Plastic straws and drink stirrers, and cotton buds with plastic stems will be banned from sale and use in England from next April, the government has confirmed. The move, which has been in the offing for more than a year, is hoped to vastly reduce the litter and other environmental impacts of the nearly 5bn plastic straws currently used each year in the UK, along with more … [Read more...]
Humanity must save insects to save ourselves
Humanity must save insects, if not for their sake, then for ourselves, a leading entomologist has warned. “Insects are the glue in nature and there is no doubt that both the [numbers] and diversity of insects are declining,” said Prof Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. “At some stage the whole fabric unravels and then we will really see the … [Read more...]
Dare to declare capitalism dead – before it takes us all down with it
A system based on perpetual growth cannot function without peripheries and externalities. There must always be an extraction zone – from which materials are taken without full payment – and a disposal zone, where costs are dumped in the form of waste and pollution. As the scale of economic activity increases until capitalism affects everything, from the atmosphere to the deep … [Read more...]
What are directors’ duties in respect to climate change?
Directors need to factor climate change into their governance deliberations about strategy, risk management, products and services. So said Sue Lund, member of the Institute of Directors in SA (IODSA) at a recent discussion on directors’ duty of care for the current and long-term sustainability of their organisations – which should translate into measures that both mitigate … [Read more...]
The Crying Forest
Al Jazeera correspondent Gabriel Elizondo paints a shocking portrait of life in the Brazilian Amazon, where at least 212 environmental activists have been murdered since 1996, an average of 12 a year. He pieces together the last six months of the life of activist Ze Claudio Ribiero and his wife Maria. During a prophetic TED talk in November 2010, Ze Claudio correctly … [Read more...]
