Our bees are in danger again. Toxic chemical companies are still trying to get their banned pesticides back on UK fields. The application to lift the ban on bee-killing chemicals for some crops planted this autumn is about to be decided. [1]
Bees don’t have a voice, but 38 Degrees members do. Together, we fought for a Europe-wide ban, now we need to stop it getting watered down. [2]
A whopping 386,000 of us have already signed the petition demanding that we keep the ban on bee-killing pesticides. Can you help us reach 400,000?
|
|
|
PETITION TEXT Elizabeth Truss MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Please don’t allow any exemptions to the European ban on bee-killing pesticides (known as neonicotinoids). Our bees are too important. |
The powerful pesticides which Europe banned last year are called neonicotinoids – and they pose a huge risk to bees. An influential group of scientists concluded that these banned pesticides don’t just kill bees, they wreak “havoc” with other insects and plants in the countryside too. [3]
We need to keep working together to protect our bees because we know how crucial bees are to life on earth. We’ve marched on Parliament, we’ve signed petitions, we’ve sent thousands of emails and we’ve challenged politicians face to face. We worked alongside campaigners from across Europe to get these killer pesticides banned. [4]
Now, we need to pull out all the stops – again. Please can you help us reach 400,000 signatures? Click the button to sign the petition and tell environment minister Liz Truss to protect the bees:
SIGN THE PETITION
Together, we can make it clear to the environment minister that she still needs to protect our bees, not the toxic profits of bee-killing chemical companies.
Thanks for being involved,
Nat, Maddy & the 38 Degrees team
PS: Bees pollinate apples, cucumbers, strawberries, tomatoes, cauliflowers, onions, cabbages, broccoli, carrots and many many more of our fruit and veg. Without bees, we wouldn’t last very long! So please help stop this new threat to their survival – sign the petition now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.
NOTES
[1] Farmers Weekly: Time running out for neonicotinoid decision:
http://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/
Farmers Weekly: NFU confirms bid for neonics ban exemption
http://www.fwi.co.uk/news/nfu-
[2] The 2-year EU-wide temporary ban was effective from December 2013, and will be reviewed later this year. The government can overturn the ban in ‘emergency’ circumstances – chemical company Syngenta sought to do this last year.
The Independent: ‘Victory for bees’ as European Union bans neonicotinoid pesticides blamed for destroying bee population:
http://www.independent.co.uk/
The Guardian: Syngenta seeks ‘emergency’ exemption to use banned insecticide on UK crops
http://www.theguardian.com/
[3] New York Times: Pesticides linked to honeybee deaths pose more risks, European group says:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/
[4] Read about 38 Degrees members campaigning to save our bees here:
http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/
You can read more about some of our friends’ campaigns to protect our bees here:
Bug life: Saving the small things that run the planet:
https://www.buglife.org.uk/
Friends of the Earth: The Bee Cause:
https://www.foe.co.uk/what_we_
