Climate Change Bill
The announcement in the Queen’s Speech in November that the Government will introduce a Climate Change Bill in 2007 was welcomed by Friends of the Earth.
Radiohead's Thom Yorke launched The Big Ask campaign in May 2005. Since then over 100,000 people from across the country have lobbied their MPs to support the need for a climate change law that will commit the UK to making annual cuts in its carbon dioxide emissions of at least three per cent. This is the level that industrialised countries must achieve if global warming is to be kept below the danger threshold of 2 degrees centigrade.
All the main opposition parties have backed the bill and 412 MPs - almost two thirds of MPs overall, and a majority in every party sitting in Parliament - have signed a Parliamentary petition (Early Day Motion 178) calling for new legislation.
The announcement follows the 'I Count' event on November 4th where more than 25,000 people packed Trafalgar Square and closed surrounding roads to make their voices count, each one calling for urgent action on climate change. It would appear that the government bill may seek to avoid the binding annual targets that campaigners want. So pressure needs to be kept up.
More information from Friends of the Earth or phone 020 7490 1555.
The true cost of George at Asda
ASDA is the latest focus for Labour Behind the Label's 'Clean up Fashion' campaign. It has committed to ensuring garment workers earn a living wage, work in decent conditions, and have their fundamental rights respected. Yet the evidence shows that this is not happening in the real world.
Farzana sews clothes for ASDA George in Bangladesh. She works 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. She earns 30p a day. She says: “If there is night shift we have to work until 3 a.m. Though Friday is our day off, most of the time workers have to work on Friday.” Meanwhile parent company WalMart made £6 billion profit in 2005.
Find out more from Labour Behind the Label at 38 Exchange Street, Norwich NR2 3AT or phone 01603 666 160.
Viva claims victory as Waitrose promises to let its ducks swim
Waitrose has announced that it is planning to allow the ducks it sells
for meat to have access to ponds for swimming - the first supermarket
to do so.
Bizarrely, despite being an aquatic animal, none of the 19 million ducks
sold in the UK ever gets to paddle their feet in water, let alone swim.
Animal group Viva! has conducted a long term campaign against the factory
farming of ducks and has been urging all supermarkets to improve the
birds’ welfare. It claims the Waitrose decision as a partial victory.
Almost all the ducks sold for meat in UK supermarkets and restaurants
are reared in windowless factory farms and the only water to which they
have access is for drinking. A single shed frequently houses up to 15,000
birds and Viva! maintains that Waitrose’s intention to reduce flock
size to 5,000 and give them access to outside ponds is at least an improvement
on the woefully inadequate industry standard. Lack of water prevents
ducks from fulfilling their most fundamental needs and as a result they
can suffer from filthy, dishevelled feathers, eye infections and even
blindness.
This latest victory follows previous campaign successes. Sainsbury's,
Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Somerfield and Asda had already withdrawn
all duck meat from birds who had been painfully de-beaked and Harrods
ended the sale of all factory- farmed duck meat.
Read Viva!'s
in-depth on-line report Ducks Out of Water, which is updated for 2006,
or telephone 0117 944 1000.
Japan's whale hunters set sail for International
Whale Sanctuary
Despite a global moratorium and international outcry against whaling,
Japan's whale hunters set sail in November. Japan's self-allocated whaling
quota permits its whalers to kill up to 935 minke and 10 endangered
fin whales.
Japan's whale hunt started just weeks after Iceland resumed commercial
whaling for the first time in 20 years. Seven fin whales and one minke
whale were killed in Iceland since it resumed whaling on October 17,
2006. Much of this whale meat has been frozen due to saturation in the
market.
Japan hunts under the guise of so-called “scientific” whaling,
a clause that allows it to continue whaling despite a global ban on
commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC)
in 1986. In the 2005/2006 season Japan’s whalers killed 853 minke
and 10 fin whales from the Antarctic. Next year Japan may also start
hunting endangered humpback whales, with a self-allocated quota of 50.
Robbie Marsland, UK Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW), said: "Even more shocking is the fact that this whale hunt
takes place in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary around Antarctica, established
by the IWC in 1994 as a safe haven for these majestic creatures."
The Southern Ocean Sanctuary protects approximately 80% of the world’s
whales, including some of those whose winter migrations support thriving
multi-million pound whale watching industries.
An IFAW-sponsored study found that more than 100,000 people went whale
watching in Japan in 1998, up from 10,992 in 1991. More than 95% of
the whale and dolphin watchers in Japan were Japanese. Total expenditure
on whale watching in Japan in 1998 was estimated at more than £17m.
For more information, visit IFAW
or write to 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 9UD. Alternatively phone
+44 0207 587 6700 or email.
Eco-friendly bombs
British arms manufacturer BAE Systems is planning to design
'green' munitions, including lead-free bullets and rockets with reduced
toxins. Also in the pipeline are jets, fighting vehicles and artillery
without dangerous compounds which can “harm the environment and
pose a risk to people”, the company is quoted as saying.
"Weapons are going to be used and when they are, we try to make
them as safe for the user as possible," said Dr Debbie Allen, director
of the company's corporate social responsibility.
BAE Systems has full support from Britain’s Ministry of Defence,
which wants to see quieter warheads in order to reduce noise pollution
and grenades that produce less smoke.
Ethiscore for Xmas
Why not buy your friends and family a virtual Christmas present –
a year's subscription to the ethiscore website. Find out which brand
of MP3 player is the most ethical or which box of chocolates comes out
tops?
There are now over 100 product reports available to subscribers. The
ratings of the companies behind the brands are updated on a daily basis
to make your consumer action the most effective it can be, and you can
customise the scores to fit in with your own ethical values.
A year’s subscription to the Ethiscore
website costs just £15.
And don't forget Ethical Consumer magazine. Give a year’s subscription
as a gift and it will only cost you £19 (to the UK). We need to
receive your magazine order by Thursday December 14th to catch the last
first class post. Call us with your credit/debit card details on 0161
226 2929 or subscribe
online.
