PAN UK welcomes today's vote by EU member states that paves the way for a two year suspension on the use of certain types of neonicotinoid pesticides on crops attractive to bees.

PAN UK is joining forces with Avaaz, Buglife, Environmental Justice Foundation, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, RSPB, Soil Association and 38 Degrees for the March of the Beekeepers - 10.30am for 11am start, till 12.30, Friday 26th April, Parliament Square, Westminster, London

The Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) are delighted to learn that Waitrose has taken the bold step of asking its suppliers of fruit, vegetables and flowers to stop using three neonicotinoid pesticides by 2014 because of the impact their use is having on bees and other pollinators.

Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK) and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) applaud today’s report by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee which calls for the UK Government to implement a moratorium on the use of certain types of neonicotinoid pesticides on crops attractive to bees, and to support such a proposal in the EU. 

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and Pesticide Action Network (PAN UK) condemn the failure of EU member States to support a two year suspension of the use of certain types of neonicotinoid pesticides on crops attractive to bees, highlighting that this will add to the pressure on bee populations that has caused a massive decline in their numbers.

PAN UK and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) have a launched a joint-campaign to protect the UK's bee populations and the ecological and economic services they provide through an end to the use of harmful pesticides (particularly including neonicotinoids) and through the promotion of habitat protection.

PAN and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) have today written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, to urge him to support the EC's proposed suspension of neonicotinoid pesticide use on maize, oil seed rape, sunflowers and cotton crops. European Union member states are due to vote on the proposed two year temporary suspension on 25 February.

Pesticides Action Network UK (PAN UK) applauds the statement made by The Co-operative on Saturday 2 February that it welcomes the recent proposal by the European Commission (EC) to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides on sunflower, rapeseed, maize and cotton. 

Bees and other pollinator species are facing a range of problems in the UK, not least the threats posed by the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

The Pesticide Action Network UK and many others are calling on the UK government and the Defra Minister to take decisive action and immediately suspend the use of neonicotinoids whilst all the issues surrounding their use are looked at in detail.

PAN UK has supported organic cotton for more than two decades, during that time we have trained thousands of small farmers and seen it transform their lives for the better so we are delighted to report that a new global initiative aimed at developing and promoting organic cotton has been launched.

PAN UK is incredibly disappointed with the response from Defra regarding the use of bee toxic pesticides and the effects they are having on the UK’s bees and other pollinators. Defra has once again shown that when it comes to protecting the environment or protecting the profits of the pesticide industry the pesticide industry wins hands down!

PAN UK has today published a 12 point call for action on bee toxic pesticides. It outlines key actions that all sectors involved in pesticide use in the UK can take now to stop the harm that pesticides are causing to our bees and pollinators:

PAN UK and the Coop have today issued a press release highlighting a letter sent by the Coop calling on the new Defra Minister, Owen Paterson, to initiate an urgent independent review of the science underpinning the risk assessment for neonicotinoid pesticides in the UK. It also coincides with the publication of the new PAN UK bee and pesticide fact sheets and our 12 point call to action on pesticides and bees that we believe will help to protect bees and pollinators in the UK.

PAN UK has published a series of information fact sheets on all aspects of pesticides and their effects on bees and other pollinators. The fact sheets look at a range of topics including neonicotonoids and why they are so potentially harmful to bees, how the over use of herbicides is reducing forage for bees and pollinators in the UK, the problems with the current risk assessment for neonicotinoids and ways in which farmers can replace the use of neonicotonoids with non chemical methods.

PAN UK response to Pesticides Forum Annual Report

PAN UK has been a member of the Pesticides Forum since its inception in 1996. The Forum is a multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together a range parties with an interest in how pesticides are used including farmers, retailers, industry and civil society. We do not always agree with the conclusions and recommendations of the Forum.

PAN UK has launched its brand new bees website. The site contains all you need to know about bees and other pollinators and the effects that pesticides are having on them. The website takes an in depth look at the key issues and provides links to what other organisations are doing on bees. There are sections on neonicotinoids, herbicides, what you can do and the wonder of bees.

Following the recent publication of new research on the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on bees and other pollinator species PAN UK and 13 other UK based organisations have sent an open letter to DEFRA Minister Caroline Spelman asking for the immedeate suspension of use of neonicotinoids as a precautionary measure.

To read the letter signed by; PAN UK, Soil Association, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, CHEM Trust, Natural Beekeeping Trust, Earth Open Source, Bee Guardian Foundation, Garden Organic, Capital Bee Campaign, Client Earth, Environmental Justice Foundation, Small Blue Marble and Biodynamic Agriculture Association please click read more.

The jury of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal has returned its preliminary verdict on the six agrochemical companies accused of gross human rights abuses. It is damning in its conclusions and calls upon national governments and international institutions to take action to hold the companies criminally responsible for their actions and to ensure that the power of these companies is no longer put before people and planet.

The preliminary verdict and recommendations can be read at the following link: Preliminary verdict

The Blacksmith Institute in collaboration with Green Cross Switzerland has been collecting data from thousands of the world's toxic hotspots for the past three years in order to identify our world's top ten toxic pollution threats and calculate their health impact. Their findings have been compiled in the recently released The World's Worst Toxic Pollution Problems 2011 Report