PepsiCo announces zero deforestation commitment for palm oil 21/5/2014

The 450,000 tons of palm oil sourced annually by PepsiCo will be largely free of rainforest destruction and peatlands conversion by 2016 under a policy announced last week by the food and drink giant. ...more

Warm weather boosts hopes for rarest bumblebee's revival in Britain 21/5/2014

Warm spring conditions should help Britain's rarest bumblebee as wildlife experts reintroduce a new batch of queens to help boost the species. ...more

Green up or ship out – Saudi clamps down on construction industry 20/5/2014

Saudi Arabia has announced that the construction industry has five years to “green” up their business. Amid a massive construction boom, the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) has decreed that all companies must reduce their air, water and noise pollution in keeping with regulations approved in 2008. ...more

FAO highlights importance of fishing in providing livelihoods 20/5/2014

A new report released by the United Nations' food and agricultural agency on Monday highlighted the growing role of fish and aquaculture in feeding the world and providing a source of income, and called for the sustainable and responsible management of the so-called 'blue world.' ...more

Britain's last overseas territories home to more than 1,500 unique species 20/5/2014

Britain’s remaining colonial possessions - stretching from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean - are teeming with unique animal species ranging from a spiky woodlouse to a shrimp confined to two mid-Atlantic rock pools, according to a study. ...more

Nike and Adidas told to stop playing dirty and tackle football kit chemicals 20/5/2014

An investigation by Greenpeace ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil has discovered some football merchandise including the official ‘Brazuca' ball could be genuinely harmful to health. ...more

Emissions from 10 food and drinks companies 'higher than Scandinavia' 20/5/2014

The ‘big 10’ global food and drink companies together emit more greenhouse gases than Scandinavia and would rank as the 25th most polluting country in the world if grouped together, the international charity and agency Oxfam claims in a new report on Tuesday. ...more

World’s first date palm genetic map published 19/5/2014

Researchers at the Weill Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) have published the first genetic map of the date palm, according to a report. ...more

Boats pluck people from roofs as floods sweep Serbia and Bosnia 19/5/2014

Some residents of Obrenovac, 30 km southwest of the capital Belgrade, were stranded on the roofs of their homes, calling for help. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said all 25,000 citizens would have to be evacuated. ...more

South Africa loses first elephant to poachers in a decade 19/5/2014

An elephant bull was "purposefully shot for its tusks" by four suspected poachers at the Kruger National Park in the eastern Mpumalanga province, SANParks said in a statement. ...more