News: Community, environment, regeneration

30.06.2004 Bayer CropScience, the multi-national agro-chemical and biotech corporation, has dropped its court action against Friends of the Earth. It had tried to prevent the environmental group from telling the public how to access safety data on pesticides - including a flagship weedkiller for use on GM herbicide tolerant crops in the UK, Glufosinate Ammonium.

28.06.2004 Representatives from communities around the world will attend Shell's AGM on Monday 28 June in London to demand justice from the oil company, which they say is causing severe health problems and environmental damage from Nigeria to Texas, from Sakhalin to South Africa.

24.06.2004 Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK without an independent Environmental Protection Agency, despite repeated calls from a wide range of bodies including WWF Northern Ireland.

23.06.2004 10,000 "clean" vehicles brought onto Britain’s streets last year as part of a government programme have helped prevent 29,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide polluting the air.

21.06.2004 Friends of the Earth wants planning policy changed in favour of wind farms and other renewable energy sources. In its submission to the government’s consultation on renewable energy, the pressure group has pointed out that approval rates for the development of wind farms in England are as low as 50%, compared to 90% per cent in Scotland.

17.06.2004 Computer software designed to help farmers cut pollution and boost profits by managing their fertiliser use was launched by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency.

16.06.2004 Greenpeace has challenged lorry drivers protesting in Edinburgh about fuel price rises by sending vans emblazoned with the message "Global Warming Kills - Keep the Fuel Tax" to join their convoy.

15.06.2004 In a victory for environmental campaigners, electronics giant Samsung is to stop using dangerous toxic chemicals in their TVs and mobile phones. The move follows discussions with Greenpeace, which is concerned that brominated flame retardants are linked to liver, kidney and testicular damage and to cancer.

15.06.2004 Watervoice’s call for the government and Ofwat to cut water bills by reducing environmental schemes has upset environmental groups and the Environmental Agency who say customers will only have to pay a few pence per quarter on their bills for environmental schemes demanded by law.

07.06.2004 Campaigners in County Cork, Ireland have forced the state into a corner over the planning application for a 100,000 tonne hazardous waste incinerator.

07.06.2004 The Soil Association has launched two "showcase" farms in Scotland to promote the idea of linking farms to local communities or "putting the farmer’s face on food". The Community Supported Agriculture project helps farmers find secure markets with consumers who want to buy locally produced food.

01.06.2004 A report by WWF and the European Biomass Industry Association shows that using biomass - fuel derived from agriculture and forest waste - instead of coal to generate electricity, could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about one billion tonnes.