The Government has been ordered to disclose previously secret records of lobbying by business group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), in a judgement published today (Thursday 1 May 2008), following a court case won by environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth.

33 Labour MPs – half of the Government’s majority - voted against the Government in favour of an amendment to the Energy Bill which would have encouraged homes, businesses and communities to install renewable energy systems such as solar panels. Although the amendment was not successful it had drawn widespread public and cross party support.

This report confirms that the ‘big four’ supermarkets are the bully boys of the retail sector – bleeding suppliers dry and reducing shoppers’ choice

Ken Livingstone is the ‘greenest’ of the three main candidates to be Mayor of London, Friends of the Earth said today. The environmental campaign group analysed the election manifestos of the three principal contenders and concluded that Mr Livingstone has the strongest green credentials scoring nine out of ten, with Boris Johnson second (7/10) and Brian Paddick third (5/10).

The Energy Bill – which receives its Third Reading in the House of Commons tomorrow - must be amended to encourage homes, businesses and communities to install renewable energy systems such as solar panels, says Friends of the Earth.

Friends of the Earth is demanding that the Competition Commission take tough action on supermarkets in the final report of its two year-long grocery market probe, to be released this Wednesday (29 April 2008).

Pop star Lily Allen is backing a campaign to boost green energy in homes and businesses around the country. Along with a groundbreaking east London solar recording studio, she is calling for a financial reward for homes and businesses that generate their own clean renewable energy.

More than 1,000 people turned out for a lively debate on the Government’s new Climate Change Law in Central London last night (22 April 2008). The event was organised by The Big Ask, Friends of the Earth’s climate campaign and I Count, the campaign of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition [1].

An effective and comprehensive government programme of domestic energy efficiency must be a major part the strategy for tackling fuel poverty, Friends of the Earth said today. The call coincides with today’s fuel poverty summit organised by energy regulator, Ofgem.

UK’s renewable energy performance branded a national disgrace. MPs were urged today by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Enoughsenough.org to support a crucial amendment to the Energy Bill which would encourage householders, businesses and communities to produce their own renewable energy.

Gordon Brown is right to be concerned about the impact of biofuels on food prices and the environment. Evidence is growing that they cause more harm than good. UK and European targets for increasing biofuel use by adding it to our petrol must be scrapped. The Prime Minister must do more to tackle transport pollution by improving public transport and insisting that the EU doubles the fuel-efficiency of new cars by 2020

Londoners are invited to debate climate change with Hilary Benn, the man in charge of Government policy on the environment, at a mass public meeting in Central London on Tuesday 22 April 2008.

After Lord Stern admitted he “badly underestimated the degree of damages and the risks of climate change” in his ground-breaking 2006 report, Friends of the Earth Executive Director Tony Juniper said he was right to call for a massive step-up in the effort to tackle climate change.

Almost nine out of ten Britons have no idea that biofuels will be added to their petrol from tomorrow, according to the first ever public attitudes survey on the controversial alternative fuels. The research also revealed that, of those who knew what biofuels are, three quarters would prefer the Government to curb emissions by improving public transport or making cars greener

The Government has been forced to review the impact of Heathrow airport expansion on local ethnic minority communities following a legal challenge from Hounslow Race Equality Council (Hounslow REC), represented by Friends of the Earth’s Rights and Justice Centre.

Responding to the news that the Government has struck a deal with energy companies to help households with fuel bills, Friends of the Earth said that Government policy was short-sighted and that a far more comprehensive programme of energy efficiency was needed.

Civil society groups from around the world are today (Friday 11 April 2008) calling on the World Bank to withdraw its proposal to establish climate investment funds ahead of this weekend’s spring meetings in Washington, due to concerns the fund will be used for carbon offsetting schemes including industrial-scale tree plantations, coal projects and other polluting, energy-intensive industries and could undermine international efforts to tackle climate change.

Green and grey groups bring joint legal challenge Friends of the Earth and Help the Aged are today (Wednesday 9 April) taking the Government to court, for not doing enough to meet its legal obligation to eradicate fuel poverty. The two charities are campaigning for the Government to develop a far more effective and comprehensive programme of domestic energy efficiency, to simultaneously end suffering from fuel poverty and tackle climate change.

Plans to build one of the biggest wind farms in the UK, off the Yorkshire coast, have been welcomed by Friends of the Earth. But the environmental group said that the Government must do more to develop this huge potential and ensure that Britain reaps the massive economic and environmental benefits of becoming a world leader in harvesting the wind.

Commenting on the shortlist for a number of Eco Towns that the Government is planning to build across England, Paul de Zylva of Friends of the Earth England said: “With proper involvement of local communities and stringent standards, the Government’s new eco-towns could provide an inspiring blueprint for low-carbon living - but they will be a drop in the ocean of the Government’s wider house building programme. All new homes must be built to the highest green standards. “And the question remains over how Ministers will reduce emissions from existing homes – which currently account for over a quarter of all the UK’s carbon impact. The Government must prioritise this area and make it cheaper and easier for people to green their homes, and invest in energy saving and clean renewable technologies such as solar panels.”