At the moment Britain imports nearly 40 per cent of its food, most of its energy and nearly all of its fibre. In years to come we might have to become more self-sufficient. If so, it would not be for the first time. Many people alive today remember the last time the UK had to resort to home production. Could we do it again? And could we do it with organic agriculture?

We are a society that loudly condemns torturous regimes in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, yet when human rights activists from those countries flee the terror we subject them to degrading treatment. 

Even when they’re not held in prison conditions, they are denied the right to work, to move house, an education, an income as high as the law says is the minimum for a British citizen to survive on. These conditions are set in a context of suspicion and racism that uses ‘asylum seeker’ as a perjorative.

Yet there are tales of such resilience that, if only we’d listen to them as people, we could not fail to be moved to compassion. Anita Castelino talked to three asylum seekers in Leeds.

Its advocates tell us that it can be made from water and gives off no carbon emissions, and so switching to hydrogen powered cars is of vital importance in moving us to a low-carbon society. 

In fact, there are serious engineering, safety and economic problems that are insurmountable. But more than this, it’s an energy-hungry industry that would actually lead to an increase in emissions.

As the climate impact of flying moves to the centre of the debate about our choices about sustainability and activists tackle the industry head-on, what are the questions that need answering?

controversial documentary ‘The Great Global Warming Swindle’ claimed that the theory of human-caused climate change is based on flawed or faked science.

So Cambridge University listed the programme’s main claims and got some of the most eminent scientists in the respective fields to explain the reasons for the scientific consensus on global warming, affirming that the programme was wilfully misleading and scientifically pathetic.

As it becomes clear that we need swift and drastic cuts in carbon emissions, we are told that voluntary schemes can be enough, and that we should not interfere in the workings of the freemarket in order to achieve cuts. But can it be wise to trust the things that caused the mess to clean it up? Especially if they don’t have to and it’ll be cheaper not to?

Attacking a huge sweep of Labour, LibDem and corporate greenwash, this article calls for cuts demanded by the science, by the only method that can work.

All major electricity suppliers offer a green tariff, often more than one. But what is meant by ‘green’? What are their different standards? Are the big corporations just greenwashing again? Are the smaller green electricity companies really any different?

This article sifts through the different claims and merits so you can make your mind up.

The creator of Calvin and Hobbes explains why he’s never let anyone use it for merchandising. It’s not an essay about cartoons; it’s about integrity, honesty and humanity versus commerce, crassness and exploitation.

When Europeans arrived on Easter Island, they couldn’t explain how the primitive inhabitants had fashoned and erected the famous statues. Stranger, neither could the inhabitants themselves.

Their ancestors had been more numerous and technologically advanced. They took far more from their envoronment than it was able to replenish, and so descended into privation, and violence to fight for what little remained.

Their story is a parable for us. In our society, living beyond our environmental means takes place on a scale much greater than in previous times, and the results will be similarly multiplied. If we don’t take advantage of our ability to see the problems coming, we too face inevitable ruin.