A new report from the United Nations has, once again, highlighted the fact that while there is no shortage of international and national legislation, people and the environment are still being failed in terms of protection from hazardous pesticides.
Quotes from the report:
- Hazardous pesticides are in excessive use, inflicting damage on human health and ecosystems around the world
- Hazardous pesticides impose substantial costs and have catastrophic impacts on the environment, human health and society as a whole
- Reliance on hazardous pesticides is a short-term solution that undermines the rights to adequate food and health for present and future generations
- Agroecology is capable of delivering sufficient yields to feed the entire world population and ensure that they are adequately nourished
- Without – or with minimal use of – toxic chemicals, it is possible to produce healthier, nutrient-rich food, with higher yields in the longer term, without polluting and exhausting environmental resources
- The assertion promoted by the agrochemical industry that pesticides are necessary to achieve food security is not only inaccurate, but dangerously misleading
- [There is] a systematic denial, fuelled by the pesticide and agroindustry, of the magnitude of the damage inflicted by these chemicals, and aggressive, unethical marketing tactics remain unchallenged.
- The pesticide industry’s efforts to influence policymakers and regulators have obstructed reforms and paralysed global pesticide restrictions globally
