Environment

• Saturday, April 28th 2018 - 10:22 UTC

  Bees victory: EU votes for a near total ban on insecticides

  

  European Union countries voted on Friday for a near-total ban on insecticides blamed for killing off bee populations, in what campaigners called a “beacon of hope” for the winged insects. Bees help pollinate 90 percent of the world’s major crops, but in recent years have been dying off from “colony collapse disorder,” a mysterious scourge blamed on mites, pesticides, virus, fungus, or a combination of these factors.

• Thursday, April 26th 2018 - 08:41 UTC

  Major companies launch “UK Plastics Pact” to eliminate plastic packaging by 2025

  

  Dozens of companies have signed up to efforts to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic packaging by 2025, it has been announced. Under the “UK Plastics Pact”, the businesses have also agreed targets to make 100% of their plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable and to ensure 70% is effectively recycled or composted.

• Thursday, April 26th 2018 - 08:26 UTC

  “World Penguin Day”: funny on land and graceful and rapid in the sea

  

  April 25th is “World Penguin Day”, undoubtedly the world’s most popular bird – think of Happy Feet, March of the Penguins, Pingu just to name a few uses in popular culture. These charismatic flightless birds are funny to watch on land but are graceful and rapid in water. They occur only in the seas of the Southern hemisphere; there are seventeen species of penguin ranging from the Galapagos to Antarctica.

• Wednesday, April 25th 2018 - 09:06 UTC

  Tons of frozen micro-plastics found trapped in the floating ice of the Arctic

  

  Record levels of micro-plastics have been found trapped inside sea ice floating in the Arctic. Ice cores gathered across the Arctic Ocean reveal micro-plastics at concentrations two to three times higher than previously recorded. As sea ice melts with climate change, the plastic will be released back into the water, with unknown effects on wildlife, say German scientists.

• Saturday, April 21st 2018 - 06:57 UTC

  What is Earth Day, and what is it meant to accomplish?

  

  A message from Earth Network president, Kathleen Rogers - Close to 48 years ago, on 22 April 1970, millions of people took to the streets to protest the negative impacts of 150 years of industrial development.

• Thursday, April 19th 2018 - 08:12 UTC

  Drilling near the mouth of the Amazon banned by Brazil's environmental regulator

  

  The public prosecutor’s office in the northern state of Amapá recommended on Wednesday that Brazil’s environmental regulator Ibama deny French major Total a license to drill for oil near the mouth of the Amazon.

• Wednesday, April 18th 2018 - 07:56 UTC

  IMF semi-annual report warns of choppy waters ahead: protectionism and trade wars

  

  While the world economy continues to show broad-based momentum, a new report released on Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning that there may be choppy seas ahead, caused by increasing protectionism or tit-for-tat trade wars.

• Monday, April 16th 2018 - 08:53 UTC

  Ambitious IMO strategy to reduce shipping emissions 50% bu 2050

  

  Nations meeting at the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London have adopted an initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships, setting out a vision to reduce GHG emissions from international shipping and phase them out, as soon as possible in this century.

• Monday, April 16th 2018 - 08:40 UTC

  UK earmarks £61.4 million to fight the rising tide of plastic pollution in oceans

  

  The UK Government has earmarked a £61.4 million war chest to fight the rising tide of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. Theresa May announced the fund ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London this week.

• Friday, April 13th 2018 - 08:44 UTC

  New Zealand bans new offshore exploration and targets a clean energy future

  

  Permits for offshore oil and gas exploration will no longer be issued by the New Zealand Government as part of its commitment to a clean energy future. The move will not affect existing permits for exploration or extraction, meaning the industry is likely to continue in the nation for several more decades.