Lambing season begins - in pictures
Guardian Unlimited | 03 Apr 2011
Up to 300 ewes are lambing at Barracks Farm in Fetcham, Surrey. The farm is owned by the Conisbee family who supply their own butchers shops in nearby Horsley. The business has been run by generations of the family for more than 250 years.
 England | Economics and the Environment | Environmental Impacts | Governance | Livestock

UK slips down global rankings
Guardian Unlimited | 29 Mar 2011
The UK is rapidly losing the race to be the global powerhouse of the green economy, while other countries streak ahead in low-carbon technology investment and development, according to rankings published on Tuesday. Last year, the UK slumped from being third in the world in terms of investment in green growth, to only 13th place, according to a report by the respected US Pew Environment Group.
 United Kingdom | Economics and the Environment | Economy | Planning and Management of Development

George Osborne must deliver a green budget
Guardian Unlimited | 21 Mar 2011
The chancellor must not bow to Treasury orthodoxy when it comes to the measures needed to build a green economy. When defending its deficit reduction strategy, the coalition government is quick to point out that it is a reforming government and not just about cuts. But this radical zeal seems to...
 England | Economics and the Environment | Economy | Governance | Policy

How we engineered the food crisis | Henry Miller
Guardian Unlimited | 20 Mar 2011
Thanks to dysfunctional regulation of genetic engineering and misguided biofuels policy, the world's poorest are going hungry. Food prices worldwide were up by a whopping 25% in 2010, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, and February marked the eighth consecutive month of rising global food prices. Within the past two months, food riots helped to trigger the ousting of ruling regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.
 England | Agriculture | Economics and the Environment | Environmental Awareness | Education

Eco-farming can double food output by poor: U.N.
Reuters | 08 Mar 2011
Many farmers in developing nations can double food production within a decade by shifting to ecological agriculture from use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a U.N. report showed on Tuesday.
 Agriculture | Agrochemicals | Economics and the Environment | Initiatives

Homebuyers ignore efficiency labels
Guardian Unlimited | 02 Mar 2011
A Consumer Focus report found 79% of prospective buyers did not act on recommendations of energy performance certificates. Homebuyers overwhelmingly ignore energy labels designed to encourage greener homes, a new survey revealed on Wednesday. Consumer Focus carried out a survey to find out how useful prospective buyers and tenants found energy performance certificates (EPC), which vendors and landlords are legally required to provide when selling or letting a home.
 England | Certification | Economics and the Environment | Economy | Energy Conservation | Energy Consumption

Tougher EU climate goal could boost GDP: study
Reuters | 21 Feb 2011
A tougher European Union goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions could create jobs and boost economic growth by 2020, rather than slow it down as many EU governments fear, a study said on Monday.
 Climate Change | Economics and the Environment | Economy | Governance | Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The Treasury growls as Nick Clegg pushes the green agenda
Guardian Unlimited | 17 Feb 2011
The Liberal Democrats want the green bank to be a proper bank. But Whitehall's powerbase is determined to frustrate them. The Treasury is the most powerful department in Whitehall, but it is busy making itself unpopular even by its own abrasive standards. Jeremy Heywood, the most judicious of civil servants, was recently heard to say that the government's attempt to create a new green bank had become a battle of "everybody against the Treasury".
 England | Economics and the Environment | Governance | Policy

Europe formalizes fuel-efficiency target for vans
Reuters | 15 Feb 2011
Europe formalized new fuel-efficiency targets for vans on Tuesday, which aim to cut fuel bills for small businesses and curb emissions of gases blamed for climate change.
 Climate Change | Climate Change Impacts | Economics and the Environment | Public Policy | Traditional Fuel Use | Transport

World Bank warns of soaring food price dangers
Guardian Unlimited | 15 Feb 2011
A spike in global food prices has pushed millions more into poverty since last summer, said World Bank president Robert Zoellick. The World Bank has given a stark warning of the impact of the rising cost of food, saying an estimated 44 million people had been pushed into poverty since last summer by soaring commodity prices. Robert Zoellick, the Bank's president, said food prices had risen by almost 30% in the past year and were within striking distance of the record levels reached during 2008.
 Economics and the Environment | Food Security | Governance