The British government has decided to support a Europe-wide ban on certain insect-killing pesticides believed responsible for the massive die-off of bees and other flying bugs.
The decision reverses the government’s previous position and is justified by recent new evidence showing neonicotinoids have contaminated the whole landscape and cause damage to colonies of bees. It also follows the revelation that 75% of all flying insects have disappeared in Germany and probably much further afield, a discovery Gove said had shocked him.
Neonicotinoids are the world’s most widely used insecticide but in 2013 the European Union banned their use on flowering crops, although the UK was among the nations opposing the ban. The European commission now wants a total ban on their use outside of greenhouses, with a vote expected in December, and the UK’s new position makes it very likely to pass.
“The weight of evidence now shows the risks neonicotinoids pose to our environment, particularly to the bees and other pollinators which play such a key part in our £100bn food industry, is greater than previously understood,” said Gove. “I believe this justifies further restrictions on their use. We cannot afford to put our pollinator populations at risk.”
In an article for the Guardian, Gove said: “As is always the case, a deteriorating environment is ultimately bad economic news as well.” He said pollinators boost the yield and quality of UK crops by £400m-£680m every year and said, for example, gala apple growers are now having to spend £5.7m a year to do replace the work of lost natural pollinators.
Canada's federal government is dragging its heels on a similar ban. In June, Health Canada said it would be at least six months before it issued a ruling.
“The weight of evidence now shows the risks neonicotinoids pose to our environment, particularly to the bees and other pollinators which play such a key part in our £100bn food industry, is greater than previously understood,” said Gove. “I believe this justifies further restrictions on their use. We cannot afford to put our pollinator populations at risk.”
In an article for the Guardian, Gove said: “As is always the case, a deteriorating environment is ultimately bad economic news as well.” He said pollinators boost the yield and quality of UK crops by £400m-£680m every year and said, for example, gala apple growers are now having to spend £5.7m a year to do replace the work of lost natural pollinators.
Canada's federal government is dragging its heels on a similar ban. In June, Health Canada said it would be at least six months before it issued a ruling.
8 comments:
Maybe Govt is worried about getting sued in Investor State Dispute Settlement-type lawsuits.
I would think that might be a factor, Hugh.
Michael Gove, eh? So, suddenly all those horrible EU regulations aren't so bad after all? Should have made that clear before leading the charge on Brexit.
Cap
Gove has been doing a lot of 180s lately, Cap.
So sad and so frustrating that our government won't take a step away from this garbage that's destroying our food chain.
We'll have to wait in hope, Anon. The growers who use these products are often those most dependent on bees and other flying insects to pollinate their trees and crops.
They grow a lot of blueberries where I live and until a short time ago used a lot of neonics. Now the big processor next door will not buy blueberries that have been sprayed with them. Bees are too expensive to kill, but more importantly , Japanese buyer don't want chemically tainted berries.Big processors in Maine are doing the same.
Economics and market pressure are banning neonics from the blueberry business.
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