by Dr Robin Mesnage, King's College London Herbicides have become a vital tool for weed management in an intensified agricultural production system. Nontrivial amounts are also sprayed on industrial sites, roadsides, railway tracks, sports areas and even private gardens. Determining whether the use of a pesticide is likely to [...]
A guest blog by RSPB's Stephanie Morren about an exciting joint project we are running together: Increasingly, farmers and other land managers are looking for ways to reduce their reliance on pesticides. This is due to a number of reasons including concern for the environment, concern for their [...]
by Dr Alex Stuart, International Project Manager, PAN UK Due to the beautiful and complex interactions that occur between species, maintaining biodiversity underpins all life on earth. However, according to a recent UNEP report, the global rate of species extinction is now tens to hundreds of times higher than the [...]
by Alex Stuart, International Project Manager (Agroecology), PAN UK In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of pesticide imports into the Caribbean, with close to 10,000 tonnes imported in 2018 for agricultural use alone. These include highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), which pose a significant risk to human health [...]
by Keith Tyrell, Director, PAN UK Three decades ago, as a young graduate I embarked on a career in environmental and safety management. One of my first jobs was working on the safety systems of highly hazardous industries like oil and gas and chemical plants to ensure that the risk [...]
The result of the London Mayoral election has finally been decided, a year behind schedule, and Sadiq Khan will be in power for another four years. At the London Mayoral Environment Hustings prior to the election, PAN UK was heartened to hear from all political parties in attendance that they [...]
by Susan Haffmans, PAN Germany At first glance it might not look like much: PAN International issued two new documents today. Instead of fancy layouts and colourful pictures the documents offer lists, facts and numbers. But those numbers are quite something. They provide transparency and guidance to drive political [...]
PAN UK chatted with journalist Carey Gillam, author of the new book The Monsanto Papers: Deadly Secrets, Corporate Corruption, and One Man’s Search for Justice PAN UK: Your new book is described by one reviewer as “a powerful story, well told, and a remarkable work of investigative journalism…. a [...]
Red Tractor is the UK’s largest food standards scheme with roughly 46,000 British members (21% of all UK farmers). It aims to drive up standards in the three areas of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection. In January, Red Tractor launched a two-month public consultation on proposals to update [...]
by Sarah Haynes, Collaboration Coordinator, hosted by PAN UK Over the last few months, PAN UK and RSPB have mobilised 45 organisations and individual farmers and academics to respond collectively to the UK Government’s public consultation on the revised UK National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides [...]
Local Authorities are taking action to protect human health and the environment despite lack of leadership from Government Written by Jon Burke (Councillor at Hackney Council from 2014 to 2020 and a Hackney Council Cabinet Member from 2016 to 2020) The UK Government is reviewing our relationship with pesticides [...]
With a climate change emergency, collapsing biodiversity and a global health crisis underway it is imperative that our urban spaces become healthier places for people and wildlife. The body of evidence linking pesticides to serious human health and environmental harms is growing, as is the movement to end their use. [...]
by Emma Pavans de Ceccatty, Campaigns Assistant, PAN UK This last year has been incredibly challenging for everyone. It’s been especially tough to engage people on issues like the dangers of pesticides. Yet, like resilient dandelions growing through the concrete, Pesticide-Free Town campaigners have shown their creativity and determination in [...]
Rt Hon George Eustice, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF 12th January 2021 Dear Secretary of State, We are extremely disappointed to hear that the UK Government has decided to grant an emergency derogation allowing sugar beet producers to use seeds [...]
In a comprehensive study released today, scientists report that pesticide poisonings on farms around the world have risen dramatically since the last global assessment 30 years ago. Based on an evaluation of available poisoning data from countries all over the world, the researchers conclude that there are about 385 million [...]
On Friday 4th December, the UK Government published the long-awaited UK ‘Revised National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides’ (NAP). The draft, which has been agreed between Defra and the devolved administrations, was released alongside a public consultation that will last for 90 days ending on 26th February 2021. [...]
A letter co-signed by PAN UK and fourteen other organisations and experts concerned about the impact of toxic chemicals on human health has been sent to UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock. The letter, which is supported by Breast Cancer UK and the Alliance for Cancer Prevention, is calling on the [...]
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 [...]
