by Josie Cohen, Head of Policy & Campaigns, PAN UK The role pesticides play in our lives is often vastly underestimated. Pesticides are present in the majority of our food and in much of our soil and water. They cover the UK’s countryside, reaching far beyond farmland thanks to their [...]
As the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Council convenes its 171st Session today, PAN UK calls upon the agency to demonstrate bold leadership on climate action by immediately rescinding its two-year-old agreement with CropLife International, the global association of the world’s biggest pesticide manufacturers. In a letter addressed to FAO Deputy [...]
by Emma Pavans de Ceccatty, Campaigner, PAN UK A report released by PAN Europe earlier this year ‘Pesticide Free Towns: A Diversity of European Approaches’ shows that many of our European neighbours have been making great progress towards banning the use of pesticides in public urban spaces. Luxembourg and France [...]
Based on official figures, PAN UK has today revealed that the proportion of bread containing two or more pesticides has almost doubled in the past year to 50%. The figure marks a major increase from government testing results over the past decade when, on average, roughly a quarter of bread [...]
PAN UK's Pesticide-Free Towns team recently headed up to Birmingham to support Bee Friendly Brum campaigners, Beth Clay and Laura Hackett, in a presentation to the Council’s Housing and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The two campaigners joined forces in 2021 over the common goal of ending pesticide-use on council-managed [...]
by William Wilson, Barrister, Wyeside Consulting UK government proposals to dispense with all remaining EU “retained law” carried over from Brexit include plans to revoke 570 pieces of environmental legislation by the end of 2023. Every aspect of environmental legislation (water, air quality, waste, chemicals, pesticides), and laws on agriculture, [...]
by Keith Tyrell, Director, PAN UK Today – 27th September – marks the 60th Anniversary of the publication of a truly remarkable book. Silent Spring has variously been credited with kick-starting the environmental movement and waking up humanity to the fragility of the natural systems on which all life depends. It [...]
By Dr Alex Stuart, International Project Manager (Agroecology), PAN UK My first trip to Benin was a fascinating experience. I arrived in Cotonou, a bustling port city that was originally founded by King Ghezo of Dahomey in 1830 and then occupied by the French from 1883 until Benin gained independence [...]
by Emma Pavans de Ceccatty, Campaigner, PAN UK With the increase in concern over how to make our cities better for pollinators, we’re learning that not all environmentalism looks the same. Honey bees have long been the “icons” of the climate and nature crises, often to the detriment of the [...]
Never has the UK more needed a plan to ensure our food system is sustainable, healthy and equitable than in the current climate of food insecurity, rising prices and food related health issues. It was encouraging to see the government taking an important step forward when it announced it was [...]
Today, 430 civil society and Indigenous peoples organisations from 69 countries around the world called on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to uphold human rights and end its partnership with CropLife International. CropLife is the industry association that represents the world’s largest pesticide manufacturers. Ahead of the [...]
by Emma Pavans de Ceccatty, Campaigner, PAN UK Many councils still rely on pesticides, including weedkillers, to keep our pavements, parks, playgrounds, housing estates and many other urban spaces ‘clean and tidy’ and free of ‘weeds’. Yet over 80 councils across the UK have either entirely stopped using these chemicals, [...]
British shoppers are unknowingly buying supermarket chicken that is linked to the poisoning of people and rare tropical animals in the Amazon in a “hidden scandal”, according to the Soil Association’s new ‘Stop Poison Poultry’ campaign. Vital Latin American ecosystems are falling victim to the toxic chemicals sprayed on soya [...]
With one month to go until London local elections, new information* reveals that local authorities are using twenty-two potentially harmful chemicals to remove weeds on the capital’s streets, parks and playgrounds. Based on answers to a series of Freedom of Information requests, the list includes seven pesticides with links to [...]
by Patricia Bischof, Breast Cancer UK Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in the UK – with 56,000 new cases every year. The causes of breast cancer are not fully understood. Studies have identified numerous factors which can increase or decrease breast cancer risk, including those associated with genetics, [...]
The UK Government has today announced that it has approved an application by the British sugar beet industry and National Farmers Union (NFU) to use the bee-toxic insecticide, thiamethoxam, this growing season. The announcement mirrors a January 2020 decision from the UK Government. Last year, Defra made similar concessions to [...]
As part of a webinar series organised by FAO and the Rotterdam Convention to share experiences in reducing and phasing out Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs), PAN Ethiopia’s Project Coordinator, Atalo Belay, and PAN UK’s Staff Scientist, Stephanie Williamson, recently presented our experiences working with smallholder vegetable farmers in Ethiopia’s Central [...]
A petition of 187,300 signatures by civil society and indigenous people’s organisations was delivered to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu in Rome this morning. Facilitated by Pesticide Action Network (PAN), Friends of the Earth, SumOfUs, and the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), the [...]
by Dr Angeline Andrew (Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth) The majority of cases of motor neuron disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are not explained by a familial trait or gene. Scientists suspect that certain chemicals in the environment are likely the culprit. Since many insecticides kill by over-stimulating the [...]
PAN UK recently presented at the international webinar ‘Alternatives to Paraquat Dichloride in Weed Management’, organised by FAO, the Rotterdam Convention and UN Environment Programme. Staff Scientist, Stephanie Williamson, summarises the different cultural, mechanical, manual and biological weed management methods which can be used for reducing reliance on herbicides below. [...]
