15/January/20

 

The environmental campaigner and journalist George Monbiot has created a huge controversy by predicting that farmers and farming as we know them will soon be made redundant by the massive expansion of lab-grown food. This, he argues, is largely a good thing (though he adds that it is not without its own dangers), because agriculture is the key driver of the major environmental catastrophes that we face: climate breakdown, maxed-out water use, agrochemical pollution, soil erosion, and Insectageddon (the mass die-off of insects). We at GMWatch hugely respect and admire Monbiot for his courageous work over many years highlighting environmental issues and exposing corruption in power structures, including the corruption of science. But we believe he is seriously mistaken in his latest intellectual venture. GMWatch

 

 

Bayer’s settlement talks over tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its Roundup herbicide causes cancer are heating up as the company’s lawyers meet with individual attorneys representing consumers across the US, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The sessions are focused on resolving separate groups of Roundup claims rather than creating a formal global-resolution programme, according to the people. Bloomberg Law (paywall)