africa

UK aid money is creating an 'oil curse' for developing economies, according to Pumping Poverty, a new report [1], launched Thursday 17 March as G8 environment ministers meet in Derby to discuss the impact of climate change on Africa. Pumping Poverty finds that government aid is being spent on supporting energy projects which benefit UK and US oil companies, but which do little to help the countries where they are based.

EU regulation would outlaw imports of illegally logged timber

Environmental groups including Greenpeace and WWF today presented a draft regulation to the EU that would outlaw illegal wood imports into the UK and Europe and promote sustainable forest management worldwide. The groups are calling for the regulation to become law. One hundred and sixty other global social and environmental organisations back the call for legislation.

Greenpeace are urging UK timber importers to boycott the Swiss-German Danzer Group. The call follows investigations which found that Danzer are involved in bribery, corruption, illegal logging, suspected forgery of official documents and carrying out business dealings with an arms trafficker, blacklisted by the UN Security Council (UNSC).

On Wednesday 17th April at 6pm in the Congress Hall, the Environment Minister, Michael Meacher will meet a delegation of Greenpeace activists to discuss the role of the UK in protecting the world's remaining ancient forests. 

At 11am today, five Greenpeace climbers boarded the MV Roxane Delmas to stop wood from Central Africa's threatened "great ape" rainforest coming into the UK. The climbers have attached themselves to the stern door of the ship in the Thames Estuary, north of Sheerness, to prevent it from unloading its cargo at London's Tilbury Docks. 

Greenpeace is demanding that this timber, from the destruction of one of the world's remaining ancient forests, is returned to Cameroon. Investigations by Greenpeace indicate that the timber on board this ship includes sapele, identical to that used in the doors and windows at the Government's Cabinet Office in Whitehall (1). Other rainforest timber from the region is also onboard.