Richa Syal

COP30’s agriculture showcase sponsored by agribiz interests linked to deforestation and anti-conservation lobbying Sponsors of the sustainable agriculture pavilion at COP30 will include pesticides giant Bayer, alleged by campaigners to be driving “massive deforestation” on the continent, and a branch of Brazil’s l...

NEW: The "Agrizone" at COP30 is supposed to be a showcase for sustainable agriculture 🌳

But its sponsors are powerful agribusiness interests linked to deforestation and anti-conservation lobbying who have paid for visibility and "image gain"

Read more 👇:

The image shows a map of Europe's export trade in domestically banned pesticides. In 2024, companies in the EU issued export notifications for 122,000 tonnes of pesticides that are banned from use on the EU's own farms. The exports were destined for 93 different nations, most of them low- or middle-income countries.

Revealed: The EU's export trade in banned pesticides has expanded dramatically in the past half-decade, despite the European Commission's promises to put an end to it

New investigation from Unearthed and Public Eye:

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/09/23/e...

Trump golf course in Scotland repeatedly broke sewage contamination limits Sewage discharge testing found ‘non-compliant’ samples 14 times since 2019

As Trump visits the king & protestors march through London, we obtained data showing that the president's Scottish golf course repeatedly breached sewage contamination limits

My latest for @unearthednews.bsky.social

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/09/17/t...

Trump golf course in Scotland repeatedly broke sewage contamination limits Sewage discharge testing found ‘non-compliant’ samples 14 times since 2019

As President Trump visits the king at Windsor Castle, our new investigation reveals his golf course in Scotland has repeatedly breached sewage contamination limits

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/09/17/t...

Map shows constituencies in England and Wales where fracking licences were issued before the current ban. It highlights 34 in the north west, Yorkshire and the east midlands where Reform came first or second in the 2024 election.

Reform's promise of a fracking bonanza if they win power could cost them in the north. Smart bit of mapping from
@zdboren.bsky.social
and
@richasyal.bsky.social
shows dozens of the constituencies most likely to be fracked are prime Reform targets

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/09/05/r...

Reform target seats would be among those first to be fracked, analysis shows

NEW | Mapping analysis and fresh polling show that Reform UK's pro-fracking stance is a headache for winning over swing voters

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/09/05/r...

EA staff shortages hit water quality testing

The Environment Agency has dropped 10,000 water quality tests that track the health of rivers and lakes due to staff shortages at their main lab. Latest from me and
@clarecarlile.bsky.social

UK brands found in ‘fast fashion graveyard’ in African conservation area Clothes discarded by UK consumers and shipped to Ghana have been found in a huge textile dumpsite in a protected African conservation area.

NEW: Fashion waste is overwhelming Ghana — and now it’s spilling into Accra’s protected wetlands.
With @greenpeaceafrica.org, we found UK brands and huge new dump sites in a conservation area home to endangered turtles.
👉 unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/18/u...

‘No Plan B’: Water companies fear pollution crackdown will stop them spreading sewage sludge on farmland

Water companies are worried about a “backlash” to sludge fertiliser akin to the public outrage they have faced over sewage released into rivers and seas

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/09/s...

‘No Plan B’: Water companies fear pollution crackdown will stop them spreading sewage sludge on farmland

water comanies are freaking out that they're about to have millions of tonnes of toxic sewage sludge with 'nowhere to go'

my latest for @unearthednews.bsky.social

with @ellieodonnell.bsky.social

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/09/s...

Firms still greenwashing in adverts after being censured, UK investigation finds Exclusive: Virgin Atlantic and Renault among companies that continued to publish misleading environmental claims

No question misinformation in the social media space is problematic

But there's also misinformation coming from leading consumer brands like Virgin and Renault

They continuing to advertise using green claims the Advertising Standards Authority told them not to

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/m...

Firms still greenwashing in adverts after being censured, UK investigation finds Exclusive: Virgin Atlantic and Renault among companies that continued to publish misleading environmental claims Companies have continued to post misleading greenwashing adverts after being censured by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), according to an investigation. Greenpeace UK’s investigative journalism unit, Unearthed, reports that Virgin Atlantic, Renault and Aqua Pura are among companies that continued to publish unfounded claims about the environmental credentials of their products after being told to remove such adverts by the advertising watchdog. Continue reading...

Firms still greenwashing in adverts after being censured, UK investigation finds

I’ve repeatedly challenged the Mayor on TfL advertising policies, and this new research leaves no room for doubt that companies that mislead the public about their environmental records have no business having access to prime advertising space in our city.

Firms still greenwashing in adverts after being censured, UK investigation finds Exclusive: Virgin Atlantic and Renault among companies that continued to publish misleading environmental claims

Out today with @theguardian.com:

Campaigners like @badvertising.bsky.social warn that the “system seems broken”

@doctorvive.bsky.social tells me it's "clear that consumers care about sustainability, or else companies would not even mention the environment"

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/m...

Revealed: Companies repeat misleading green claims despite UK ad bans Major brands, including car manufacturers, an airline, and a bottled water company have apparently continued to promote environmental claims after they were ruled “misleading” in a crackdown on greenw...

What’s the point of banning greenwashing if big brands can just carry on?

Our latest investigation has found major brands have continued to promote green claims, months or even years after they were ruled “misleading” by the UK ad watchdog:
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/05/14/m...

Sharp investigative work here by @richasyal.bsky.social

A Virgin Atlantic plane lands in New York; the company is one of five that have apparently continued to promote environmental claims that were ruled "misleading" by the Advertising Standards Authority. Photo: Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images

🚨 REVEALED: An Unearthed investigation has found major brands continued to promote environmental claims months or years after they were ruled “misleading” by the UK ad watchdog: unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/05/14/m...

Over 100 potentially toxic landfills have flooded since 2000 Scientists raise concerns about the risks posed by historic landfills as climate change increases flooding

Old landfills can contain all kinds of nasties like industrial waste, persistent pollutants and pharmaceuticals.

Our research reveals that 100+ dump sites with potentially hazardous contents flooded across England since 2000.

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/04/26/h...

BREAKING:

More than 100 old landfills across England containing potentially hazardous material have flooded at least once this century.

Experts have raised concerns that dangerous substances could get into the environment through floodwater.

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/04/26/h...

Revealed: world’s largest meat company may break Amazon deforestation pledges again Brazilian ranchers in Pará and Rondônia say JBS can not achieve stated goal of deforestation-free cattle

New investigation with @theguardian.com and @reporterbrasil.org.br 👇

reporterbrasil.org.br/2025/04/jbs-...

When huge Brazilian beef producer JBS broke its first zero-deforestation promise, it had 14 slaughterhouses in the Amazon. Today, it has 22 operating, with the capacity to slaughter more than 19,000 cattle daily.

We asked ranchers about its latest pledge to clean up its supply chain, by Jan 2026.

I have been reporting on deforestation in Brazil for years.

Last year, along with @aliceross.bsky.social and Naira Hofmeister, I decided to dig into beef giant JBS’s flagship promise: to eliminate deforestation from its Amazon supply chain by the end of 2025.

So what’s actually changed?

Fossil-funded Academic Work Is Being Used to Avoid Paying Workers Impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Explosion Academic research paid for by BP and Exxon is being used to combat workers’ claims that exposure to oil and chemical dispersants made them ill.

My first story as a journalist-in-residence at University of Miami's Climate Accountability Lab: drilled.media/news/bp-univ...

Shell bought at least five 70,000-tonne cargoes of gas from the Russian Arctic that were escorted through frozen Siberian waters by sanctioned icebreakers, Unearthed has found unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/02/09/s...

Sanctioned nuclear icebreakers helped export gas from the Russian Arctic bought by Shell

NEW INVESTIGATION
🚢 Companies including Shell and Total import millions of tonnes of gas a year to Europe from the Russian Arctic on specialised LNG tankers. Last winter, these shipments relied on a fleet of sanctioned icebreakers to cross Siberian waters 🚢

10 states fund prisons using stolen Indigenous lands State trust lands generate millions of dollars for carceral facilities and programs every year, largely from extractive industries like oil and gas drilling.

“Our ancestral lands were taken, disrupting our traditional ways of life and governance. Displacement led to economic hardship and social challenges that have made our communities more vulnerable to the criminal justice system.” Great piece by @gristnews.bsky.social grist.org/indigenous/p...

New from UE:

The UK is exporting thousands of tonnes of a toxic weedkiller called diquat, even though its use has been banned here for years. More than half goes to Brazil.

We spoke to the Brazilian farmers poisoned with this dangerous export.

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/b...

Brazilian farmers poisoned by diquat, a banned pesticide exported from Britain Deaths are on the rise in Brazil from diquat, a weedkiller banned in the UK but still manufactured for export to countries with weaker regulations.

When his right side seized up after working the fields of his small-holding, Valdemar Postanovicz thought he was having a stroke.

He had absorbed Reglone, a powerful herbicide based on diquat - banned in the UK, but produced here and shipped to Brazil:

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/b...

We've been tracing the impact of the UK's trade in banned pesticides

We found a growing number of Brazilian farmers poisoned with a toxic weedkiller. And exports of enough banned bee-killing pesticides to spray the whole of England

The story's out now

unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...