Blogs

House of Commons Library briefing on UK context and policy development on Shale Gas and Fracking

Just because a question has been asked on mass extinction.  Worth looking at Barnosky, A. D., et al. (2011). "Has the Earth/'s sixth mass extinction already arrived?" Nature 471(7336): 51-57.  And Barnosky, A. D., et al. (2012). "Approaching a state shift in Earth/'s biosphere." Nature 486(7401): 52-58.

The UN held Earth Summit 2012 in Rio last year - Rio+20.  This resulted in a range of major commitments from governments on sustainable development, which are being tracked both by the UN on the Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform and by the NGO Stakeholder Forum on the SD 2015 website with a range of reviews and insights.  ...more/....

This is a complex policy area with many different elements and a lot of diverse governmental, intergovernmental and NGO actors.  Rio+20 is a successor to the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (also in Rio) - and that in turn was a successor to the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm that firmly established an international agenda for the environment and its human dimensions.

The UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has just reviewed the outcomes of Rio+20 - with additional evidence.  It has also produced an updated report on the effectiveness of the UK government with respect to sustainable development policy.

Excellent review of The Decline of England's Bees covering of policy, practice and ecosystem services - from the University of Reading for Friends of the Earth.

The Welsh government has published an Action Plan for Pollinators and draft implementation plan, with actions focused on: policy, governance and sound evidence base; provision of diverse and flower-rich habitats; healthy pollinator populations; and better public awareness.  A pollinator task force is planned.