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 [...]
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, [...]
by Josie Cohen, Head of Policy & Campaigns, PAN UK I joined PAN UK in June 2017 to help ensure that UK pesticide standards didn’t drop as a result of Brexit. There was a flurry of activity at the time and, over the next 18 months, we were kept [...]
But there's still a long way to go... By Hannah Conway, Assistant Campaigner, PAN UK In November 2019, we launched a campaign calling on UK supermarkets to do more to protect human health and the environment from pesticides used in their global supply chains. Our top recommendation to all supermarkets [...]
A new report from Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) has found that EU officials have approved the use of a number of pesticides (typically giving them a 10-year license) without testing their impact on the human hormonal system. The EU has approved over 100 pesticides since June 2011. PAN [...]
Today, PAN UK signed the following letter in support of Dr Bülent Şık, calling for his acquittal and the right to freedom of speech in his endeavour to protect and promote public health: We are deeply concerned about the prosecution of Dr Bülent Şık for releasing his research findings on [...]
On Friday, 20th September, we will be closing our Brighton office to join the global strike for climate and biodiversity. Industrial agriculture is a key driver of climate change for a number of reasons. Land that has been deforested and converted to crop production reduces the availability of diverse, carbon-sequestering ecosystems. [...]
By Paul Lievens, Communications & Policy Officer, Banana Link "Twenty or thirty years ago, people who are growing organic – they are crazy people! To grow organic is to think different. About the workers, about the social aspects also. To work with the communities. Also, to work with the [...]
By Deborah Lewis, SumOfUs Paul François and SumofUs activists at the Bayer-Monsanto AGM Every spring, in Germany’s former capital city Bonn, Bayer-Monsanto’s top executives, shareholders and CEO meet for the chemical giant's annual general meeting (AGM). Ultimately, this is the corporation's most important meeting of the year as [...]
by Stephanie Williamson, Staff Scientist, PAN UK Launched in July 2019, the latest report from the convenors of the RSA’s Food, Farming & Countryside Commission, entitled Our Future in the Land, could have been yet another worthy, dull and hard to digest report of interest mainly to policy nerds and [...]
