Eu

At last some action on bottom trawling

Posted by jossc — 9 May 2008 at 4:05pm - Comments

Very few orange roughy and a lot of bycatch, including several seastars, urchins, and numerous unwanted fish, in the net of the New Zealand deep sea trawler Recovery II in international waters in the Tasman Sea.

Bottom trawling, possibly the most destructive fishing method yet devised by man, is to be regulated across the whole North Atlantic ocean. The process, which involves dragging nets weight down by metal girders across the seabed, is notorious for its wastefulness. Besides legitimate target species such as cod, plaice and sole, vast quantities of corals, sponges and other deep sea creatures are destroyed as bycatch. The devastation caused is so great that Greenpeace has been calling for some time for a moritorium (suspension of activity) on bottom trawling. Now it looks as though some progress may be being made.

Article tagged as: bottom trawling, canada, coral reefs, destructive fishing, EU, iceland, NAFO, norway, russia, UN

Problems at the pump as new biofuel law draws closer

Posted by jamie — 24 March 2008 at 10:00am - Comments

A car speeding along a road

In a few weeks' time on Tuesday 15 April, every fuel company in the UK will be obliged to include a certain amount of biofuel in their petrol and diesel supplies. This is because, to comply with EU policies, the government has decreed we will all be using biofuels whether we want to or not but as you're probably aware, a lot of people have severe concerns about this.

Article tagged as: biofuels, climate change, deforestation, EU, forests, RTFO, ruth kelly, transport

Amazon timber shipment blocked in France

Posted by jamie — 18 March 2008 at 7:12pm - Comments

Greenpeace volunteers boarding the Galina III

Boarding the Galina III yesterday © Greenpeace/Karl Joseph

Yesterday afternoon, the crew of one of our ships - the Arctic Sunrise - swung into action in the French port of Caen. Their mission: to prevent a shipment of Amazon timber, acquired from companies linked to illegal logging activities, from entering the EU. And after nearly 24 hours, they're still going strong.

The timber is aboard the Galina III and, as it tried to enter the port, five Greenpeace volunteers (including a group from the UK) climbed aboard where they attached themselves to two of the ship's cranes. Since then, the Galina has been unable to dock to unload its cargo, a mixture of timber species with wonderfully exotic names: amarelao, macaranduba, ipe, garapeira, cumaru and jarana to name a few. And as I write, the team on the cranes is still holding out.

Article tagged as: amazon, brazil, EU, FLEGT, forests, illegal timber, south america

EU fudges GM potato vote

Posted by jamie — 19 February 2008 at 1:00pm - Comments

Yesterday, EU farm ministers voted on whether to approve the use of new GM crops including a variety of potato developed by chemical giant BASF. According to Reuters, they failed to reach a consensus which is good in the sense that the proposed crops weren't approved, but bad because the decision will now be passed back to the European Commission. The EC is heavily pro-GM so it's likely that all five crops under consideration will be approved with a nod and a wink.

Article tagged as: EC, EU, GM crops, GM food, gm potatoes

A kick up the renewable energy targets

Posted by jamie — 23 January 2008 at 8:31am - Comments

An offshore wind farm

As much as any announcement from the EU can generate enormous anticipation, the proposed renewable energy targets for member states has been eagerly awaited by our climate change team. It's been pretty much public knowledge for some time what the target for the UK is expected to be but never the less, being told to produce 15 per cent of our energy from renewable sources by 2020 will necessarily kick-start a clean energy revolution - currently our renewable energy total is less than 3 per cent, just behind Malta in the EU league table.

Article tagged as: climate change, energy, EU, renewable energy, tidal power, wave power, wind power

More doubts raised over biofuel targets

Posted by jamie — 21 January 2008 at 5:52pm - Comments

Yet more questions have been raised in political circles about biofuel targets. Following last week's statements from the European environment commissioner, Defra's chief scientist and the Royal Society, a parliamentary committee has released its own report which says that pursuing mandatory targets without any form of sustainability criteria attached is not a good idea.

Article tagged as: biofuels, climate change, deforestation, EU, forests, RTFO

Senior EU and Defra figures agree: we were too hasty on biofuel targets

Posted by jamie — 14 January 2008 at 7:11pm - Comments

Biofuels may cause rather than prevent more greenhouse gas emissions

We could be witnessing a seismic and very exciting shift in how UK and EU policies on biofuels are being perceived in official circles. Both the EU Environment Commissioner and Defra's own chief scientist today went on record to say that current plans to vastly increase the amount of fuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel might need to be reconsidered.

Article tagged as: biofuels, climate change, deforestation, EU, forests, rfto

Counting the cost of GM contamination

Posted by jamie — 9 November 2007 at 3:13pm - Comments

Indian farmers campaigning against GM rice

Indian farmers campaigning against GM rice near Lucknow earlier this week © Greenpeace

A couple of GM stories have popped up recently over on our international site, one of which requires your help.

Article tagged as: bayer, EC, EU, GM, GM crops, GM food, take action, what you can do

GM quarantine in Romania

Posted by jamie — 5 September 2007 at 5:30pm - Comments

A Greenpeace volunteer sprays a car leaving Braila island, Romania

How's this for a creative and exciting example of direct action - it's a blockade but with a difference. Earlier this morning in Romania, Greenpeace volunteers quarantined a whole island where GM soya crops are being grown, which is illegal under EU law. Vehicles leaving Braila island were hosed down by people wearing white biohazard suits to prevent genetic contamination spreading to the mainland. Even a donkey and cart were washed and made GM-free!

Article tagged as: direct actions, EU, france, GM, GM crops, GM maize, GM soya, romania
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