The Indian child labour behind our patio stones
A new report reveals that the Rajasthani sandstone sector relies on child labour and urges businesses and the government to take action Best known for its gemstones and jewellery trade, Rajasthan is also home to a far less glittering industry. The Indian state’s sandstone sector employs millions of people , thousands of whom are child […]
Tories and Labour would kill for unity shown at SNP love-in
Any dissent was kept well off stage in Aberdeen, with anti-fracking and land reform hardliners quickly voted down There was genuine excitement on the conference platform. At last a vote that was close enough to require a count rather than a unanimous show of hands. A vote to challenge the SNP’s anti-fracking commitment on the […]
What you can do to help stop the cuts threatening the UK solar industry
With less than one week to go before the government consultation on major cuts to solar subsidies closes, now is the time to have your say The public has less than one week to influence planned government policy changes that are expected to dramatically scale back the solar industry. The government is proposing to cut […]
The rush for solar power: buy now, before it's too late
This has been a bumper year for solar energy in the UK, and polls show it has become our favourite kind of power. But with drastic cuts threatened, is the industry racing off the edge of a cliff? “The biggest challenge was the grid connection,” says Donna Clarke with satisfaction. Clarke has worked in renewables […]
Richard Mabey – how plants think
Beans locate their poles by echolocation, the mimosa shrub has a memory-span greater than that of a bee … New discoveries in botany support an older idea of plants as individuals – active agents in their own life stories When the much-missed neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote that “there is nothing alive which is not individual”, […]
Oil companies deny that joint climate pledge is lip service
Commitment to setting a carbon price dropped and green groups remain critical that the statement amounts to little more than hot air The heads of 10 major oil and gas companies have denied they are paying lip service to climate change initiatives while conducting business as usual. Eight of the 10 companies’ CEOs met in […]
Nuclear deals with China could endanger UK national security, says Labour
Shadow energy secretary Lisa Nandy says PM has questions to answer after concerns emerge from intelligence agencies David Cameron has serious questions to answer about whether Chinese investment in nuclear power would endanger national security, Labour’s shadow energy secretary Lisa Nandy has said. Nandy called on the government to reassure the public after reports that […]
Stephen Harper’s politics put Canada to shame: don’t be distracted by them | Naomi Klein and Maude Barlow
Voters on Monday shouldn’t be pulled in by ‘wedge issues’. Canada simply can’t afford to continue with the Conservatives’ commitment to carbon pollution Ask Canadians about the most pressing issues facing their country and, alongside concerns about the economy and healthcare, they will inevitably raise the need for action on climate change. And no wonder: […]
The rainforests hold the key to taming El Niño's destruction
Healthy forests protect our climate and moderate our weather. As the ‘Godzilla’ El Niño builds in the weeks ahead of Paris talks, it is a timely warning that deforestation is partly to blame for its impacts Indonesia is smouldering and Godzilla is to blame. But even though this is reality, not a monster movie, there […]
German elephant hunter will be named and shamed, vows Zimbabwe taskforce
Conservation group will track down and vilify hunter who allegedly paid £40,000 to kill one of Zimabwe’s largest elephants A Zimbabwean conservation group has vowed to identify a German hunter who shot one of the largest elephants seen in the country, so the man can be publicly vilified like the killer of Cecil the lion. […]