TV star Melanie Sykes launched the campaign to find the Green Voice of Great Britain in London on 24 September.

The chosen green champion will become an advocate for the people of Great Britain on environmental issues.

“We are looking for people who can represent the views of the man on the street and communicate these views in a simple manner,” Sykes said.

“We’re looking for people who care about the environment, want to get involved and have their say.”

Anyone can enter the competition, which is being run by the Energy Saving Trust.

The winner will be crowned in the Houses of Parliament during Energy Saving Week on the 21 October.

Whoever enters the competition will become the green eyes and ears for the government and the Energy Saving Trust.

The agreement between airlines, airports, and aircraft manufacturers will see emissions cut 50% compared to 2005 levels by 2050.

Announcing the plans, Willa Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said the agreement was the chance for airlines to “rectify” their decision to opt out of the Kyoto protocol.

Environmental campaigners welcomed the scheme, but pointed to its many loopholes and said it may be too little too late.

“We welcome the fact that some in the industry want to see it part of a new deal,” said Lang Banks of the World Wildlife Fund.

“However, the cuts are nowhere near the ambition needed to keep our climate safe,” he added.

“Worse still, this proposal would allow potentially unlimited offsetting of emissions – allowing airlines to carry on business as usual.”

Greenpeace branded the plans “sneaky” and likened the announcement to “pigs taking flight”.

“Reading between the lines it’s obvious that these targets won’t mean real cuts; they’ll be achieved through sneaky offsetting and carbon trading,” said a spokesperson for Greenpeace UK.

“Airlines and airports [will] carry on as normal - and even carry on expanding - while relying on other sectors of industry and society to reduce emissions to compensate.”

Vicky Wyatt, Greenpeace campaigner, added: “‘Last week BA launched a campaign telling us that video conferencing was no replacement for business flights, and now we hear that Willie Walsh thinks that he can simply offset the damage his planes do to the climate.”

The proposed regulations had included reduced journey times, lower stock densities, and greater restrictions on the transport of animals bought at market.

Farming groups and animal rights campaigners welcomed the commission’s decision to drop the proposals.

Both groups argued the legislation failed to deal with the key issue of making sure animal welfare laws are adequately enforced.

“We have said, year after year, that any welfare abuses related to transport should be clamped down on by the existing rules being enforced properly, as they are [in the UK],” said Rob Livesey, chairman of the National Farmers Union in Scotland (NFUS).

“Solving a problem of poor enforcement by increased red tape is a seriously flawed approach to regulation,” he added.

“The latest Commission proposals would have failed to address this fundamental issue and would have done nothing to address problems where they exist.”

Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) estimates that every year in Europe six million farm animals are transported on long journeys taking three days or more.

The problem does not only lie in the current regulation but in its enforcement,” said CIWF spokesperson Peter Stevenson.

The new legislation proposed a maximum journey time of ten hours, extended to 40 hours for animals with a certificate of physical fitness.

The seven protesters from direct action group Climate Rush were dressed as suffragettes and stood by the manure pile with a banner reading “This is what you’re landing us in”.

The activists said they were being as “”blasé” about dumping manure as Top Gear presenter Clarkson is about carbon emissions.

“I’m dumping dung at Clarkson’s gates so he might understand that his attitude will land us all in the s***,” said Climate Rush spokesperson Tamsin Omond.

Omond, who was once arrested for scaling the House of Commons in protest against Heathrow expansion, added: “If we keep on loving the fossil-fuelled lifestyle then by the time I hit 49 the world will be too busy coping with the impact of climate change to bother about how big an engine is possible.”

Climate Rush activists are currently touring the UK in a horse and cart to raise awareness of the need to tackle climate change.

They’re collecting their “emissions” from the journey and using them to protest against companies and individuals who stand in the way of fighting climate change.

The AFSSA report claimed organic plants product more dry matter, minerals and anti-oxidents.

Between 94% and 100% of organic food did not contain any pesticide residues, while organic vegetables were found to contain 50% fewer nitrates.

The report contradicts claims earlier this year by Britain’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) that organic food has no health benefits.

Denis Lairon, author of the AFSSA report, said his team of researchers carried out an “exhaustive and critical evaluation of the nutritional and sanitary quality of organic food”.

Key to the study’s findings were dry matter minerals such as iron and magnesium, Lairon said, which were found to be more prevalent in organic plants.

Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) agreed with Lairon’s analysis.

Shane Heaton, BFA nutritionist, said: ““Contrary to the recently released [FSA] review, this review does the question justice by comparing not just a handful of nutrients but also dry matter content, antioxidant content, pesticide levels, and nitrate content. Organic wins out over ordinary food in every respect.”

The FSA, however, dismissed AFSSA’s findings as “based on a small data set”.

An FSA spokesperson said a comparison between the two studies is “difficult” because of the different research methods used.

The group of scientists each signed a statement that was endorsed by climate luminaries such as Sir John Houghton and organized by the WWF. The statement calls for countries that are industrialized to commit to lowering their CO2 emissions by 40% at the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit by the year 2020.

The group believes this is the only way to keep post industrial warming temperatures from increasing to above 2C which would cause climate change to become potentially lethal and dangerous.
The WWF Scotland Climate Policy Officer Sam Gardner stated that as the UK government is working with the UK to reduce their emissions before the mark that will be set at Copenhagen other countries and world leaders need to act as well.

He went on to say that industrialized nations need to ensure that their agreement is not just grandstanding, but that all countries pledge to reach below 40% of their current emissions or the world may be facing the worst damage from climate change yet.

At the same time, despite the fact that storms in China are increasing and typhoons are becoming more deadly, China’s senior climatologist said that a 2C rise in temperature will not be as calamitous as predicted.

According to the general director of the Beijing Climate Centre, Xiao Ziniu, it is still too early to predict what will happen. He also stated that in the history of China the country has experienced warmer temperatures than today.

Unlike the country’s former environment minister Sammy Wilson who argued that climate change was not caused by human activity, the majority of people in Northern Ireland believe climate change is caused by a mixture of human activity and natural processes.

Edwin Poots, Northern Ireland’s new environment minister, welcomed the public’s views, which were published this week by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

“The findings contained in the survey results are in line with my Department’s view that climate change is caused by human activity and natural processes together,” Poots said.

Over three quarters of those polled b the NISRA said they are prepared to change their lifestyle to combat global warming.

Changes people said they’re most willing to make included switching off unnecessary lights, recycling as much as possible, and installing energy efficient lightbulbs.

“I am encouraged that the public recognise that they have an important role to play in combating climate change. It is only by a combination of public action and government initiatives, that progress against climate change can be made,” Poots concluded.

New research published this week found the traditional practise of coppicing could provide biofuel to cut Britain’s carbon emissions and provide a haven for wildlife.

The government wants to plant up to a million hectares of coppice willow and miscanthus grass to produce biomass for generating electricity.

A team of researchers from the universities of East Anglia and Exeter investigated the potential effects of these new plants on farmland biodiversity, water usage, and on the aesthetic of Britain’s landscapes.

They found that coppice willow has positive effects for butterflies, insects, and bird species, and uses similar levels of water to cereal crops.

Miscanthus had no negative effects on wildlife, and uses a similar amount of water to woodland.

Computer simulations were used to gauge public reactions on changes to landscape appearance from growing these crops.

Most people asked expressed little reaction to the visual changes in the landscape.

Lead researcher Dr Angela Karp said: “Fields of [coppice] willow and the exotic grass miscanthus are still quite unfamiliar in the UK countryside and it is important to look at all the implications of increasing the hectarage.

“Our results suggest that there is definite potential for growing more of them, without negative effects, although we do find that sensitive plantation design would be beneficial, both for wildlife and for aesthetic impact.”

Around a third of those polled by YouGov said they’d consider using public transport more to help the environment, compared to 80% who said they’d be happy to recycling more.

One in five would be willing to cut back on overseas holidays, while a similar number (22%) would consider erecting a wind turbine on their home.

Worryingly, nearly one in twenty said they were not, and never have been, concerned about the environment.

“This poll makes clear that the public are increasingly viewing travelling by public transport as one of the most realistic ways they can do their bit to reduce our impact on the environment,” said Moir Lockhead, chief executive of First Group, who commissioned the poll.

“Many people are becoming more concerned about the environment and the majority of those have switched, or plan to switch, some of their journeys from car to bus, coach and train.”

Commenting on the poll, the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK (CPT) called on the government to to improve Britain’s public transport facilities.

“The Government cannot afford to ignore the massive potential of buses and coaches to deliver huge savings in CO2 from the transport sector, help protect our environment and oil the wheels of our economy,” said Simon Posner, CPT chief executive.

“Government at all levels needs to act without delay to make the most of this opportunity.”

Research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found climate change-related communications cause most people to switch off.

Interviews and workshops by IPPR discovered people are tired of hearing about climate change despite its implications.

The public either views the government’s stance on climate change as an excuse to increase taxes, or sees government decisions such as allowing airport expansions as hypocritical.

They also resent being made to feel guilty about their lifestyle, and dismiss environmentalists as “smug” and “self-righteous”.

The IPPR believes the public will only be convinced to adopt low-carbon lifestyles if they are shown that going green saves money.

“Success will lie in convincing consumers that in adopting lower-carbon lifestyles, they can save money and have control in a chaotic world, and they can do the right thing and look good without being an environmentalist,” said Simon Retallack, IPPR head of climate change.

“If we can achieve that, while putting the policies in place to ensure that lower-carbon options are affordable, attractive and visible, we will have gone a long way towards mobilising the power of consumers in the battle against climate change.”

Environmental campaign group WWF Scotland welcomed the report and sympathised with the public’s views, especially on “climate-destroying policies pursued by the very governments who also claim to be green”.