Environmentalists have been rocked by a government decision to overturn scientific advice by lifting the ban on a bee-harming pesticide used on sugar beet. Ministers have authorised an emergency exemption to use the neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, which was banned in 2018 across Europe after a series of studies found it damaged…

September in the South Pacific started with a life-or-death competition. Nervous youths waited for the cue to throw themselves headlong into the ocean. In those next few moments, they would risk drowning, shark attacks, or falling to their deaths. Before them were small, near-inaccessible islets teeming with seabirds returning to…

September in the South Pacific started with a life-or-death competition. Nervous youths waited for the cue to throw themselves headlong into the ocean. In those next few moments, they would risk drowning, shark attacks, or falling to their deaths. Before them were small, near-inaccessible islets teeming with seabirds returning to nest. Somewhere out there, more than a mile across treacherous…

Getting up close and personal with a hot and richly fermenting cowpat in Idaho, USA may not be everyone’s idea of a good time. As a visitor activity it is unlikely to compete with the country’s most famous attractions — like Times Square or Disneyland. But after my visit to…

Getting up close and personal with a hot and richly fermenting cowpat in Idaho, USA may not be everyone’s idea of a good time. As a visitor activity it is unlikely to compete with the country’s most famous attractions — like Times Square or Disneyland. But after my visit to drought-stricken California, that cowpat on the natural pasture of a non-intensive cattle ranch, alive with a riot of different grasses, herbs and wildflowers, was…

Dr Tracey Jones, Global Director of Food Business at Compassion in World Farming, shares the award winners and her thoughts, following the annual Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards in London. Tracey has been the Director of Compassion’s Food Business programme since 2013, overseeing its evolution and expansion, working with the…

“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” — Arundhati Roy Tomorrow is Ban Live Exports: International Awareness Day, an opportunity to shine a light on the terrible cruelty endured by millions of cattle, pigs, sheep and other…

Shadows from a nuclear power station cast jagged shapes across one of Europe’s most impressive spans of shingle. Sand and marram grass stretch as far as the eye can see. This 21-square-mile stretch of open shingle at Dungeness, Kent has been dubbed Britain’s only desert. …

Never has it been more important to protect our Oceans and on World Oceans Day, I am honoured and delighted to introduce Leticia Carvalho from the United Nations Environment Programme as my special blog guest. Leticia is the Principal Coordinator of the Marine and Freshwater Branch, United Nations Environment Programme…