes Campaigner, said:

"The Government's strategy on fuel poverty has comprehensively failed. Not only have the most vulnerable in society not been protected, a key opportunity to reduce the UK's household carbon emissions has been lost. Capping the bills of the fuel poor isn't enough. The only permanent solution to fuel poverty is high levels of energy efficiency."

"The Government must use this week's budget to prioritise urgent action on climate change and help the poorest members of society to keep warm. It must fulfil its promise to end fuel poverty for vulnerable groups by 2010."

Fuel poverty occurs when a household has to spend more than 10 per cent of income on heat and electricity. There are now over 4 million households suffering from fuel poverty in the UK, doubling from 2 million in 2004.

The increase in the numbers suffering has occurred despite a legal duty on the Government under the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 (which Friends of the Earth campaigned to introduce) to take all necessary steps to implement its Fuel Poverty Strategy. This requires it to eliminate fuel poverty in England - in vulnerable groups by 2010 and in all households by 2016.

Friends of the Earth estimates that only half the money from the key Government programmes to tackle fuel poverty - Warm Front, the Energy Efficiency Commitment and Decent Homes - reaches the homes of the fuel poor. It also estimates that due to the failure to adopt high energy efficiency measures these programmes have only lifted a quarter of a million out of fuel poverty since 2000 when the Act was passed. This number has been far outstripped by the numbers entering fuel poverty as energy prices soar.

Friends of the Earth believes that the Government's plan for tackling fuel poverty is now fatally flawed.

• It has failed to accurately identify which households are in fuel poverty and as a result the Government's schemes to tackle the problem are often not reaching the right people.

• It has failed to set a minimum standard of energy efficiency for treating all affected households. As a result the energy efficiency measures that have been rolled out by Government and energy companies often fail to remove households from fuel poverty or to protect them from future fuel poverty as a result of rising energy prices.

• It has failed to take the steps necessary to deal with harder-to-treat households;

• Crucially, it has failed to allocate the sums that are necessary to deal with fuel poverty and meet its legally binding targets for eliminating fuel poverty.

The result is that the UK has one of the worst insulation records in Europe. The carbon emissions from UK homes represent over a quarter of the UK's total emissions and have risen since New Labour came to power in 1997.

The Government has been repeatedly criticised by the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group, the independent fuel poverty expert group advising Government on its strategy, for consistently failing to spend enough money tackling fuel poverty. The Government has also failed to spend its money wisely. Of the £2 billion spent each year on Winter Fuel Payments it is estimated by Friends of the Earth that only 1 to 2 percent is spent on paying the fuel bills of the fuel poor.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to:

• Set out clearly how it will meet its legal obligations to eliminate fuel poverty, what the costs will be and how its plans will be funded.

• Establish a clear mechanism for accurately identifying all those households suffering from fuel poverty.

• Set a minimum standard of energy efficiency to be achieved in all these households which will insulate them from further energy price rises.

• Set up low carbon home zones in every local authority in the UK in areas where fuel poverty is concentrated. The fuel poor households in these zones should be treated street by street, house by house to the requisite energy efficiency standard.

• Announce in the Budget on Wednesday a windfall tax of £5 billion on the excessive profits of the energy supply companies to help kick start this programme. Further long term finance for this programme must also be secured.

Black Mark

11th March 2008

The Government has signalled that it is preparing to approve the first new coal-fired power station since 1984, at Kingsnorth in Kent, with a speech by Energy Minister John Hutton, who referred to the ongoing "key role" for fossil fuels despite the planned expansion of nuclear power and renewable energy. He told a conference: "Our leadership role is best promoted by the actions we take on capping emissions, carbon pricing and supporting the development of new carbon capture and storage technology."

The power station is proposed by power company E.on, and although it would be "carbon capture ready," the technology for pumping the carbon dioxide it would create into disused oil or gas wells under the North Sea has yet to be either developed or installed.

It is believed that the Government is wary of placing any more reliance on gas from Russia or plants in the Middle East as part of Britain's energy mix.

Mr. Hutton continued: "Electricity demand fluctuates continually, but the fluctuations can be very pronounced during winter, requiring rapid short-term increases in production. Neither wind nor nuclear can fulfil this role.

"We therefore will continue to need this back-up from fossil fuels, with coal a key source of that flexibility, as we increase the proportion of renewable energy in our electricity mix." However a spokesman for Mr Hutton's department said: "He has not made the decision yet. There are details still to be sorted out."

Andrew Pendleton of Christian Aid said: "Gordon Brown says he is committed to helping the developing world. This flies in the face of such sentiments.

"Climate change caused by greenhouse gases is already having a devastating impact on the poor living in parts of the world subject to extreme weather conditions. Those with the least responsibility for causing the problem are bearing its brunt."

Jim Hansen's, Nasa's climate change scientist, said: "If the British Government indeed approves new coal-fired power plants before carbon-capture technology is ready, and if it believes that this egregious action is in any way compensated by restrictions on gas-guzzling vehicles, it is demonstrating a grievous lack of understanding of the gravity and urgency of dealing with climate change.

"It is not rocket science. The oil that Russia and Saudi Arabia have will be burned and the carbon dioxide will stay in the air for centuries. By delaying oil use a bit, with more efficient vehicles, we can buy a little time to develop a transportation system beyond fossil fuels, but that is all.

"Oil will take us to the brink of climate disasters, which can only be avoided with a moratorium and phase-out of coal that does not capture the carbon."

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "At a time when the Government should be working to reduce emissions, ministers seem determined to allow a huge new polluting power station. What planet is John Hutton living on? Without carbon capture and storage, clean coal is a total myth. This monstrosity will only emit 20 per cent less than previous coal-fired stations and a massive 75 per cent more than a gas-powered plant.

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace, comments: "When it comes to climate change, Gordon Brown's Government is behaving like Jekyll and Hyde.

"On the one hand, the Prime Minister accepts we can generate 40 per cent of our electricity from renewables by 2020, plugging the energy gap and slashing emissions, then weeks later his Business Secretary sings the praises of coal, the most climate-wrecking form of power generation known to man. The energy market doesn't need this kind of split personality politics from the Government. With our international reputation at stake, who is in charge here?"

Hope for Whales

The Great Recycling Swindle

3rd March 2008

An investigation by Eco has revealed that thousands of tons of material conscientiously put out by householders for recycling is being secretly dumped at landfill sites. This discovery has been confirmed by the Local Government Association, who said that 240,000 tons of paper, glass and plastic is being burned or dumped. Eco believes that the figure is in reality much higher, as only half of the 410 councils responded to the survey.

In Worcestershire, 110,459 tons of recycling was put out but 14,509 tons was dumped or burned. Similar amounts were dumped by Tynedale and Wansbeck councils in the north-east and Kings Lynn in Norfolk.

Eric Pickles, the Shadow Local Government Secretary, said it made a mockery of people's efforts to separate cans, bottles and paper at home:

"I think families across the country will be shocked to learn that the cans and bottles they dutifully put out for recycling are being secretly dumped. Most people want to do their bit but this sort of thing undermines confidence."

Michael Warhurst, a senior recycling campaigner for Friends of the Earth, commented:

"It is a vast amount and it shows that the way many councils are approaching recycling is just not working. The Government needs to be much clearer on how councils can recycle effectively and take charge of a worrying situation. Everything that householders put out to be recycled should actually be recycled."

Japan may back climate fund

Land of the rising sun

3rd March 2008

It has been announced that Japan may invest $1.93 billion in an international fund aimed at encouraging the use of renewable energy technology in developing countries, the Nikkei financial daily said on Sunday. The fund, to be set up jointly with the United States and Britain, is expected be the largest ever of its type, with total investment of about 500 billion yen ($4.82 billion), the Nikkei said. Britain has pledged £800 million, and the US £2 billion.

Japan is this year's host of the G8 summit of industrialized nations, and may be trying to take a lead on climate change and media reports say the government is planning a 16-nation leaders conference on the issue in parallel with G8.

End of the world? Let's party!

3rd March 2008

James Lovelock is the 88 year-old guru and visionary who gave us the Gaia hypothesis, the recent best-seller "The Revenge of Gaia", and invented the device that measured CFCs in the atmosphere and helped discover the hole in the ozone layer.

Like a growing number of environmentalists who have understood the science of global warming and climate change, he believes we are already too late to prevent catastophic change. He sees ethical living as a scam, carbon off-setting as a joke, and recycling and avoiding plastic bags a deluded fantasy:

"It's just too late for it," he says. "Perhaps if we'd gone along routes like that in 1967, it might have helped. But we don't have time. All these standard green things, like sustainable development, I think these are just words that mean nothing. I get an awful lot of people coming to me saying you can't say that, because it gives us nothing to do. I say on the contrary, it gives us an immense amount to do. Just not the kinds of things you want to do."

He describes the current campaign to cut the use of plastic bags as like re-arranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic, and does not speak highly of carbon-offsetting either:

It's just a joke. To pay money to plant trees, to think you're offsetting the carbon? You're probably making matters worse. You're far better off giving to the charity Cool Earth, which gives the money to the native peoples to not take down their forests."

He believes that global warming has now gone so far that it is irreversible, and that people are sleep-walking towards disaster:

"I see it with everybody. People just want to go on doing what they're doing. They want business as usual. They say, 'Oh yes, there's going to be a problem up ahead,' but they don't want to change anything."

Lovelock believes that 80% of humanity will be wiped out by climate disasters and crop failures by 2100, and remains the maverick, with his love of nuclear power. Faced with the apocalypse, what does he think we should do?

"Enjoy life while you can. Because if you're lucky it's going to be 20 years before it hits the fan."

As the revered elder stateman of the environmental movement, Lovelock remains a visionary and controversial figure.

Posh Protest

2nd March 2008

There has been considerable media interest in the fact that the protestors involved in this week's air travel protest do not fit the stereotype of workshy, scruffy, anarchists, but included a Baronet's grand-daughter, an Cambridge graduate, and an MP's grandson. The new wave of protestors are educated, employed, and determined to make a difference.

Spokesperson Richard George, 27, notable for his rebellious shock of orange hair, is the co-founder of Plane Stupid with Joss Garman and Graham Thompson, lives in Wimbedon, and works for a cycling charity who have been supportive of his involvement. Not previously much bothered by environmental issues, he was, he says radicalised by the war in Iraq:

"I could see we were being dragged into a war we didn't want.....Two million of us marched against it and still the Government didn't listen." He describes climate change as the defining issue of this generation.

Tasmin Omond, 23, recently graduated from Cambridge with a 1st at Trinity College, and is now studying for a Masters in Environmental and Social Policy at the Open University. She works at a North London Church where she has been promoting environmental awareness, cycling the ten miles from her flat in South London to the church rather than drive or get the train. She got involved with Plane Stupid at last year's Climate Camp. She is reported to have told a friend that her actions this week were inspired by the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. The 23-year-old is the granddaughter of Sir Thomas Lees, a fourth generation Dorset baronet and wealthy landowner of the Holton Lee estate.

Graham Thompson, 34, is the co-founder of Plane Stupid, and is an information officer from North London who graduated in philosophy from Durham University.

Leo Murray, 31, is an award-winning animator at the Royal College of Art, and grandson of Anthony Greenwood, who served in Harold Wilson's cabinet.

Olivia Chessell, 20, lives with her mother in South London.

Speaking about the protest, Graham Thompson said:

"We were incredibly nervous about doing it and we can't talk too much about the detail given we were arrested, but my feeling now is one of elation that it went so well....We need to get people to sit up and take notice."

As Richard George puts it: "I think what is happening now is turning ordinary people revolutionary, making radicals of the country's citizens as they feel they have no other way to make their voices heard."

Plane Stupid is an umbrella group, run along anarchist principles, of around 150 UK climate change campaigners. It remains to be seen whether this and future protests will make any difference to the wider public's insatiable demand for air travel, and how many of Plane Stupid's generation will be willing to give up their gap year travelling the world by plane, to join the famous five involved in this week's protest.

10 Reasons to Ground the Plane

Plane Stupid

28th February 2008

Protestors from campaign group "Plane Stupid" have climbed onto the roof of the Houses of Parliament to protest at the planned expansion of Heathrow Airport, on the last day of the consultation. The five activists unfurled two huge banners, one saying No Third Runway, and the other, in a reference to airport operator BAA, read BAA Headquarters.

One of the roof protesters, Richard George, 27, from London, said: "I am stood on the roof of Parliament because the democratic process had been corrupted.

"The aviation industry had taken full advantage of a weak Prime Minister to get the Heathrow consultation fixed. It does not even consider global warming despite everything Brown has said about the environment and despite the massive impact aviation has on the climate.

"The Prime Minister does not even have the courage to ask Londoners the simple question: 'Do you want a third runway?'. Instead, his Government published a consultation document full of gobbledegook and industry spin. We decided to let Gordon Brown get on with Prime Minister's Questions, but we just wanted him to know what it is like to have an inconvenience above your head that you did not ask for."

The protestors say that the consultation has been biased, and that part of the consultation document was actually written by BAA.

Mr George added: "Now the consultation is over, we can safely ignore the fixed result and get on with the job of stopping this new runway being built.

"A huge coalition of local residents, Londoners and environmentalists is coming together, supported by all the major mayoral candidates, to stand against Gordon Brown and say 'no more'."

England's Epitaph

27th February 2008

Climate change threat to England

Conservation organisations warn in a new booklet just released that the face of the South East of England could change forever within 50 years if opportunities to lessen the impacts of climate change are not taken now.

"An increase in average global temperature of more than two degrees centigrade will have catastrophic results for our planet. Closer to home, the way we travel to work, the sports we play, our health, and our environment could all be affected by shifting weather patterns," explained Colin Butfield, Head of Campaigns at WWF-UK.
Buckled rail lines, parched golf courses, disappearing wildlife and freak weather delivering alternating flood and drought could be part of a dramatically changed way of life illustrated in the booklet which delivers a stark but simple message: If you love England, act now to save what makes it special.
The booklet called Our Changing Climate, Our Changing Lives - South East is produced by Tomorrow's England, a coalition of 11 organisations including the National Trust, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, the Woodland Trust and WWF-UK.
The booklet raises awareness of what hotter drier summers, water shortages, flash floods and storms would mean to the region. It comes with a toolkit to help people communicate the reality of climate change and inspire everyone to take action.
"The changes which will alter the appearance of so many of our cherished landscapes in the South East are a wake-up call. Climate change presents us with huge challenges, but there are also opportunities for everyone to take action at a personal and a local level to reduce the impacts now and for generations to come," said Andrea Davies, Senior Campaigner at the Council for the Protection of Rural England.
Flash floods and storm surges are set to increase as the climate changes; this will particularly affect the low-lying South East, impacting on thousands of homes and businesses. Water demand in the region is due to rise by 11% by 2030, and water will become more scarce and expensive. Hosepipe bans are likely to become permanent in many places.
More than two thirds of land in the South East is farmed with traditional crops such as potatoes, apples and strawberries. Warmer weather could see this landscape altered with the introduction of figs, soya and even olives, suggests the report.
Other effects include effects to plants and gardeners: by 2050 favourites like delphiniums and lupins could be replaced by pomegranates, citrus fruits and apricots.
Hot spells could cause chaos on the roads as road surfaces suffer. On the trains, speed restrictions from buckled and fractured rails or trackside fires would become the norm but frozen points would be a thing of the past.
"We are already witnessing changes in our climate in the South East, along with every other part of the country. Such severe scenarios could be lessened as we still have the power to make changes for the better. The impact of homes on the environment can easily be decreased, for instance, with new developments built to high eco-standards and renewable energy playing an increasing role in providing our energy needs," Colin Butfield explained.

Airport Disaster

Heathrow expansion would be a "social and environmental disaster", says Green Principal Speaker in submission to consultation

27th Feb 2008

Any government which, on the one hand pledges to make a significant reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020, and in the next breath gives the green light to the greatest expansion of aviation in a generation is guilty of either the most shameless hypocrisy, or the most unforgivable ignorance and stupidity.

Green Party Principal Speaker Dr. Caroline Lucas has submitted damning evidence to the Government's consultation on the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport, and today labelled the plans for a third runway as 'irresponsible, deceptive and environmentally disastrous'.

In her consultation response, Dr Lucas condemns the proposals, citing the devastating effects on climate change, noise and air pollution, as well as risks to public safety that would be caused by expanding Heathrow capacity from 430,000 flights to between 700,000 and 800,000 flights per year.

She goes on to criticise the "flawed" and 'leading' methods of the public consultation, accusing the Government of continuously 'moving the goalposts' in their arguments.

In her submission to the Heathrow Consultation, Dr Lucas urged the Government to give full consideration to the views of her constituents in the South East, whose lives will be adversely affected by an expansion.

Dr. Lucas, who has campaigned against Heathrow expansion for several years, addressed a 'Stop Heathrow Expansion' rally at Westminster on Monday (25th February), a landmark event which attracted a huge attendance of over 3,000 people.

She said: "The Government's continuing support for an expansion of Heathrow airport demonstrates a complete contempt for the environment, the health of UK citizens and for our democratic processes.

"A third runway would have disastrous consequences for residents in my South East constituency - leading to serious environmental damage and social upheaval through increased pollution, and the destruction of local communities.

Dr Lucas warned that the Transport Secretary's proposals for Heathrow would condemn the UK to an unsustainable future of significantly higher noise and air pollution - and to accelerating climate change.

"Any government which, on the one hand pledges to make a significant reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020, and in the next breath gives the green light to the greatest expansion of aviation in a generation is guilty of either the most shameless hypocrisy, or the most unforgivable ignorance and stupidity.

"Despite the promises which were made to limit further expansion, this Government has persisted in a deceptive campaign for a third runway which its own figures estimate will almost double the number of flights using Heathrow each year.

"Whichever way you look at the Government's proposals on aviation, they are a social and environmental disaster. What we need is a sustainable transport policy which incentivises train travel, makes aviation pay its true costs and restricts airport capacity.

She concluded: "It is crucial for the environment and our democratic processes that the Government responds to the concerns expressed during the consultation, and accepts that there is no simply public appetite for a third runway."

Full of Hot Air

26th February 2008

Greenpeace protestors have described Government climate policy as full as holes just before the decision on whether to expand Heathrow, already the world's largest airport.

Climate campaigners climbed onto the top of a Manchester to London plane after it parked at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal One at 9.45am this morning. They covered the tailfin with a huge protest banner that reads "CLIMATE EMERGENCY – NO 3rd RUNWAY".
The Greenpeace volunteers – two women and two men – waited until all the passengers had disembarked from the one hour flight before walking through double doors at Terminal One, crossing an area of tarmac and climbing stairs onto the fuselage of the British Airways flight.

For the full story

UN Warns of Food Rationing

26th February 2008

The director of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of plans to ration food aid because of rising prices and a shortage of funds. Josette Sheeran said that the WFP needed increased contributions to meet the needs of the world's poor, including growing demands from countries like Afghanistan, where people were now unable to afford food. Food prices rose 40% last year because of rising demand and other factors.

Earlier this month, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said the rising price of cereals such as wheat and maize had become a "major global concern".

The FAO estimated poor countries would see their cereal import bill rise by more than a third this year. Africa as a whole is expected to see a 49% increase. The organisation has called for urgent action to provide farmers in poor countries with improved access to seeds and fertiliser to increase crop production.

Ms. Seeran said those who had been hardest hit so far were people in developing countries who were living on 50 US cents (£0.25) a day, 80-90% of which was already being spent on food.

"In some of these developing countries, prices have gone up 80% for staple food," she added. "When you see those kinds of increases, they are simply priced out of the food markets."

Even middle-class, urban people in countries such as Indonesia, Yemen and Mexico were increasingly being priced out of the food market or forced to sacrifice education and healthcare, she warned.

Ms Sheeran said Egypt had just widened its food rationing system after two decades and Pakistan had reintroduced ration cards after many years.