Crispin Dowler
@crispindowler.bsky.social
Co-editor of Unearthed (unearthednews.bsky.social), the investigative journalism project from Greenpeace UK. Interested in environmental and climate justice, land use, food systems. https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/author/crispin-dowler/
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
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 👇:
But its sponsors are powerful agribusiness interests linked to deforestation and anti-conservation lobbying who have paid for visibility and "image gain"
Read more 👇:
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...
unearthed.greenpeace.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:25 AM
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 👇:
But its sponsors are powerful agribusiness interests linked to deforestation and anti-conservation lobbying who have paid for visibility and "image gain"
Read more 👇:
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...
@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...
September 5, 2025 at 11:25 AM
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...
@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...
The way water companies use farmland as the dumping ground for sewage sludge is building up massive risks for nature and our food system
Neither the industry nor our politicians have wanted to bear the cost of fixing this problem, so they've left it in the long grass
But they know that can't last
Neither the industry nor our politicians have wanted to bear the cost of fixing this problem, so they've left it in the long grass
But they know that can't last
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...
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/09/s...
‘No Plan B’: Water companies fear pollution crackdown will stop them spreading sewage sludge on farmland
unearthed.greenpeace.org
June 12, 2025 at 9:54 AM
The way water companies use farmland as the dumping ground for sewage sludge is building up massive risks for nature and our food system
Neither the industry nor our politicians have wanted to bear the cost of fixing this problem, so they've left it in the long grass
But they know that can't last
Neither the industry nor our politicians have wanted to bear the cost of fixing this problem, so they've left it in the long grass
But they know that can't last
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
People are worried that this could be harming farmland, ever since Unearthed uncovered a secret Environment Agency (EA) report showing that this sludge contained a cocktail of toxic contaminants like microplastics and ‘forever chemicals’ 3/6
Secret report details toxic chemicals in sewage used as fertiliser at English farms
The Environment Agency found sewage sludge destined for English fields was contaminated with microplastics, weedkiller, and “persistent organic pollutants”
unearthed.greenpeace.org
June 10, 2025 at 1:58 PM
People are worried that this could be harming farmland, ever since Unearthed uncovered a secret Environment Agency (EA) report showing that this sludge contained a cocktail of toxic contaminants like microplastics and ‘forever chemicals’ 3/6
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
A recent investigation by @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social has exposed that if new regulations come into force to stop this reckless sludge spreading, water companies will be left with millions of tonnes of waste without a home.
And their plan? To make you, the public, pay for the clean-up. Again. 😡
And their plan? To make you, the public, pay for the clean-up. Again. 😡
June 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM
A recent investigation by @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social has exposed that if new regulations come into force to stop this reckless sludge spreading, water companies will be left with millions of tonnes of waste without a home.
And their plan? To make you, the public, pay for the clean-up. Again. 😡
And their plan? To make you, the public, pay for the clean-up. Again. 😡
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
A real crisis has finally made it from the shadows into the light - what to do with all the sewage sludge we produce if you can't spread it on land anymore? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Warning over 'dirty secret' of toxic chemicals on farmers fields
Campaigners say that farmers' fields are being contaminated by chemicals and microplastics in sewage sludge.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 10, 2025 at 9:22 AM
A real crisis has finally made it from the shadows into the light - what to do with all the sewage sludge we produce if you can't spread it on land anymore? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
We've just released a joint statement with some incredible NGOs and individuals calling on the Environment Minister to give a steer to the Environment Agency to update the testing and regulating regime of sewage sludge. Full statement here or read on in this 🧵 fightingdirty.org/open-stateme...
Open statement by leading environmentalists demands government action over “toxic cocktail of chemicals” spread on British farmland | Fighting Dirty
In the UK, we have a dirty secret that’s recently been brought into the light. Sewage sludge, we now know, contains far more than just human waste. Not only does a wide range of synthetic chemicals po...
fightingdirty.org
June 10, 2025 at 9:02 AM
We've just released a joint statement with some incredible NGOs and individuals calling on the Environment Minister to give a steer to the Environment Agency to update the testing and regulating regime of sewage sludge. Full statement here or read on in this 🧵 fightingdirty.org/open-stateme...
Amazing new investigation from @ellieodonnell.bsky.social and @zdboren.bsky.social
Water companies are scared the govt is about to crack down on agricultural river pollution, because it could stop them dumping millions of tonnes of sewage sludge on farmland
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/09/s...
Water companies are scared the govt is about to crack down on agricultural river pollution, because it could stop them dumping millions of tonnes of sewage sludge on farmland
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/09/s...
‘No Plan B’: Water companies fear pollution crackdown will stop them spreading sewage sludge on farmland
unearthed.greenpeace.org
June 10, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Amazing new investigation from @ellieodonnell.bsky.social and @zdboren.bsky.social
Water companies are scared the govt is about to crack down on agricultural river pollution, because it could stop them dumping millions of tonnes of sewage sludge on farmland
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/09/s...
Water companies are scared the govt is about to crack down on agricultural river pollution, because it could stop them dumping millions of tonnes of sewage sludge on farmland
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/06/09/s...
Sharp investigative work here by @richasyal.bsky.social
🚨 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...
May 14, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Sharp investigative work here by @richasyal.bsky.social
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
🐄 JBS, the world’s biggest meat company, says it’s cleaning up its supply chain in the Amazon by the end of this year. 🌳
We spoke to 30+ ranchers and industry leaders. The vast majority said JBS will miss its target: it’s “humanly impossible”, said one.
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/04/17/j...
We spoke to 30+ ranchers and industry leaders. The vast majority said JBS will miss its target: it’s “humanly impossible”, said one.
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/04/17/j...
JBS is likely to fail to deliver on its Amazon deforestation promise, ranchers say
unearthed.greenpeace.org
April 17, 2025 at 11:21 AM
🐄 JBS, the world’s biggest meat company, says it’s cleaning up its supply chain in the Amazon by the end of this year. 🌳
We spoke to 30+ ranchers and industry leaders. The vast majority said JBS will miss its target: it’s “humanly impossible”, said one.
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/04/17/j...
We spoke to 30+ ranchers and industry leaders. The vast majority said JBS will miss its target: it’s “humanly impossible”, said one.
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2025/04/17/j...
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
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?
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?
April 17, 2025 at 3:42 PM
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?
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?
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
This is a nuclear-powered icebreaker, operated by a state-owned Russian company called Atomflot.
Atomflot has been sanctioned by the EU, UK and US since 2023.
🧵
Atomflot has been sanctioned by the EU, UK and US since 2023.
🧵
February 10, 2025 at 9:28 AM
This is a nuclear-powered icebreaker, operated by a state-owned Russian company called Atomflot.
Atomflot has been sanctioned by the EU, UK and US since 2023.
🧵
Atomflot has been sanctioned by the EU, UK and US since 2023.
🧵
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
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 🚢
🚢 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 🚢
Sanctioned nuclear icebreakers helped export gas from the Russian Arctic bought by Shell
unearthed.greenpeace.org
February 9, 2025 at 5:24 PM
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 🚢
🚢 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 🚢
This is good news. But the UK is still exporting huge amounts of this *same* banned, bee-killing pesticide overseas
Last year the UK exported 374 tonnes of thiamethoxam to countries like Morocco and Ivory Coast. That's enough to spray the whole of England
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
Last year the UK exported 374 tonnes of thiamethoxam to countries like Morocco and Ivory Coast. That's enough to spray the whole of England
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
January 23, 2025 at 5:43 PM
This is good news. But the UK is still exporting huge amounts of this *same* banned, bee-killing pesticide overseas
Last year the UK exported 374 tonnes of thiamethoxam to countries like Morocco and Ivory Coast. That's enough to spray the whole of England
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
Last year the UK exported 374 tonnes of thiamethoxam to countries like Morocco and Ivory Coast. That's enough to spray the whole of England
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
NEW
The UK has rejected an application by farmers to use a bee-killing pesticide on sugar beet in England
This is a big deal
For the past four years in a row, the last government approved emergency use of the neonicotinoid
Will likely delight conservationists, infuriate farmers
The UK has rejected an application by farmers to use a bee-killing pesticide on sugar beet in England
This is a big deal
For the past four years in a row, the last government approved emergency use of the neonicotinoid
Will likely delight conservationists, infuriate farmers
January 23, 2025 at 3:05 PM
NEW
The UK has rejected an application by farmers to use a bee-killing pesticide on sugar beet in England
This is a big deal
For the past four years in a row, the last government approved emergency use of the neonicotinoid
Will likely delight conservationists, infuriate farmers
The UK has rejected an application by farmers to use a bee-killing pesticide on sugar beet in England
This is a big deal
For the past four years in a row, the last government approved emergency use of the neonicotinoid
Will likely delight conservationists, infuriate farmers
Yesterday, the EPA warned that toxic PFAS chemicals in the sewage sludge that is spread on US farmland as fertiliser may be causing cancer
The UK also spreads huge amounts of sludge on farms. Like the US, we know this sludge contains PFAS, but don't routinely test for it
apnews.com/article/sewa...
The UK also spreads huge amounts of sludge on farms. Like the US, we know this sludge contains PFAS, but don't routinely test for it
apnews.com/article/sewa...
Chemicals in sewage sludge fertilizer pose cancer risk, EPA says
Harmful chemicals in sewage sludge spread on pasture as fertilizer pose a risk to people who regularly consume milk, beef and other products from those farms, in some cases raising cancer risk “severa...
apnews.com
January 15, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Yesterday, the EPA warned that toxic PFAS chemicals in the sewage sludge that is spread on US farmland as fertiliser may be causing cancer
The UK also spreads huge amounts of sludge on farms. Like the US, we know this sludge contains PFAS, but don't routinely test for it
apnews.com/article/sewa...
The UK also spreads huge amounts of sludge on farms. Like the US, we know this sludge contains PFAS, but don't routinely test for it
apnews.com/article/sewa...
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
NEW on Unearthed: The best environmental journalism of 2024.
From across the media and the planet, including bold undercover investigations and powerful public interest science journalism, Unearthed reporters select the stories we wish we had written this year.
🧵👇
From across the media and the planet, including bold undercover investigations and powerful public interest science journalism, Unearthed reporters select the stories we wish we had written this year.
🧵👇
The best environmental journalism of 2024 The best environmental journalism of 2024
Some of the stories we wish we had written this year, selected by the Unearthed team
unearthed.greenpeace.org
December 27, 2024 at 11:45 AM
NEW on Unearthed: The best environmental journalism of 2024.
From across the media and the planet, including bold undercover investigations and powerful public interest science journalism, Unearthed reporters select the stories we wish we had written this year.
🧵👇
From across the media and the planet, including bold undercover investigations and powerful public interest science journalism, Unearthed reporters select the stories we wish we had written this year.
🧵👇
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
“Our government cannot continue to permit this kind of exploitation."
- Green Party MP @sianberry.bsky.social responds to Unearthed's new investigation, which found that companies exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides from the UK last year
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
- Green Party MP @sianberry.bsky.social responds to Unearthed's new investigation, which found that companies exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides from the UK last year
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
‘Ultimate hypocrisy’: UK exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides last year
unearthed.greenpeace.org
December 8, 2024 at 12:40 PM
“Our government cannot continue to permit this kind of exploitation."
- Green Party MP @sianberry.bsky.social responds to Unearthed's new investigation, which found that companies exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides from the UK last year
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
- Green Party MP @sianberry.bsky.social responds to Unearthed's new investigation, which found that companies exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides from the UK last year
unearthed.greenpeace.org/2024/12/08/u...
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
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...
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...
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.
unearthed.greenpeace.org
December 8, 2024 at 12:19 PM
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...
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...
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
Last year, 8,489 tonnes of chemicals banned on British farms due to health and environmental concerns were sent abroad
Including a lot of diquat, replacement for paraquat, with bad health impacts
It hammers the land to produce commodity crops for export
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Including a lot of diquat, replacement for paraquat, with bad health impacts
It hammers the land to produce commodity crops for export
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘My right side was paralysed, I was so sick’: the pesticide poisonings in Brazil that lead back to the UK
Investigation uncovers how chemicals like diquat, banned in the UK but legal to export, are causing health problems in the global south
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2024 at 11:36 AM
Last year, 8,489 tonnes of chemicals banned on British farms due to health and environmental concerns were sent abroad
Including a lot of diquat, replacement for paraquat, with bad health impacts
It hammers the land to produce commodity crops for export
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Including a lot of diquat, replacement for paraquat, with bad health impacts
It hammers the land to produce commodity crops for export
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The Rotterdam Convention is basically the only control that exists (at an international level) on the trade in banned chemicals
As we can see, it's had a limited effect
As we can see, it's had a limited effect
I was the Uk lead on the UN Rotterdam Convention 2017-18. It was clear then that the Convention isn’t working as it should to require Prior Informed Consent before export, or in listing new chemicals like chrysotile asbestos.
Countries aimed for reform, which just wasn’t prioritised.
Countries aimed for reform, which just wasn’t prioritised.
December 8, 2024 at 11:44 AM
The Rotterdam Convention is basically the only control that exists (at an international level) on the trade in banned chemicals
As we can see, it's had a limited effect
As we can see, it's had a limited effect
Reposted by Crispin Dowler
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...
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...
December 8, 2024 at 7:46 AM
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...
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...
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...
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...
December 8, 2024 at 7:26 AM
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...
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...