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243 results
Submission to the Scottish Parliament Re:Farm-scale Trials of Genetically Modified (GM) Oilseed Rape at Munlochy, Scotland
The document outlines several objections to GM oilseed rape trials in Scotland, citing poor trial design, the risk of creating herbicide-resistant 'superweeds', and the potential for genetic contamination of non-GM crops. It highlights the dangers of the 'Liberty' herbicide (glufosinate), alleging it causes birth defects in animals and poses a threat to wildlife in Munlochy Bay. Additionally, the submission discusses risks to bees, including horizontal gene transfer and antibiotic resistance, and warns that the use of the cauliflower mosaic virus promoter could lead to new diseases. The authors conclude that the trials are flawed and the crops are economically and environmentally unviable.
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Document type: Statement
SGR Submission to the Scottish Parliamentary Health and Community Care Committee
Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) submits that GM field trials should be halted based on the precautionary principle. The submission highlights risks including the potential for GM genes to reduce soil fertility, the toxicity of GM pollen to insects, and the increased use of toxic herbicides. It further criticizes the lack of independent monitoring and data transparency in trials and provides evidence from North America regarding the pervasive and 'disastrous' contamination of organic crops and seeds by GM varieties.
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Document type: Statement
Report V
The report contends that genetically engineered (GM) crops, specifically Chardon LL, pose significant risks to human health, animal welfare, and the environment. It highlights the toxicity of the associated herbicide 'Liberty', criticizes the design of farm-scale trials and safety testing, and alleges systemic fraud and regulatory laxity in the UK and US. The authors argue that GM crops threaten biodiversity and soil carbon sequestration while primarily benefiting seed and chemical corporations.
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Document type: Report
Klimari buruzko herritarren batzarrak diseinatzeko, antolatzeko eta errazteko gida
The document outlines a comprehensive approach to deliberative democracy applied to the climate crisis. It details a five-phase process—preparation, learning, reflection, recommendation drafting, and decision-making—supported by independent governance structures. The guide emphasizes inclusivity, accessibility, and the use of both digital and physical tools to ensure a representative sample of citizens can produce legitimate policy recommendations for governments and social actors.
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Document type: Guide
talkingtrash-german-dossier-351ff93e39df736f.pdf
The report details how a network of industry associations and lobby groups, including PlasticsEurope and EUROPEN, worked to weaken the EU's circular economy goals and the Single-Use Plastics Directive. It highlights specific efforts to avoid mandatory tethered bottle caps and to delay separate collection targets. In Austria, the report describes a coalition of retailers and beverage companies, orchestrated by Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA), that has lobbied against the introduction of a deposit return system despite strong public support and evidence of its effectiveness.
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Document type: Report
Überfischung2
The report finds that Swiss retailers largely fail to ensure sustainable aquaculture supply chains, with none meeting half of the assessed sustainability indicators. It highlights the ecological and social risks of using wild fish for aquaculture feed, the inadequacy of current certification labels, and the poor state of fish welfare in farms. The authors advocate for the decoupling of aquaculture from wild fisheries through alternative feeds and the promotion of herbivorous fish species.
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Document type: Report
How Fracked Gas, Cheap Oil, and Unburnable Coal are Driving the Plastics Boom
The report details a global surge in plastics production capacity driven by cheap fossil fuel feedstocks. In the US, shale gas has led to planned investments of $164 billion for 264 new or expanded facilities. China is heavily investing in carbon-intensive coal-to-olefins technology to overcome a lack of natural gas. Meanwhile, the Middle East continues to leverage oil and gas, and Europe is seeing new investments enabled by US liquefied natural gas shipments. The report warns that this capacity expansion could lock in high plastic production for decades, exacerbating environmental pollution and the climate crisis.
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Document type: Report
Comparison of the legal requirements that apply to the National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP) vs the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP)
The analysis finds that the NAPCP provides a more robust legal framework for meeting emission reduction commitments than the EIP, offering higher transparency, stricter review mechanisms, and mandatory public consultation.
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Document type: Report
MARKING THE WAY
The document identifies key components of effective climate accountability frameworks, emphasizing the importance of legislating targets, establishing independent oversight, and using cumulative carbon budgets. It advocates for a whole-of-government approach and the integration of adaptation and clean growth into climate policy to enhance resilience and economic development.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Just Transition Planning Masterclass Webinar 1 Pre-read: Introducing Just Transitions
The document defines a 'Just Transition' as a framework to ensure that the shift toward a green economy is fair and inclusive, preventing vulnerable populations from bearing disproportionate costs. It traces the concept's evolution from 1980s US trade union concerns over pollution regulations to a broader global framework integrated into the UNFCCC and the 2015 Paris Agreement. The text emphasizes three types of justice—procedural, distributional, and restorative—and argues that transition planning must be participatory and cross-governmental. Using Malawi's agricultural mechanization as an example, it illustrates how top-down transitions can marginalize smallholder farmers despite overall GDP growth. While historically focused on the energy sector and fossil fuel phase-outs, the document asserts that Just Transition principles are equally critical for sectors like agriculture, transport, waste, and forestry, especially regarding adaptation priorities in the global south.
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Document type: Briefing
Climate Change in the British Mind
A survey of 10,660 UK residents reveals high levels of climate change awareness, with 86% believing it is happening and 75% attributing it to human activity. While 80% of respondents express worry about climate change and 82% support renewable energy, personal risk perception is lower than concern for future generations. The report also details local environmental experiences, noting that 68% of respondents experienced at least one environmental problem in the past year, most notably severe storms and flooding.
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Document type: Report
TRANSFORMING OUR ECONOMY SCALING UP THE SOLUTIONS
The document argues that the current global economic system, driven by neoliberal ideology, has failed by causing environmental destruction and extreme inequality. It proposes five key pillars for transformation: ensuring universal public services through tax justice, scaling up social ownership and cooperatives, supporting local markets and fair trade, adopting wellbeing-based economic indicators instead of GDP, and establishing binding international rules to hold transnational corporations accountable for human rights and environmental abuses.
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Document type: Report
CÓMO TRANSFORMAR NUESTRA ECONOMÍA
The report critiques neoliberalism for causing environmental destruction and inequality, advocating for a transition to a sustainable economy. It proposes five key pillars: expanding public services through tax justice, scaling up cooperatives and solidarity economies, supporting local markets and fair trade, adopting wellbeing-based economic indicators instead of GDP, and establishing binding international regulations to curb the power of transnational corporations.
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Document type: Report
TRANSFORMER L’ÉCONOMIE EN DÉPLOYANT LES SOLUTIONS À GRANDE ÉCHELLE
The document critiques neoliberalism for causing ecological destruction and deep inequalities, proposing a shift toward an economy that prioritizes people and the planet. It outlines five strategic pillars for transformation: ensuring universal public services through tax justice, expanding cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy, supporting local agroecological markets and fair trade, replacing GDP with wellbeing indicators (such as 'Buen vivir' or 'doughnut economics'), and establishing a binding UN treaty to hold multinational corporations accountable for human rights and environmental abuses.
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Document type: Report
ÉNERGIES RENOUVELABLES BIEN FAITES
The document outlines the 'Renewables Done Right' framework, which seeks to prevent renewable energy projects from replicating the harms of fossil fuel systems, such as land grabbing and human rights violations. It emphasizes energy sovereignty, sufficiency, and circular economies, using examples from India, Palestine, and Scotland to illustrate the need for community participation, infrastructure investment, and the avoidance of overconsumption.
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Document type: Fact sheet
COVID-19: Ten Priority Options for a Just, Green & Transformative Recovery
The briefing argues that the COVID-19 crisis exposed systemic fragilities and provides an opportunity to build resilience against climate change, biodiversity loss, and inequality. It outlines ten priority options, including the adoption of green economy principles, the use of 'Green Deals', the removal of fossil fuel subsidies, and the implementation of gender-responsive recovery plans. The authors emphasize that recovery spending must align with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, particularly in the global South where public debt may limit fiscal space.
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Document type: Briefing
BRIEF: The biggest story yet to be told - how we transform our economies
The Green Economy Coalition and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance are seeking a UK-based expert in media, marketing, and communications to help develop a public narrative for economic transformation. The project aims to move beyond the crisis-focused language of NGOs and scientists to create a vision of a 'wellbeing economy' that is desirable to the average citizen. Initially piloting in the UK, the initiative seeks to build a 'network of the willing' among high-profile communicators—including advertisers, filmmakers, and journalists—to design campaigns that connect climate change to the need for systemic economic change. The goal is to shift public sentiment from fear to hope and eventually scale the model to other locations, such as Germany.
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Document type: Briefing
Toidujäätmete ja toidukao vältimine ja vähendamine koolides juhendmaterjal
The document outlines strategies to combat food waste in Estonian schools, noting that food loss accounts for 74% of school food waste. It provides tailored guidance for catering staff (e.g., using the Fi-Fo method), teachers (integrating waste themes into curricula), students (taking only what they can eat), and school administrations (optimizing procurement and lunch schedules). It also shares international best practices from Scotland, Poland, and the USA.
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Document type: Guide
The Scottish Diet
The report finds that the average Scottish diet has a food Footprint of 0.75 global hectares (gha) per person, with meat being the primary driver of environmental impact. Transitioning to a diet based on healthy eating recommendations can reduce this Footprint by 15% to 25%. Further reductions are possible through vegetarianism, sourcing local produce, and choosing organic options, with an ideal 'Best Diet' (healthy, vegetarian, local, and organic) reducing the Footprint by approximately 40% to 0.46 gha/cap.
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Document type: Report
POLICY BRIEF
The document highlights a growing gap between Scotland's territorial emissions, which decreased by 13% between 1995 and 2004, and its consumer emissions, which grew by 11% in the same period. This trend indicates an increasing reliance on imported products and the offshoring of production emissions. Household consumption is the primary driver of the carbon footprint, with housing, transport, and food and drink as the largest contributors. The brief emphasizes that high-income households have significantly larger footprints and recommends that the Scottish government integrate consumer-based accounting into its national framework to ensure real emission reductions.
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Document type: Policy brief