Campaigners dressed as worker bees stand in front of the Defra building with Green Party MP, Sian Berry, holding placards reading 1.6 million people say protect our bees!
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  • Press Release

‘Pesticides buzz off’: More than 1.6 million people call for a ban on bee-killing pesticides

Phil Richards
Phil Richards

A petition signed by more than 1.6 million people urging the government to enforce a total ban on bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides has been handed in to the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) by environmental campaigners [1].

Pictures available here

The petition, which was coordinated by Greenpeace UK, has amassed a staggering 1,645,000 signatures from the British public and was delivered directly to Defra for the environment minister, Emma Hardy. It was delivered in the form of a bee hotel by campaigners dressed in ‘worker’ bee outfits carrying placards reading, ‘Pesticides Buzz Off’, ‘Protect Our Bees’ and ‘Bee Safe’. They were joined by Siân Berry, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, who is a supporter of the campaign.

Separately, 15 leading climate and nature charities – including Pesticide Action Network, RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and Greenpeace – have written to the environment minister, calling for an end to the emergency authorisation of neonicotinoids on sugar beet crops [2].

In the letter they state: “By not allowing another emergency use of neonicotinoids, there will be more incentive for British Sugar and the government to fund research into alternatives, and to adopt nature-friendly farming approaches including Integrated Pest Management (IPM).”

Greenpeace UK’s campaigner, Anthony Lewis, said: “Using neonicotinoids to ‘protect’ crops is like setting fire to your house to protect it from burglars. Yes, it will destroy pests, but it will also kill bees and other vital pollinators we depend on for the food we’re trying to grow. It’s absurd.

“Bee populations have been decimated over recent years, with the use of neonicotinoids one of the drivers of this decline. As leading environmental charities and experts on nature protection, along with 1.6 million members of the public, we implore the government to implement a full and final ban on the use of all bee-killing pesticides once and for all.”

Bees are essential for our survival – pollinating much of our food and playing a critical role in sustaining ecosystems around the world. However, wild bee populations have fallen by a third, with the use of pesticides on farms a key contributor to their rapid decline. 

The use of neonicotinoids, which are particularly lethal to bees and other vital pollinators, was outlawed across Europe in 2018. However, despite the ban, the previous UK government approved the ‘emergency’ authorisation of these deadly chemicals for four years in a row, against the scientific advice of the government’s own Expert Committee on Pesticides.

During its election campaign, the Labour Party made a commitment to end these exemptions for bee-killing pesticides and the government announced last month that it was drawing up plans to outlaw the use of some neonicotinoids. However, whatever the proposals being brought forward in future, another ‘emergency’ derogation could be allowed. A decision on whether to grant this emergency authorisation again this year is expected imminently.  

ENDS

Contact: Greenpeace UK Press Office – press.uk@greenpeace.org or 020 7865 8255

Notes to editor:

  1. Greenpeace UK’s ‘save bees from deadly pesticides’ petition

Photos and videos of the bee petition hand in can be found here: https://media.greenpeace.org/shoot/27MZIFJV7OO44

  1. For a full copy of the coalition letter, please email press.uk@greenpeace.org

Signatories to the letter:

  • Will McCallum, Co-Director, Greenpeace UK
  • Beccy Speight, CEO, RSPB
  • Dr Keith Tyrell, Director, Pesticide Action Network UK
  • Jamie Wallace, CEO, Friends of the Earth
  • Jessica Sinclair Taylor, Deputy Director, Feedback
  • Owen Finnie, Co-Director, Pollenize CIC 
  • Tim Coleshaw, Chair, British Dragonfly Society
  • Richard Benwell, CEO, Wildlife & Countryside Link
  • Kath Dalmeny, Chief Executive, Sustain
  • Campaigns Team, Landworkers’ Alliance
  • Suzy Russell, Coordinator, The Community Supported Agriculture Network UK
  • Joan Edwards, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, The Wildlife Trusts
  • Craig Macadam, Conservation Director, Buglife
  • Anabel Kindersley, Founder, Stand By Bees
  • Helen Browning, CEO, The Soil Association