by Keith Tyrell, Director, PAN UK A few weeks ago, Qu Dongyu, the Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced his intention to develop a new partnership with CropLife (the pesticides industry trade body) to transform agri-food systems. This marks a major departure for FAO, [...]
by Josie Cohen, Head of Policy and Campaigns, PAN UK Since Joe Biden’s election victory, there has been much speculation in the UK about how the change in administration will affect our much-discussed trade deal with the US. Donald Trump has been the perfect ‘bad guy’ – the quintessential [...]
by Steph Morren, Senior Policy Officer, RSPB In 2010, the world signed up to a set of 20 global targets, known as the Aichi targets, to halt the disastrous loss of biodiversity by 2020. Well, we’ve reached 2020 and sadly are still a very long way from halting biodiversity [...]
Trade deals, pesticides and why we have joined the Future British Standards Coalition by Josie Cohen, Head of Policy & Campaigns, PAN UK PAN UK is proud to have been invited to join the recently-launched Future British Standards Coalition. We will be providing expertise on pesticides to this new panel [...]
Moise and Celestine shared the tragic story of their son dying from pesticide poisoning. Credit PAN UK by Sheila Willis, Head of International Programmes, PAN UK Last November, I was collecting data in Benin, West Africa. While in Dassa, we were joined by farmers who had agreed [...]
By Stuart Fraser, Kersten UK Hello readers of the PAN UK blog, I work for a company called Kersten UK. Our business specialises in chemical-free integrated weed management and we’d love to share some of our thoughts with you on the topic. We’ve noticed a trend of public bodies moving [...]
by Nick Mole, Policy Officer, PAN UK UPDATE (26th Oct 2020): FRANCE AND NEONICOTINOIDS There are mixed messages coming from France about the continued use of neonicotinoid insecticides. On the one hand the European Court of Justice ruled that France was entirely within its rights [...]
by Dave Goulson, Professor of Biology, University of Sussex The charity, Songbird Survival, are funding two PhD students in my lab at Sussex University, Priyesha Vijendra and Cannelle Tassin de Montaigu, to investigate whether pesticides are contributing to the ongoing declines of farmland birds. Impacts of pesticides on birds first [...]
by Sheila Willis, Head of International Programmes, PAN UK According to an April 2020 forecast by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), ‘global trade volumes are expected to fall by between 13% and 32% in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world.’ The [...]
by Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy, City University of London and author of Feeding Britain It is trite to say that Covid-19 has been a wake-up call, not because it is not true, but because the lessons might so easily be ignored. Some have argued that the food [...]
We're proud to support The Wildlife Trusts, and PAN UK trustee, Professor Dave Goulson, on the launch today of a new report Reversing the Decline in Insects. The report comes at a critical time for insects. There is ongoing evidence for insect declines and the future of insects – and [...]
How big business uses the conspiracy playbook to avoid regulation (written by Nick Mole, Policy Officer, PAN UK) These are indeed very strange times we find ourselves in. Normal everyday lives have been put on indefinite hold, pubs and restaurants are shut, holidays and travel a thing of the past [...]
Background While most of the world is on hold, councils across the UK are still carrying out some of their work, including weed control. That means, unfortunately, that many are still spraying herbicides on our streets, pavements, verges, playgrounds and other urban green spaces, even when the general [...]
by Hannah Conway (Campaigner, PAN UK) On a frosty morning I met campaigners in their home in Balerno, a beautiful suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh. We all piled onto the bus on our way to Edinburgh City Council to present our deputation to the Transport and Environment committee for a [...]
The lovely folks over at The Knitting Network have decided that PAN UK is their charity of choice for the month of April and are helping to raise funds for us with a 'click to donate' option at checkout. During these strange and uncertain times, a lot of charities like [...]
As part of the Big Bang Science Fair, two school girls have examined their food for pesticide residues and are teaching others about their findings. By Anjali and Molly, Y9, Watford Grammar School for Girls Are there hazardous pesticides in the food we eat every day? What are their effects? These [...]
Take our easy online action CEOs care about their supermarket’s public image and they have the clout to make big changes. As a customer, you have the power to sound the alarm and tell your supermarket to take these poisons off their shelves. Take our quick online action [...]
By Nick Mole, Policy Officer, PAN UK On 5th February 2020, the European Auditors Office published a special report titled, “Sustainable use of plant protection products: limited progress in measuring and reducing risks”. The report criticised EU Member States and the Commission for poor implementation of various pieces of pesticide-related [...]
By Rina Guadagnini, Project Officer, PAN UK PAN UK was recently able, for the first time, to bring together our partners currently working on sustainable cotton projects in Benin (OPEPAB) and Ethiopia (PAN Ethiopia) as we travelled to Nagpur in India to attend the Organic Cotton Summit 2019. For some [...]
Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2020 Published by PAN UK, Solidaridad and WWF, the Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2020 reveals significant progress by big brands toward more sustainable cotton. But also that the divide is growing between companies that take their responsibilities seriously and the many companies that do not. Adidas has surged ahead, [...]
