Compassion in World Farming, a leading farm animal welfare charity, is urging the UK’s three largest bargain retailers – Poundland, B&M, and Home Bargains – to commit to a cage free future for hens.

Since 2015, there has been a huge wave of food businesses across the globe pledging to go cage free. All the UK’s major supermarket chains have either stopped selling eggs from caged hens or have pledged to go cage free by 2025 and many popular restaurant chains, including Frankie & Bennie’s, Café Rouge and Pizza Express, have also made cage free commitments.  

Compassion is now calling on Poundland, B&M, and Home Bargains to join the cage free revolution.

Hens

Around sixteen million laying hens in the UK are currently kept in cages. These animals will spend almost their entire lives confined, with barely enough room to spread their wings.

Animal welfare is a significant concern for UK shoppers, with 81% of the public believing cages in farming are cruel and over two-thirds (67 percent) feeling that this method of farming is outdated.

At a time when the market is shifting towards higher animal welfare standards, it’s deeply disappointing that Poundland, B&M and Home Bargains still sell eggs from caged hens.

Misery

Compassion has written to the retailers on multiple occasions over recent months, but they have failed to make a cage free commitment.

Natasha Smith, UK Campaigns Manager at Compassion in World Farming, said: “These so called ‘cheap’ eggs may seem like a good deal, but they come at a high price to the millions of hens confined in cages.

“We must ensure there is no market for caged eggs anywhere in Britain. Major UK food businesses have already committed to a cage-free future – it’s high time for bargain retailers to follow suit.”  

“Caged eggs on any store shelf will mean millions of hens may continue to live a life of misery, year after year.”

This Article

This article is based on a press release from Compassion in World Farming.

Fiery colours sweeping through parks and woodlands, complete with leaves crunching underfoot, mean autumn is here. But the colder nights and bitter winds mean garden birds will struggle for food and shelter. The RSPB is appealing to people to help our garden birds survive the winter.

Nature looks beautiful in autumn as summer leaves fade to a sunset palette of gold, red and orange. But as we start digging out our cosy scarves and gloves the countryside is being stripped of the food sources birds rely upon. At the same time, birds need more energy to stay warm and have less daylight time to find food.

Wildlife charity RSPB wants people to become stewards of their gardens this autumn and help protect their feathered guests. The RSPB says the key things birds will need this winter are food, water and shelter.

Real difference 

RSPB Wildlife Advisor, Charlotte Ambrose said: “Up until now birds have been able to feed on insects and seeds, but the cold weather means they move into our gardens to find refuge.

“You can make a real difference and improve their chances of survival, as well as being rewarded by great views of wildlife in your garden or outside space.”

Take it easy – kitchen scraps like mild grated cheese, bruised fruit (not mouldy), cooked rice, unsalted bits of hard fat, roast potatoes and dry porridge go down a treat with garden birds. You can provide an excellent full-fat winter food by making your own bird cakes or fat balls. The RSPB also suggests calorie-rich foods like mixed seed, sunflower seed, nyjer seed and good quality peanuts.

No thank you! There are some foods you should avoid as they can be dangerous for birds. Cooking fat from the roast mixes with meat juices during cooking to make a runny, greasy mixture. This sticks to feathers and stop them from being waterproof. Other foods to avoid are dried coconut, cooked porridge oats, milk, and mouldy or salted food.

Keep it fresh: Another essential is fresh water for drinking and bathing. Finding sources of water can be hard with freezing temperatures, but a simple trick will help keep a patch of water ice-free. Float a small ball, such as a ping-pong ball, on the surface of the water and even a light breeze will stop it from freezing over.

Plan your planting: Providing shelter from the harsh weather is extremely important. Plant dense hedges such as privet or hawthorn, or let ivy or holly to grow and you’ll be providing a great place to roost in and shelter from the elements.

Warm and cozy: Nestboxes are not just used over the summer egg-laying season – many birds will use them on a cold winter’s night. These boxes are frequently communal with many residents packing in together for extra warmth. The record number of birds found in one box is 63 wrens!

Sign up 

Ensuring your garden is filled with food now will improve your chances of having a successful Big Garden Birdwatch.

The RSPB’s annual event runs from Saturday 25 to Monday 27 January 2020. To take part, all you need to do is spend one hour at any time over that weekend noting the number of feathered visitors to your garden or local green space. You can sign up for this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch from 12 December. 

This Article

This article is based on a press release from the RSPB. 

Each year, the earth’s population grows, impacting the environment in small, subtle ways that add up over time. Unfortunately, climate change affects every aspect of our lives, right down to the ways we produce our food and how efficient our agriculture systems are.

One study conducted by Arizona State University found greenhouse gas emissions could cause the yield of vegetables to fall by 35% by 2100. The reasons for the lower yields varied between factors such as water shortages and an increase in salinity and less filtering of the sun’s rays. 

To adapt to a changing climate, farmers will have to change the way they produce food, and there may even be concerns with growing enough food to keep up with supply.

Weather concerns

As the ozone layer becomes further eroded, crops will suffer from long, hot days. In traditionally milder climates, the types of vegetables grown may change to adapt to shifting weather.

Some crops are better able to withstand harsher sunlight than others, so rather than growing sensitive plants such as lettuces, farmers might shift to root crops such as turnips or carrots. The selection of fruits and vegetables may become smaller as a result.

It’s more likely the agriculture industry will turn to hothouses or hydroponic growing methods to produce plants. However, if water shortages are an issue, hydroponic crops may become a thing of the past. Farmers may look for chemical solutions to grow food in, which would, in turn, impact the food itself by adding chemicals that don’t naturally occur.

Global warming could result in shifting weather patterns, as well. Natural disasters can further impact agriculture and the meat industry, reducing the available food and driving up prices. Farmers must have a clear plan for how to deal with an approaching storm and its aftermath.

Winters could become harsher, summers hotter and the milder weather of fall and spring would be a thing of the past. Consumers and farmers would have to adapt to changing seasons.

Wildfire devastation

You’ve likely heard about the California wildfires ravaging parts of the western United States. One aspect many people don’t consider is the overall impact and loss of life, as well as the loss of crops.

About 90% of the wildfires that occur are due to human error. People leave campfires unattended or flick a cigarette out their window while driving. Whatever the cause, once a spark hits the dry ground, the fire starts to rage almost uncontrollably.

An out-of-control fire damages grazing land, impacting farmers who raise livestock. It can also destroy crops, burn down buildings farmers need to store food and equipment and drive people out of their family farmland for good.

Extreme weather where it doesn’t rain for months on end causes the dried-out land that explodes into a blazing inferno. However, crops are also often rainfed, so when it doesn’t rain, a lack of moisture affects crops. Even if the fire doesn’t reach the farmland, the food may become unusable as plants wither and die. 

On the other end of the extreme, when it finally does rain, the parched land may not be able to soak in all the water at once, and flooding occurs. Floods can cause issues such as storm drains and sewage overflowing and running into food supplies.

Increased production

Agricultural specialists work hard to produce stronger, more disease-resistant and higher-yield crops. Unfortunately, with the science comes some concerns over genetically modified foods and what they might do to the human body over time. Climate change has already impacted our food supply, and time will tell how much it is for the better or worse.

A rise in carbon dioxide in our climate could increase some crops such as rice, soybean and wheat. These types of food are not as high in nutrients and cancer-fighting agents as green leafy vegetables, for example. 

Flooding, changing seasons and other weather changes impact the growing seasons of specific crops and could cause more and more damage to outdoor crops, driving some food production indoors and spiking prices at the same time. Farmers will have to shift what they grow and how they grow it to keep up with an expanding population.

There is some good news for farmers in the northern United States, Canada and Russia, though. One report predicted the conditions in those areas would improve for producing food. However, conditions in portions of Australia and in the Mediterranean will deteriorate.

Global climate change will force scientists to figure out how to produce more, waste less and grow food even in less-than-ideal conditions. While many negatives accompany climate change, learning to better use the resources we have as inhabitants of our green planet is a positive move in the right direction.

Changing things

While some people believe the earth is past the tipping point where we have a chance to reverse the damage done to our climate, others believe it isn’t too late to teach upcoming generations to care for the environment.

Small changes, such as conserving water, growing your food and reducing your carbon footprint, may start to shift things so food shortages and water scarcity aren’t as much of a concern in the next 50 years.

This Author 

Emily Folk is a regular contributor to The Ecologist, a conservation and sustainability writer and the editor of Conservation Folks.

Gardeners should consider swapping walls and fences for hedges, says the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), as new research shows how they provide a range of frontline environmental services.

The call forms part of the charity’s Greening Great Britain campaign which urges the public to turn urban concrete corners into thriving green spaces.

Analysis by the charity of 44 of the most popular hedges, found that as well as mitigating flooding, capturing pollutants and acting as a sound barrier they can also be used to help heat and cool the home. Hedge species in urban environments were also found to provide a crucial resource for a wide diversity of animal species through the provision of shelter, nest sites, food resources and corridors for movement.

Urban hedges

The best all-round performers suitable for UK gardens include beech, holly, privet, western red cedar and rose.

The varying structure of hedges makes them well suited for specific roles. Those with hairy, rough and oval leaves, were found to better capture and retain particulates with dense, but porous canopies capturing the most.

A yew canopy exposed to roadside pollution can accumulate and retain, for example, four times more particles than Photinia which has smoother leaves and is less dense. 

Meanwhile wide, tall and layered evergreen species have been shown to act as sound barriers with English yew (Taxus baccata) and western red cedar (Thuja plicata) found to be the top performing.

Tijana Blanusa, Principal Horticultural Scientist, at the RHS said: “In a world that is rapidly urbanising and where there is pressure on land use through the increased densification of cities, the relatively compact nature of the urban hedge may have a pivotal role in ensuring our cities remain ‘liveable’, through its various ecosystem benefits.”

This Article 

This article is based on a press release from RHS. 

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have criticised a leak of Germany’s draft coal phase-out law as put together by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, calling it out of touch and piecemeal, and lambasting the failure to tie it to climate protection goals.

Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott, Head of ClientEarth – Anwälte der Erde, said: “The long-awaited draft of Germany’s phase-out law is a shambles. The policy is riddled with unanswered questions, guarantees an unacceptably tardy coal exit and fails completely to acknowledge how urgently we need to decarbonise to address climate change.

“Those writing the policy seem to be existing in a parallel universe where coal is still profitable, people aren’t being forced out of their homes for mining, and the climate catastrophe isn’t unfolding around us.”

‘Incoherent policymaking’

Ott continued: “We are still faced with the total failure to tackle the phase-out of lignite, the most polluting form of coal, suggesting that Germany is still in thrall to vast energy companies which are still expanding mines and committing major rights infringements.

“And far from a logical approach to securing energy as coal is phased out, we’re actually seeing obstacles to renewable energy growth, which puts the entire phase-out at risk.

“Germany is one of Europe’s leading economies, and it is embarrassing to see such totally incoherent policymaking at a time we’ve never needed strong, solid climate action more.”

Key issues 

The main reason Germany’s ‘Coal Commission’ was formed was to decide how to manage a coal phase-out to cut carbon emissions in order to protect the climate. But this rationale is not made explicit in the law as it stands – and without climate protection as a guiding principle, the law is much less likely to perform against its intended objectives.

The leaked law contains provisions on how to phase out the first Gigawatts (GW) of hard coal to 2026 via tender procedures. If these do not reach the intended GW reduction, no possibility of state-enforced closures is planned in the law, which puts the phase-out path at risk entirely.

The law leaves the GW-reduction path for hard coal for the period from 2027 to 2038 (or earlier) to be determined by a future government by 2022. The already late end date of 2038 will only be assessed for the first time in 2032; earlier assessments by an expert committee, according to the draft, would only result in recommendations to the government and no commitments.

The draft law still needs to pass the cabinet next Monday and only then will pass on to the parliament, but presumably not before the end of this year. The law also does not yet contain any details on how the phase-out of lignite in Germany will take place, which is extremely bad news for those in Germany who stand to lose their villages for coal mining.

The leaked draft of the coal phase-out law contains changes to many other laws, too, among them a provision in construction law that in the future would limit the expansion of wind energy considerably.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from ClientEarth. 

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have criticised a leak of Germany’s draft coal phase-out law as put together by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, calling it out of touch and piecemeal, and lambasting the failure to tie it to climate protection goals.

Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott, Head of ClientEarth – Anwälte der Erde, said: “The long-awaited draft of Germany’s phase-out law is a shambles. The policy is riddled with unanswered questions, guarantees an unacceptably tardy coal exit and fails completely to acknowledge how urgently we need to decarbonise to address climate change.

“Those writing the policy seem to be existing in a parallel universe where coal is still profitable, people aren’t being forced out of their homes for mining, and the climate catastrophe isn’t unfolding around us.”

‘Incoherent policymaking’

Ott continued: “We are still faced with the total failure to tackle the phase-out of lignite, the most polluting form of coal, suggesting that Germany is still in thrall to vast energy companies which are still expanding mines and committing major rights infringements.

“And far from a logical approach to securing energy as coal is phased out, we’re actually seeing obstacles to renewable energy growth, which puts the entire phase-out at risk.

“Germany is one of Europe’s leading economies, and it is embarrassing to see such totally incoherent policymaking at a time we’ve never needed strong, solid climate action more.”

Key issues 

The main reason Germany’s ‘Coal Commission’ was formed was to decide how to manage a coal phase-out to cut carbon emissions in order to protect the climate. But this rationale is not made explicit in the law as it stands – and without climate protection as a guiding principle, the law is much less likely to perform against its intended objectives.

The leaked law contains provisions on how to phase out the first Gigawatts (GW) of hard coal to 2026 via tender procedures. If these do not reach the intended GW reduction, no possibility of state-enforced closures is planned in the law, which puts the phase-out path at risk entirely.

The law leaves the GW-reduction path for hard coal for the period from 2027 to 2038 (or earlier) to be determined by a future government by 2022. The already late end date of 2038 will only be assessed for the first time in 2032; earlier assessments by an expert committee, according to the draft, would only result in recommendations to the government and no commitments.

The draft law still needs to pass the cabinet next Monday and only then will pass on to the parliament, but presumably not before the end of this year. The law also does not yet contain any details on how the phase-out of lignite in Germany will take place, which is extremely bad news for those in Germany who stand to lose their villages for coal mining.

The leaked draft of the coal phase-out law contains changes to many other laws, too, among them a provision in construction law that in the future would limit the expansion of wind energy considerably.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from ClientEarth. 

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have criticised a leak of Germany’s draft coal phase-out law as put together by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, calling it out of touch and piecemeal, and lambasting the failure to tie it to climate protection goals.

Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott, Head of ClientEarth – Anwälte der Erde, said: “The long-awaited draft of Germany’s phase-out law is a shambles. The policy is riddled with unanswered questions, guarantees an unacceptably tardy coal exit and fails completely to acknowledge how urgently we need to decarbonise to address climate change.

“Those writing the policy seem to be existing in a parallel universe where coal is still profitable, people aren’t being forced out of their homes for mining, and the climate catastrophe isn’t unfolding around us.”

‘Incoherent policymaking’

Ott continued: “We are still faced with the total failure to tackle the phase-out of lignite, the most polluting form of coal, suggesting that Germany is still in thrall to vast energy companies which are still expanding mines and committing major rights infringements.

“And far from a logical approach to securing energy as coal is phased out, we’re actually seeing obstacles to renewable energy growth, which puts the entire phase-out at risk.

“Germany is one of Europe’s leading economies, and it is embarrassing to see such totally incoherent policymaking at a time we’ve never needed strong, solid climate action more.”

Key issues 

The main reason Germany’s ‘Coal Commission’ was formed was to decide how to manage a coal phase-out to cut carbon emissions in order to protect the climate. But this rationale is not made explicit in the law as it stands – and without climate protection as a guiding principle, the law is much less likely to perform against its intended objectives.

The leaked law contains provisions on how to phase out the first Gigawatts (GW) of hard coal to 2026 via tender procedures. If these do not reach the intended GW reduction, no possibility of state-enforced closures is planned in the law, which puts the phase-out path at risk entirely.

The law leaves the GW-reduction path for hard coal for the period from 2027 to 2038 (or earlier) to be determined by a future government by 2022. The already late end date of 2038 will only be assessed for the first time in 2032; earlier assessments by an expert committee, according to the draft, would only result in recommendations to the government and no commitments.

The draft law still needs to pass the cabinet next Monday and only then will pass on to the parliament, but presumably not before the end of this year. The law also does not yet contain any details on how the phase-out of lignite in Germany will take place, which is extremely bad news for those in Germany who stand to lose their villages for coal mining.

The leaked draft of the coal phase-out law contains changes to many other laws, too, among them a provision in construction law that in the future would limit the expansion of wind energy considerably.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from ClientEarth. 

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have criticised a leak of Germany’s draft coal phase-out law as put together by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, calling it out of touch and piecemeal, and lambasting the failure to tie it to climate protection goals.

Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott, Head of ClientEarth – Anwälte der Erde, said: “The long-awaited draft of Germany’s phase-out law is a shambles. The policy is riddled with unanswered questions, guarantees an unacceptably tardy coal exit and fails completely to acknowledge how urgently we need to decarbonise to address climate change.

“Those writing the policy seem to be existing in a parallel universe where coal is still profitable, people aren’t being forced out of their homes for mining, and the climate catastrophe isn’t unfolding around us.”

‘Incoherent policymaking’

Ott continued: “We are still faced with the total failure to tackle the phase-out of lignite, the most polluting form of coal, suggesting that Germany is still in thrall to vast energy companies which are still expanding mines and committing major rights infringements.

“And far from a logical approach to securing energy as coal is phased out, we’re actually seeing obstacles to renewable energy growth, which puts the entire phase-out at risk.

“Germany is one of Europe’s leading economies, and it is embarrassing to see such totally incoherent policymaking at a time we’ve never needed strong, solid climate action more.”

Key issues 

The main reason Germany’s ‘Coal Commission’ was formed was to decide how to manage a coal phase-out to cut carbon emissions in order to protect the climate. But this rationale is not made explicit in the law as it stands – and without climate protection as a guiding principle, the law is much less likely to perform against its intended objectives.

The leaked law contains provisions on how to phase out the first Gigawatts (GW) of hard coal to 2026 via tender procedures. If these do not reach the intended GW reduction, no possibility of state-enforced closures is planned in the law, which puts the phase-out path at risk entirely.

The law leaves the GW-reduction path for hard coal for the period from 2027 to 2038 (or earlier) to be determined by a future government by 2022. The already late end date of 2038 will only be assessed for the first time in 2032; earlier assessments by an expert committee, according to the draft, would only result in recommendations to the government and no commitments.

The draft law still needs to pass the cabinet next Monday and only then will pass on to the parliament, but presumably not before the end of this year. The law also does not yet contain any details on how the phase-out of lignite in Germany will take place, which is extremely bad news for those in Germany who stand to lose their villages for coal mining.

The leaked draft of the coal phase-out law contains changes to many other laws, too, among them a provision in construction law that in the future would limit the expansion of wind energy considerably.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from ClientEarth. 

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have criticised a leak of Germany’s draft coal phase-out law as put together by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, calling it out of touch and piecemeal, and lambasting the failure to tie it to climate protection goals.

Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott, Head of ClientEarth – Anwälte der Erde, said: “The long-awaited draft of Germany’s phase-out law is a shambles. The policy is riddled with unanswered questions, guarantees an unacceptably tardy coal exit and fails completely to acknowledge how urgently we need to decarbonise to address climate change.

“Those writing the policy seem to be existing in a parallel universe where coal is still profitable, people aren’t being forced out of their homes for mining, and the climate catastrophe isn’t unfolding around us.”

‘Incoherent policymaking’

Ott continued: “We are still faced with the total failure to tackle the phase-out of lignite, the most polluting form of coal, suggesting that Germany is still in thrall to vast energy companies which are still expanding mines and committing major rights infringements.

“And far from a logical approach to securing energy as coal is phased out, we’re actually seeing obstacles to renewable energy growth, which puts the entire phase-out at risk.

“Germany is one of Europe’s leading economies, and it is embarrassing to see such totally incoherent policymaking at a time we’ve never needed strong, solid climate action more.”

Key issues 

The main reason Germany’s ‘Coal Commission’ was formed was to decide how to manage a coal phase-out to cut carbon emissions in order to protect the climate. But this rationale is not made explicit in the law as it stands – and without climate protection as a guiding principle, the law is much less likely to perform against its intended objectives.

The leaked law contains provisions on how to phase out the first Gigawatts (GW) of hard coal to 2026 via tender procedures. If these do not reach the intended GW reduction, no possibility of state-enforced closures is planned in the law, which puts the phase-out path at risk entirely.

The law leaves the GW-reduction path for hard coal for the period from 2027 to 2038 (or earlier) to be determined by a future government by 2022. The already late end date of 2038 will only be assessed for the first time in 2032; earlier assessments by an expert committee, according to the draft, would only result in recommendations to the government and no commitments.

The draft law still needs to pass the cabinet next Monday and only then will pass on to the parliament, but presumably not before the end of this year. The law also does not yet contain any details on how the phase-out of lignite in Germany will take place, which is extremely bad news for those in Germany who stand to lose their villages for coal mining.

The leaked draft of the coal phase-out law contains changes to many other laws, too, among them a provision in construction law that in the future would limit the expansion of wind energy considerably.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from ClientEarth. 

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have criticised a leak of Germany’s draft coal phase-out law as put together by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, calling it out of touch and piecemeal, and lambasting the failure to tie it to climate protection goals.

Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott, Head of ClientEarth – Anwälte der Erde, said: “The long-awaited draft of Germany’s phase-out law is a shambles. The policy is riddled with unanswered questions, guarantees an unacceptably tardy coal exit and fails completely to acknowledge how urgently we need to decarbonise to address climate change.

“Those writing the policy seem to be existing in a parallel universe where coal is still profitable, people aren’t being forced out of their homes for mining, and the climate catastrophe isn’t unfolding around us.”

‘Incoherent policymaking’

Ott continued: “We are still faced with the total failure to tackle the phase-out of lignite, the most polluting form of coal, suggesting that Germany is still in thrall to vast energy companies which are still expanding mines and committing major rights infringements.

“And far from a logical approach to securing energy as coal is phased out, we’re actually seeing obstacles to renewable energy growth, which puts the entire phase-out at risk.

“Germany is one of Europe’s leading economies, and it is embarrassing to see such totally incoherent policymaking at a time we’ve never needed strong, solid climate action more.”

Key issues 

The main reason Germany’s ‘Coal Commission’ was formed was to decide how to manage a coal phase-out to cut carbon emissions in order to protect the climate. But this rationale is not made explicit in the law as it stands – and without climate protection as a guiding principle, the law is much less likely to perform against its intended objectives.

The leaked law contains provisions on how to phase out the first Gigawatts (GW) of hard coal to 2026 via tender procedures. If these do not reach the intended GW reduction, no possibility of state-enforced closures is planned in the law, which puts the phase-out path at risk entirely.

The law leaves the GW-reduction path for hard coal for the period from 2027 to 2038 (or earlier) to be determined by a future government by 2022. The already late end date of 2038 will only be assessed for the first time in 2032; earlier assessments by an expert committee, according to the draft, would only result in recommendations to the government and no commitments.

The draft law still needs to pass the cabinet next Monday and only then will pass on to the parliament, but presumably not before the end of this year. The law also does not yet contain any details on how the phase-out of lignite in Germany will take place, which is extremely bad news for those in Germany who stand to lose their villages for coal mining.

The leaked draft of the coal phase-out law contains changes to many other laws, too, among them a provision in construction law that in the future would limit the expansion of wind energy considerably.

This Author

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from ClientEarth.