Biodiversity v GM, or both?
Posted by annied in Kew Gardens, agriculture on 27. Oct, 2009 | Comments Off
From The Bigger Picture: Festival of Interdependence on Saturday last, Colin Tudge (author Feeding People is Easy) explains how important something like Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank Project is:
The New Food Panic: Scientists Call for Green Revolution 2.0 & FoE says No!
Posted by annied in FoE, agriculture on 21. Oct, 2009 | Comments Off
Well, it looks like world maybe headed for a second green revolution. None the least to do with the Royal Society for Agriculture’s new study that calls for £2 billion for R&D over the next decade. A new study from the International Food Policy Research Institute (find link Nelson et al) forecasts future crop yields based upon the IPCCs second worst scenario is 1.6 degree Celsius average rise in global temperatures combined with two climate change weather pattern models (NCAR & CSIRO). But Kew Gardens and Friends of the Earth both argue for biodiversity instead.
Global Mobilization for Indigenous Peoples: the story from Peru
Posted by annied in rainforests on 12. Oct, 2009 | 1 Comment
Most people in the West would be horrified by what is going on in the name of ‘national development’ in Latin America: in Peru, the violence last week in Ecuador against the Shuar protestors, massacres of Awa communities in Colombia, and the very worrying situation in Paraguay where the Ayoreo people are living in voluntary isolation due to a cattle ranching land dispute. There is huge risk in terms of carbon trading offset schemes and avoided deforestation schemes. These may seem like a very important step on the way to tackling climate change, but it is important to remember that unless indigenous land rights are secured, there is very little to indicate that such projects, saturated as they will no doubt become with billions and billions of dollars, will be any different to other mega-projects occurring on indigenous lands.
The Tories, EU bashing, and your food supply
Posted by annied in DEFRA, Environment Agency, Green News, climate change on 06. Oct, 2009 | Comments Off
As the Tory Conference continues in Manchester, and David Cameron trashes the EU, let’s take a minute to remember just what the EU has done for the UK. There is a common myth in food and drug regulation that just because a problem isn’t evident in a lab, there won’t be a problem in (uncontrolled environment) the real world.
One Giant Leap for Sandbag (one small step for Ed)
Posted by annied in DECC, campaign, climate change on 29. Sep, 2009 | Comments Off
“The West needs to do more or it’s an excuse for everyone else not to do more.” Though Worthington laments, “They’ll probably do it anyway just embarrass them.” She is confident about non-Western’s countries, in particular China’s ability to adjust their carbon emissions, “When China says it’s going to do something, it generally does it.”
Have you met Ade?
Posted by annied in green media on 22. Sep, 2009 | Comments Off
Ade Thomas, green.tv’s founder (our very own version of George Monbiot) has a conversation with the bloggess. For a guy who runs a tv channel and a web-design firm and works in London, he’s quite the naturalist. Ade talks about his boys, growing up in Oxford, fishing, urbanization and rapacious, invasive American invaders.
Climate change, the memory effect
Posted by annied in RSPB on 26. Aug, 2009 | Comments Off
With the nation wide climate protests today, the news from last night that 350.org’s position has been endorsed by the IPCC’s lead climate scientist it seems appropriate to bring the global back to the local by reflecting on how climate change has already begun to alter our everyday lives: