Environment | WPN World People News

On the road from Bishkek to Lake Issykul, in Kyrgyzstan, June 2008.

Belgium-based international retailer Delhaize Group has become the first supermarket chain in the world to commit to a No Deforestation Policy with full traceability. The move follows public pressure in Belgium and just three days after Greenpeace launched a global campaign demanding an end to forest destruction for palm oil.

As Milan fashion week gets under way, Greenpeace International revealed that the same hazardous chemicals used in the manufacturing of fast fashion are used by ‘exclusive’ luxury brands - including Versace, Louis Vuitton and Dolce&Gabbana - to produce children’s items.

As heavy rains and floods hamper activities to help victims of typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, the Philippines, the need for food aid might extend until the next rice planting season in May.

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) sent a letter to Mike Brown, president of the National Chicken Council (NCC), condemning the trade association’s new guidelines for the humane treatment of the 9 billion chickens raised for meat each year in the United States.

Virunga activists have reported threats, intimidation and unlawful detention.

In a settlement with conservationists on Wednesday, PPL agreed to install pollution monitors to assure that the Colstrip and Corette coal-fired power plants are continuously complying with the law for particulate pollution. Earthjustice represented the Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) and Sierra Club in the administrative appeal and settlement of the air permits for both coal plants.

The Duke of Cambridge joinED the United for Wildlife organisations at a symposium hosted by the Zoological Society of London to discuss the coordinated international effort that is required to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

Good-quality water for all?

On Valentine’s Day, Pesticide Action Network, Center for Food Safety, and Beyond Pesticides, represented by Earthjustice, submitted detailed comments to state officials urging them to stop approving pesticides linked to bee declines. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has continued to approve new bee-harming products before completing an evaluation of their impacts. In their letter, the groups underscored these larger problems with the agency’s inability to complete evaluations of pesticides after five years.