Derek Wall Interview

Derek Wall, the Green Party of England and Wales former male Principal Speaker and candidate for the Deputy Leader speaks to Natural Choices about the last election results and the future of the Green Party. The Green Party finally broke into the UK Parliament at the last General Election with Caroline Lucas winning in Brighton Pavillion, they are also well positioned to become the official opposition in the coming Norwich municipal elections.

How agrofuel land grabs are undermining African farming

Access to land provides food and livelihoods for billions of people around the world, but as the availability of fertile land and water is threatened by climate change, mismanagement and consumption patterns, demand for land has been increasing says Friends of the Earth in their latest report ’Africa up for grabs: The scale and impact of land land grabbing for agrofuels’

New Research refutes Chancellor’s ’Progressive Budget’ Claim

The Chancellor claimed in his Budget speech that the June 2010 Budget was a ‘progressive Budget’, backed up by distributional analysis in the Budget documentation that showed that tax and benefit changes due to come into effect between now and 2012–13 will hit the richest more than the poorest.

Greens step-up campaign to be largest party in Norwich

Jenny Jones, Green Party member of the London Assembly and former deputy mayor of London, is in Norwich today supporting the Green Party’s campaign to become the main party on a UK local authority for the first time ever.

What now for the Green Party?

The Green Party has made some major breakthroughs over last the couple of years, the election of Caroline Lucas to Parliament was one of the few bright points on an otherwise dismal election night. At a local level they now have just over 120 councilors and the two MEPs, The problem however is that the election showed up how patchy and locally concentrated their support base actually is. With the Autumn Party conference approaching what are challenges facing the Green Party of England and Wales.

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Previous headlines

Go into free solar panel deals with your eyes open – warn campaigners

Following an announcement from a company who say they intend to provide free solar panels to 100,000 households, Consumer Focus and the Centre for Sustainable Energy are warning consumers to investigate the details of such schemes to avoid future problems.

Conspicuous consumption and destructive wealth The case of Ira Lennert

If you want to start a campaign focusing on grossly conspicuous consumption as an environmental crime, then an appropriate poster boy would be Ira Rennert, currently the 144th richest man in the world. Forbes magazine pegs his net worth at US$5.3 Billion, writes Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus.

Moves towards greening government already saving £60-70m a year

A new report published by the sadly soon to be abolished Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) shows that moves towards greater sustainability made by the previous administration already save government £60-70 million every year, and calls for the Coalition Government to step up its green ambitions in order to benefit from further efficiency savings.

Waste, reuse, recycling and job creation

Adrian Ramsay, the Green Party’s deputy leader, explains the Green approach to reducing and reusing waste and job creation, and the government’s review of their policies in this area.

Salmon- 7 impacts of aquiculture

Once a luxury food, salmon is now one of the most popular fish species in the United States, Europe and Japan. Total salmon production has increased three-fold since 1980 to meet this demand. The largest growth has been in farmed, not wild caught, salmon. Approximately 60 percent (1.26 million metric tons) of the world’s salmon comes from fish farms. Source:WWF

Fossil fuel subsidies 12 times larger than support for renewable energy

New research from Bloomberg New Energy Finance reveals that despite many platitudes and pledges, governments of the world are spending substantially more on subsidizing dirty forms of energy than on renewables and biofuels. In fact, support for cleaner sources is dwarfed by the help the oil, coal, and other fossil fuel sectors receive.

UN votes water and sanitation a human right, UK abstains

Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a "human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights," the General Assembly declared today, voicing deep concern that almost 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water. Source: Transnational Institute

100 B&Q stores start to sell Fairtrade Cotton

B&Q announces that it will be selling its first Fairtrade products in store this year. From August 2010, B&Q will sell a range of Fairtrade cotton bedding in 100 stores. 2010 is an important milestone as it marks the fifth year anniversary of the introduction of Fairtrade cotton into the UK market. Source: Fairtrade Foundation

Progress possible in Bonn climate talks says WWF

The odds for progress at the UN climate talks in Cancun this December are still good, says WWF, if governments focus on delivering key ingredients through a “Cancun package” that forms a stepping stone for a legal framework to be finalised at the end of 2011.

Triodos Bank sees record increase in lending of £34 million for the first six months of 2010

Triodos Bank, the global leader in ethical and sustainable banking, today announced growth to its UK lending of 14 per cent during the first half of 2010. Loans to customers including the Glastonbury festival’s Michael Eavis have enabled the bank to increase its total UK lending to £282m, a £34m net increase on the end of 2009.