'Spain is a deplorable choice as host nation' due to fishing industry practices
The fact that the UN's latest climate summit is taking place in Madrid has rustled the feathers of Charles Clover, executive director of Blue Marine Foundation, writing in The Times. Clover, whose organisation is a charity dedicated to creating marine reserves and establishing sustainable models of fishing, is enraged at the ecologically disastrous practices of the Spanish fishing industry.
Spain's fishermen are 'damaging the marine environment, by trawling the seabed with huge nets and by removing vast tonnages of fish,' something which Clover says 'is believed by many scientists to adversely affect the sea’s ability to act as a carbon sink. In this sense Spain is a deplorable choice as host nation.'
Clover unfortunately — almost bizarrely — goes on to muddy the tone of his message as he brings the Iberian country's fascist era into his argument: 'The disproportionate size of the Spanish fishing fleet today is one of the unremarked legacies of fascism,' he says, explaining that 'the Spanish fleet’s greatest expansion' dates to the Franco years.
'If Germany continued to drive its Panzer divisions over the plains of Europe, it would not go unnoticed. Yet hardly anyone makes the connection when Spain’s subsidy-driven fishing fleet works its way around the oceans of the world — and often turns a blind eye to the rules as it does so.'
Banksy highlights the plight of the homeless
The anonymous street-artist has created a new mural on a wall in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter to draw attention to Britain’s growing homelessness problem. A pair of reindeer set out on a starlit sky — but they are harnessed to a real bench, where Ryan, one of the city’s homeless is lying down, surrounded by his belongings.
Banksy posted a video of Ryan and his new artwork on his Instagram account, in which he also praised the people of Birmingham for their generosity. ‘In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on this bench,’ the artist wrote, ‘passers-by gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter — without him ever asking for anything.’
On This Day... in 1884
Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Despite being set in the United States, the book was first published in the UK and Canada, with the American edition appearing only a few months later.
Twain’s choice to use crude language and the book’s focus on slavery ensured it was steeped in controversy from the outset. It remains so even today with some commentators arguing that, despite Huck’s efforts to help Jim escape slavery, the novel is imbued with racist vocabulary and stereotypes. Nonetheless, it is considered one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all times, with Ernest Hemingway saying that ‘there was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.’
Why your Christmas jumper is bad for the environment
Disposable fashion is wreaking havoc on the planet and none more so than the Yuletide jumper, which is not only made of fibre-shedding plastics but also gets worn just once or twice across the holiday season.
To limit the damage, environmental charity Hubbub is asking people to give jumpers they already own a second wear — maybe after updating them with a little DIY — rather tan buying a new one.
‘We don’t want to stop people dressing up and having a great time at Christmas, but there are so many ways to do this without buying new,’ explains Hubbub’s project co-ordinator, Sarah Divall. ‘Fast fashion is a major threat to the natural world and Christmas jumpers are particularly problematic as so many contain plastic. Remember: a jumper is for life, not just for Christmas.’
And finally... otterly fabulous Edinburgh
Two otters have been spotted frolicking in the water in the city centre.
Where, when and how to spot an otter in the wild
Otters can live in most places where there is a rocky shoreline and nearby freshwater, but these tips collated by
Credit: Richard Cannon/Country Life Picture Library
Rudi the otter: 'we had to convince Parliament to focus on clean water and the easiest way to do that was with a baby otter'
Affectionate and loving he may be, but small-clawed otter Rudi has a purpose.
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Graham Norton's elegant East London home hits the market, and it's just as wonderful as you would expectThe four-bedroom home in Wapping should be studied for how well it uses two separate spaces to create a home of immense character and utility.
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The brilliant tractor tribute to the NHS from a group of Warwickshire farmersPeople around Britain have been paying tribute to the efforts of our NHS workers at the time of the coronavirus pandemic — but few have been as creative and clever as this one.
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Battle to ban 4x4s from the idyllic Lake District spot bequeathed by Beatrix Potter, eagle fights octopus and the 'snail's pace' climate talksThis morning we look at Little Langdale's fight for peace, reflect on the climate change talks in Madrid and discover the soundtrack for Brexit.
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Country Life Today: How Greta Thunberg shifted the dial on climate change — and the backlash shows just how muchThis morning we ponder whether Greta Thunberg is the Joan of Arc for the environmental movement, look at a key election — one from 19 years ago — and ponder the marvel of 'dad tidying'.
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Country Life Today: Great news for those who love our great country pubs — the years of decline are overThere is a great sign of health in the pub industry, we look back at Edward VIII's abdication message and fret about Greenland's melting ice.
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Country Life Today: 'This is perhaps the ultimate wake-up call from the uncontrolled experiment humanity is unleashing on the world’s oceans'In today's round up, we examine why oxygen loss is putting oceans at risk, discover that action to cut air pollution brings almost immediate benefits to human health and find out which bird's arrival marks the start of winter in Gloucestershire.
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Country Life Today: Why plastic is killing hermit crabsIn today's round-up, we learn than half a million hermit crabs have died from plastic pollution; find out what the Pope has to say about climate change; and discover why NASA have been 'bombing' the sun.
