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Peter Melchett of the Soil Association and Roger Mainwood respond to Guy Smith of the NFU’s letter claiming that pesticide use in the UK has been significantly reduced

Guy Smith of the National Farmers’ Union says (Letters, 4 June) that there has been “no intensification of agriculture in the UK for 25 years”, and that government figures show pesticide use has been “significantly reduced”. No they don’t. Government figures show the number of active substances – the actual chemicals applied to three major UK crops (wheat, onions and potatoes) – have increased between six and 18 times (that is, between 600% and 1,800%) from the 1970s to 2014. And as recent Guardian investigations have found, there has been a significant growth in large-scale pig and poultry production, and recently you revealed the arrival, albeit just a few at the moment, of US-style beef lots in the UK (Report, 30 May). UK dairy herds have been getting ever larger over recent years, with the growth of dairy systems where the cows are kept indoors all their life, with feed brought to them, and no grazing on grass. These are all undesirable trends for English farmers, squeezed by rising costs and falling prices, and as we face government policy that rightly wants us to compete on the world market on the basis of high animal welfare, high environmental standards and high quality.
Peter Melchett
Policy director, Soil Association

• Guy Smith of the National Farmers’ Union tells only half the story when he says pesticide use in the UK has been significantly reduced. What he is referring to is the weight of pesticides, and on that point alone he is correct. In 1990 the weight of active substances applied was 34,500 tonnes compared to 17,1800 tones in 2015. But weight is not the significant factor. Toxicity is. Many of the pesticides on the market now are more toxic than they used to be and so farmers apply less weight of pesticides to do the same job.

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A Canadian firm says new technology has dramatically cut the cost of removing carbon from the air.

Czechia-based firm EPH gained ground on German utility RWE as the biggest emitter in the EU ETS last year as it continued to build its portfolio of thermal power assets, according to a report published Thursday.

The European Commission sets out how it wants to spend €100bn (£87bn) on science in the next EU budget.

South Korean carbon allowances lost another 2% on Thursday, as last week’s government auction and a large amount of swap deals have taken some of the edge off compliance demand, which had been estimated as high as 30 million.

The Climate Finance Specialist will join the Climate Policy Hub (CPH), based at the CIAT Asia regional office in Hanoi (Vietnam), and work under the supervision of the CPH leader. She/he will have overall responsibility to provide scientific expertise on channeling investments to support developing country priorities for the agriculture sector under the Paris Agreement, and on developing innovative CSA financing schemes including green bonds, carbon markets, REDD+ and payment for ecosystem services (PES).

Researchers find the daily migrations of brine shrimp is strong enough to mix ocean waters

When we think of global warming and climate change, most of us ignore the impacts that animals have on the environment. Climate affects animals, but is the reverse true? Can animals affect the climate?

I don’t know how to answer that question definitively, but I was fortunate enough to read a very recent paper from a top fluid dynamics research team from Stanford. The team, led by Dr. John Dabiri, is well known for their work on bio-inspired flow. Part of what they study is the influence of living organisms on fluid flow, especially flow of water in the oceans.

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New Zealand on Thursday launched a public consultation on how to achieve its ambition of net zero emissions by 2050, but revealed that the target might cover less than half of its total GHG output.

Tasmania’s bid to become battery of nation could require as many as four new interconnectors to be installed between the island state and mainland Australia.

From the birth of cyclotourisme to moon landings and the rise of 1990s mountain biking these mechanical marvels have played a small but crucial role

If your bike has gears, the chances are it also has derailleurs. These mechanical marvels which move the chain when you move up or down a gear may be a small part of the bicycle, but the myriad designs reveal a lot about the history of cycling. Over the nearly 40 years I’ve spent working in bike shops, I have collected about 1,400 rear derailleurs. Here are just 10 of the most influential, interesting or just plain weird.

Le Chemineau, France, 1912

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Scare campaigns about blackouts, this time caused by rooftop solar, are again in mainstream media. We explain what's going on here, why the claims are dubious, and why the market operator, networks and software companies want to control your rooftop solar system.

Researchers are genetically engineering plants to produce the sex pheromones of insects, which then frustrate the pests’ attempts to mate

“Sexy plants” are on the way to replacing many harmful pesticides, scientists say, by producing the sex pheromones of insects which then frustrate pests’ attempts to mate.

Scientists have already genetically engineered a plant to produce the sex pheromones of moths and are now optimising that, as well as working on new pheromones such as those of the mealybugs that plague citrus growers.

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The 'brumby bill' which passed the NSW upper house late last night, is an embarrassing step backwards for the state. Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University Euan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Tim Doherty, Research Fellow, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Keeping his word to ‘go electric’, Scottish tennis champ Andy Murray has become one of the first owners of the Jaguar I-PACE EV.

The eagles – and four other protected species – are alleged to have been poisoned

More than 100 wedge-tailed eagles have been found on a farm in eastern Victoria, prompting a criminal investigation.

Officers from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) found the carcasses on a property at Tubbut, which is on the edge of the Snowy River national park near the New South Wales border in East Gippsland.

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Commission will set a phase-out timeline for coal, but greens warn it may be too weak and divided to salvage Germany’s reputation as a climate leader.

EPSA, a co-regulatory arrangement under the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme, was given an improvement notice on 22 February 2017.

Massive 70 metre wind turbine blades, bound for the Kennedy Energy Park in Hughenden, were imported through Townsville port this week for the first time in history.

The new web-based tool with an intuitive graphical interface helps installers lower PV design costs and increase conversion rates by creating compelling customer proposals.

Environment groups condemn legislation protecting feral horses in national park

Australia has become a “global laughing stock” after the New South Wales parliament passed legislation to protect the heritage of feral horses in the Kosciuszko national park, environment groups say.

The Berejiklian government, with support from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party and the Christian Democrats, passed the Kosciuszko wild horse heritage bill 2018 through the NSW Legislative Council late on Wednesday.

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