Jose Bove and other activists protest genetically modified crops in a field in France. Photograph: Michel Gangne/AFP/Getty France's attempt to ban the planting of a Monsanto strain of genetically modified maize was rejected by the EU's food safety body on Monday.In response to scientific evidence submitted by France backing its bid to ban the GM maize, the European Food Safety Authority ruled that "there is no specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health or the environment" to support a ban.In 2008, France banned the the strain MON 810 following public protests against the GM maize, but this was overturned by a French court in 2011. However, in March the French government reinstated the ban, with the then agricultural minister Bruno ... Continue reading →
The energy bill is likely to favour fossil-fuel sources like gas, for which power stations can be built quickly and cheaply. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images A dash for gas, a major fillip for nuclear power and blows to renewable energy – these are widely expected to be the contents of the government's much-anticipated draft energy bill, the main contents of which will be outlined by ministers in the afternoon.The nuclear industry is expected to be one of the big winners, with a set of policies designed to favour low-carbon power – which will, controversially, include atomic energy as well as renewable sources such as wind and solar.But renewable companies are concerned that they will lose out, because the current system of subsidies will be replaced ... Continue reading →
An 'Asian unicorn' or saola caught on a camera-trapped in Bolikhamxay Province, central Laos in 1999. Photograph: William Robichaud/WWF International Poaching in Vietnam and Laos may be driving the "Asian unicorn" to extinction, warns the WWF on the twentieth anniversary of its discovery.The saola is an antelope-like reclusive species that lives in remote regions of the Annamite mountains on the border of Vietnam and Laos, dubbed the Asian Unicorn because it is so rarely seen. It came to worldwide attention in 1992 as the first large mammal to be discovered in over 50 years when surveyors from the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the WWF found skulls of the unknown species in mountain villages. DNA tests have indicated it is a bovine related to cattle, ... Continue reading →
Following the break-in early on Sunday morning, experts spent the day combing the 400-acre site for signs of possible interference. Due to the amount of land which must be searched the scale of the damage remained unclear last night, but it is hoped that the GM wheat trial will be able to continue if it has not been too severely affected. Police confirmed a 50-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. He was still in custody last night. There is no suggestion he is connected to Take The Flour Back. The GM wheat, which is the result of at least six years of research by a team at Rothamsted, has been engineered to release a chemical which aphids naturally give off to ... Continue reading →
Zero carbon housing in Sunderland, complete with solar panels. Not enough is being done to invest in green technologies in the UK, say MPs. Photograph: Ashley Cooper/Alamy Environmental protections must not be slashed in an "irresponsible" and "desperate dash for growth", an all-party group of MPs has warned. Green investment should play a key role in the UK's economic recovery, the group reports, but accuses prime minister David Cameron of a lack of leadership and George Osborne's Treasury as regarding environmental measures as hampering economic development despite the green economy growing at 4% a year.The debate over the value of investing in clean power, energy efficiency, recycling and reducing environmental damage has reached the top of government in recent weeks, with foreign secretary William Hague, ... Continue reading →
