David Attenborough’s ‘Ocean’ – Take Action

A group of us from Friends of the Earth recently went to the cinema to see David Attenborough’s latest film ‘Ocean’ released on his 99^th birthday in May, and comes onto streaming services on World Oceans Day, June 8^th. Attenborough says that the ocean “Seems dark and distant, but the ocean is the lifeblood of our home”.  He says now he has nearly reached 100 years on our planet; he’s realised the ocean is the most fundamental part of it that requires protection.

The film shows some – and the only way to describe it is – shocking footage from inside a bottom-trawling net an industrial fishing vessel that drags a gigantic net across the sea floor, destroying everything in its path in order to catch a few fish for us to eat!  If you see the film, you can’t help but be shocked that this procedure is allowed to happen in the name of food production. The devastation left behind the nets is unbelievable and after watching the film you can’t help but want to take action.  As Attenborough puts it “If we save the sea, we save the planet” and the film showed how the sea can bounce back and the ocean floor can recover if left alone and the dredging stops.

On the 9^th June, 2025 the UN are holding an Ocean Conference which is the result of two decades of campaigning leading to two years ago world governments agreeing to the Global Ocean Treaty to put at least a third of the world’s oceans off limits to harmful human activity by 2030. For this to come into force and become law 60 countries have to sign the Treaty in their countries. Governments are aiming to put the Global Ocean Treaty in place at the Conference this June. Disappointingly, the UK government has not yet signed it even though they claim commitment to climate and nature. 

If you have watched the film – and if you haven’t hopefully you will soon - and I’m sure you will agree that we should sign the treaty and stop this barbaric practice as soon as possible.  If you would like to add your voice now you can click on the link and demand that David Lammy signs the Global Ocean Treaty into UK law before the conference begins on 9^th June.

Thank-you for helping to save the oceans. 😊

Melanie Wakley

Planet Over Profit campaign launch

We held a campaign launch event for our Planet Before Profit campaign, in Leicester’s Town Hall Square, as part of a national launch of this campaign.  We are calling for a new law to make it much easier to hold companies accountable for environmental damage and human rights abuses caused by their activities, both directly and within their supply chains.  Amongst those attending was Abigail, the Leicester Friends of the Earth orangutan. 

Friends of the Earth are part of a coalition of organizations campaigning for a new UK Business Human Rights and Environment Act, which would require companies to exercise “due diligence” in identifying and preventing both environmental damage and human rights abuses in their supply chains.  This would include things like deforestation, pollution and climate impacts, and things like land grabbing from indigenous communities and forced labour. 

In line with a recommendation by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights the proposed legislation would be based on the UK’s existing Bribery Act.  It would require companies and public bodies to carry out thorough checks on their supply chain, to identify risks and establish measures to prevent harm.  It would incorporate tough sanctions for failing to do this and allow companies to be held accountable in both civil and criminal courts.  It would also give affected communities a right to seek redress and require companies to engage with potentially affected communities.

Malcolm Hunter explains:

“Unrestrained pursuit of profit is driving widespread environmental destruction and human rights abuses world-wide. Many UK companies are contributing towards this, and this proposed legislation is designed to make them act in much more socially responsible ways and allow them to be held to account if they don’t.  Many other countries have already introduced similar legislation, or are in the process of doing so, but the UK currently lags behind and needs to catch up”.

Bee Picnic

We held our ‘Bee-Picnic’ a week later than originally planned due to a rain storm on Bank Holiday Monday – well it was a Bank Holiday after all, what else would you expect? - causing us to postpone. 

The Saturday after was a beautiful sunny day and everyone had a lovely time sitting out on the grass next to a flowerbed of pansies eating their bee friendly picnics. The event was organized to promote our ongoing campaign to persuade the City Council to stop using herbicides, which are a threat to biodiversity and a danger to human health, particularly that of children; and to raise awareness of the damage done by pesticide use more generally, to try to encourage schools, businesses and private individuals to stop using them.

A recent study found that populations of flying insects in the UK had fallen by 60% between 2004 and 2021, (1) and by a further 18% by 2023 (2).  This is a decline that has been ongoing since the 1970s.  This has major implications for food security as many of our crops rely on insects to pollinate them; and major implications for biodiversity, with many insect species threatened with extinction and knock on effects further up the food chain amongst other species, such as many birds.  Insects are suffering from both direct poisoning and loss of habitat.

Interestingly, in the park, opposite to where we were sitting Leicester City Council had a notice board about the value of bees to biodiversity with ideas as to how we can help to protect bees. They didn’t mention on the board that they themselves are spraying in their parks to keep them ‘tidy’ and helping to cause the decline of bees!! 

The impact of herbicide use on human health is also a major concern, since there is evidence of exposure to many common herbicides having long-term health implications.  Many have been identified as potential carcinogens, and there is also evidence of them causing liver damage, and of them increasing the likelihood of someone developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease (3), with young children at particular risk of exposure in urban areas, due to the way that herbicides are used by councils in areas such as parks particularly when children’s play areas are sprayed. 

As some councils have already gone pesticide free (4), and are allowing hard to mow areas to remain wild and adopting alternatives where some control of wild plants is needed, for instance on pavements (5), to protect both biodiversity and their citizens, we wonder why Leicester City Council cannot  follow their examples and stop spraying our parks and green spaces in particular. 

The picnic was a great success with people wearing Bee costumes and at the end taking part in a ‘bee die-in’ as a photo opportunity to forward to the Council to further our request for no more spraying and keeping our children and bees safe. 

We are planning another event later in the year so look out for that if you would like to take part! 

*Updated 13th May 2025

Our press release on this event was covered in the Leicester Gazette and the Northern Eco. The reporter from the Northern Eco, Sarah Hartley, had contacted Hannah Wakley from Leics. FoE before the picnic to learn more about the campaign as she is bringing together people campaigning against pesticide use across the UK and has set up a WhatsApp group. Hannah noticed that Leicester City Council had claimed, in their response to the press release, that glyphosate is certified by the Soil Association. She pointed out to Sarah that this is completely untrue and in fact the Soil Association have been campaigning for glyphosate to be banned for years! Sarah went back to the City Council, they admitted that it is only the adjuvant that is certified and she has now published a correction. 

Careful Leicester City Council we are watching you!!  

References

(1) Wildlife experts urge action on pesticides as UK insect populations plummet | Insects | The Guardian

(2) Bugs Matter Citizen Science survey shows further decreases in UK insect numbers - Buglife latest news

(3) Childhood exposure to common herbicide may increase the risk of disease in young adulthood

(4) Pesticide-Free Towns - success stories - Pesticide Action Network UK

(5) Tackling weeds without the use of pesticides - Pesticide Action Network UK