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Activists board ship off Spain in palm oil protest: Greenpeace
by Staff Writers
Madrid (AFP) Nov 17, 2018

Climate change protests block London bridges
London (AFP) Nov 17, 2018 - Hundreds of climate change protesters blocked London bridges on Saturday demanding a dramatic new environmental policy.

Sit-down demonstrators blocked five bridges over the River Thames in the city centre, including Westminster Bridge next to the Houses of Parliament.

"We've basically got three demands," said Gail Bradbrook, one of the organisers.

"One is that the government have to tell the truth. People think that climate change is something happening to somebody else at some other time, but it's coming home.

"We need to go to net zero carbon really quickly. And we're also asking for a people's assembly so people can decide how the change happens."

Demonstrators held placards reading "Stop climate breakdown", "Climate change equals mass murder", "Climate crisis is a health crisis. Act now" and "Denial is not a policy".

The police said the demonstrations were impeding Londoners and the emergency services from using the bridges.

"So far we have made 45 arrests for offences under the Obstruction of Highway Act and Bail Act," said superintendent Waheed Khan.

Greenpeace said Saturday six of its activists boarded a tanker off Spain loaded with "dirty" palm oil to protest against a Nature-damaging commodity found in everything from soap to biscuits.

The activists, from countries including Indonesia, the scene of mass deforestation for palm oil plantations, were held by the captain of the ship after they boarded at sea, the NGO said in a statement.

Prior to that, "they unfurled banners reading 'Save our Rainforest' and 'Drop Dirty Palm Oil'," it added.

The ship was travelling from Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, to Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the NGO said.

The captain has turned the ship around and is heading to Spain, it added, where he intended to hand the activists over to authorities.

When contacted by AFP, the Guardia Civil police force said it had no knowledge of the matter.

According to Greenpeace, the ship is carrying "dirty palm oil" products, or those linked to mass deforestation.

Palm oil is a key ingredient in many everyday goods.

Growing demand for the commodity has led to an industry boom in Indonesia.

Green groups have long accused palm oil companies of rampant environmental destruction.

Many firms have made "no deforestation" pledges after coming under pressure, but activists say such commitments are hard to monitor and frequently broken.

As well as the destruction of rainforest, clearing peatland to make way for palm oil plantations causes enormous environmental damage.

Huge amounts of carbon are released when peat is drained or burnt, exacerbating climate change, according to environmentalists.

Peat fires are also difficult to put out and a key factor in outbreaks of toxic smog which choke Southeast Asia almost every year.


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FARM NEWS
The dawn of a new era for genebanks
Leipzig, Germany (SPX) Nov 15, 2018
Biodiversity goes beyond species diversity. Another important aspect of biodiversity is genetic variation within species. A notable example is the immense variety of cultivars and landraces of crop plants and their wild progenitors. An international research consortium led by the of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK Gatersleben) and supported by the iDiv research centre has now characterised at the molecular level a world collection comprising seed samples from a ... read more

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