Eco news in brief

10:23am Wednesday 2nd July 2008

Due to rising food prices across the world, countries have been reconsidering the place genetically modified (GM) crops can play in the agricultural system.

The European Union (EU) has begun a new study into expanding the use of GM crops.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he backed the EU's decision to look into it as a way to deal with food shortages but medical and scientific evidence must be examined.

• Car adverts on billboards and in magazines will now need to show what impact the vehicle has on the environment under Government guidelines.

The Department for Transport announced on June 18 fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of vehicles will have to be prominently displayed.

This was in response to a legal letter to the department from environmental group Friends of the Earth which claimed EU law was not being correctly interpreted.

• A scheme highlighting businesses which have made genuine cuts in emissions is being launched by carbon off-setting company The Carbon Trust to rebuild public trust in the green claims made by firms.

The Carbon Trust Standard will be awarded to companies which show real reductions in carbon emissions.

Companies which paid a third party to offset emissions on their behalf would not qualify, the trust added.

• Wildlife campaigner WWF wants a greenhouse gas emissions standard to be introduced by the Government.

This could be done by making an amendment to the current Energy Bill going through parliament.

It cites California already has one in place which forces companies to look at their emissions and this would be an example to look at.

• Wildlife experts are asking householders to bury buckets of woodchips in their gardens to provide one of the country's most endangered creatures, the stag beetle, with shelter and food.

The insect lives off a rotting wood and decaying roots before growing into a full-size beetle.