Council In London To Ban Meat From Future Events To Fight Climate Crisis

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Thank you for doing the right thing when plant-based is the only way forward for our planet, public health, and human decency’

LIAM GILLIVER

https://www.plantbasednews.org/news/council-ban-meat-from-events-fight-climate-crisis

Enfield Council in London has announced it will ban meat from future events to help tackle the climate crisis.

Starting in December, the council will be the first in the U.K to only serve veggie and vegan options at events where it provides the catering.

The council, which aims to become a net-zero organization by 2030, and a net-zero borough by 2040, recently made the announcement in its Climate Action Plan report.

‘Positive impact’

A spokesperson from The Vegan Society told the Evening Standard: “A comparison of even the lowest impact beef with plant protein such as peas shows that beef is responsible for six times more greenhouse gasses and 36 times more land.

“For councils that have declared a Climate Emergency this would be a simple policy to enact which would have a positive impact.”

The Vegan Society added that it hopes other councils and public sector organizations will be ‘inspired’ by Enfield Council’s move and follow in suit.

Mixed opinions

The announcement stirred opinions online, with some accusing the council of ‘forcing’ people to be vegetarian.

One Twitter user said: “Imagine the outcry if it was the other way around! Surely it’s not a councils job to dictate what we eat?”

Whilst another, who was in support of the ban, said: “Hats off to Enfield Council. Thank you for doing the right thing when plant-based is the only way forward for our planet, public health, and human decency.”

Someone ran over multiple sea turtle nests on Captiva Island

CAPTIVA ISLAND, Fla. – The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is looking for someone who ran over six sea turtle nests on Sunday morning,

FWC officers think a golf cart or similar vehicle was used near Captiva Drive and Paige Court on where the nests were found disturbed.

An SCCF Sea Turtle Volunteer found the damage. Their sea turtle hotline also received two phone calls reporting the damage: one was from a resident and the other was from a visitor. Stakes were removed from the nests and thrown into the sand dune.

“These criminal actions clearly do not represent the intent of the rest of us, and they do feel like an invasion of sorts,” SCCF said in a statement. “This upends the joy and hope that these turtles represent for us all. I urge us all to channel this outrage by aiming it toward something good.”

According to Florida law, any person, firm, or corporation that illegally takes, disturbs, mutilates, destroys, causes to be destroyed, transfers, sells, offers to sell, molests, or harasses any marine turtle species, or the eggs or nest of any marine turtle species commits a third-degree felony, which has a maximum penalty of a fine up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison.

Officers said it’s unclear if any eggs were damaged because digging them up to find out could cause even more harm.

All sea turtle species in Florida are listed as endangered or threatened, and it is illegal to harm, harass, or kill any sea turtles or their eggs.

The Linsmayer Family has pledged a $1,000 gift towards SCCF’s coastal wildlife monitoring costs, and hope other concerned islanders will join them.

CLICK HERE to donate to SCCF.

For more information about Florida’s sea turtles, click here.

Major Investors Drop Meat Giant JBS After Company Linked To Amazon Deforestation

The announcement follows five allegations in 2020 alone that have tied the meat processor to illegal deforestation

LIAM GILLIVER

JUL 28, 2020

https://www.plantbasednews.org/news/investors-drop-meat-giant-jbs-amazon-deforestation

Brazilian meat giant JBS has been dropped from major investor Nordea Asset Management – the largest financial service group in the Nordics.

It is reported the investors control a fund of around £21 billion ($27 billion) – which JBS is now ‘excluded’ from.

‘Quite dramatic’

According to The Guardian, head of responsible investments at Nordea Asset Management Eric Pedersen said: “The exclusion of JBS is quite dramatic for us because it is from all of our funds, not just the ones labelled ESG.”

The firm’s acronym ESG stands for ‘environmental, social and governmental’ – a set of standards used to assess how sustainable a company is.

Illegal deforestation

The announcement follows five allegations in 2020 alone that have tied the meat processor to illegal deforestation – with environmental groups including Greenpeace criticizing the company since 2012.

JBS was also slammed last year when the Amazon Rainforest was reported to have been ‘burning down at record pace’ – with a slew of major news outlets linking the blazes to beef farming.

Many celebrities also spoke out about the environmental catastrophe – with Khloe Kardashian encouraging her [then] 97.6 million Instagram followers to go plant-based. 

TAGS

MEAT GIANTAMAZON DEFORESTATIONAMAZON FIRESJBS

Australia’s fires ‘killed or harmed three billion animals’

• 28 July 2020

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-53549936

Nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced during Australia’s devastating bushfires of the past year, scientists say.

The findings meant it was one of “worst wildlife disasters in modern history”, said the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which commissioned the report.

Mega blazes swept across every Australian state last summer, scorching bush and killing at least 33 people.

Mammals, reptiles, birds and frogs died in the flames or from loss of habitat.

• Koalas face extinction in New South Wales by 2050
• Australia fires were far worse than any prediction

During the peak of the crisis in January, scientists had estimated that 1.25 billion animals had been killed in New South Wales and Victoria alone.

But the new estimate takes in a larger area. About 11.46 million hectares – an area comparable to England – was scorched from September to February.

What was the impact?

“When you think about nearly three billion native animals being in the path of the fires, it is absolutely huge – it’s a difficult number to comprehend,” said Prof Chris Dickman, who oversaw the project by 10 scientists from Australian universities

He said they could not yet state an exact death toll, but noted the chances of animals escaping the blazes and surviving were “probably not that great” due to a lack of food and shelter.

The numbers were based on population counts and estimates of animal density before the disaster.

Limitations on data meant that some groups – such as invertebrates, fish and turtles – were not included in the estimates.

In February, the Australian government identified 113 animal species which needed “urgent help” after the bushfires.

Almost all on the list had lost at least 30% of their habitat in temperate forests and grasslands of Australia’s south and east.

Koalas and wallabies – as well as bird, fish and frog species – were among those needing the most help, said experts.

• A visual guide on the scale of Australia’s fires
• How do we know how many animals died in fires?
• Coronavirus bites into bushfire recovery

The government pledged A$50m (£27m; $35m) to wildlife and habitat recovery, but environmentalists have called on Australia to strengthen its conservation laws.

Australia is holding a royal commission inquiry into the fires, which is due to report findings in October.

It has heard overwhelming evidence from scientists who said the unprecedented frequency and severity of the blazes were a result of climate change.

Experts also said that smoke from the fires was linked to more than 445 deaths.