The model used to forecast the intensity of Beet Yellows Virus (BYV) in sugar beet crops has today predicted a virus incidence rate of 68.9%, exceeding the threshold needed to authorise the spraying of sugar beet seeds with the pesticide Thiamethoxam.
Thiamethoxam works by disrupting the nervous systems of insects, ultimately leading to their paralysis and death. This chemical is particularly harmful to bees, with just a single teaspoon containing enough toxin to kill 1.25 billion honeybees – enough dead bees to fill four lorryloads. Due to its unacceptable impacts on wildlife, Thiamethoxam was banned from being used in the UK. However, today’s announcement authorises the return of this chemical to almost 100,000 ha of land in England for the first time since 2018.
Flawed decision making
Even if the forecasting model used to authorise this seed treatment wasn’t fundamentally flawed (it forecast a virus incidence of 39% in 2019 when in fact the incidence rate was just 1.8%), this decision would still be a scandal. The Government claim they have followed the science, but in authorising the use of Thiamethoxam the Secretary of State has gone against the explicit advice of their own appointed experts.
The Government has gone against the explicit advice of their own appointed advisors.
Both the Expert Committee on Pesticides, which The Secretary of State has stated has “unrivalled expertise”, and the Health and Safety Executive advised against the use this chemical on the grounds that the risks to wildlife of using it outweigh the crop protection benefits. Unfortunately, this advice has gone ignored.
Environmental leadership
As the UK hosted COP26 in Glasgow last year, the Environment Secretary George Eustice stated that the UK was “leading the way” in sustainable farming. The decision to allow the use of a banned and toxic neonicotinoid presented one of the first tests of this environmental leadership. Yet rather than leading, this decision repeats exactly the kinds of policy decisions which gave rise to the nature and climate crisis we are currently living through.
The ink has also barely dried on the Westminster Government’s new “flagship” Environment Act, which commits to halting the decline in species by 2030 and sets out key environmental principles such as the precautionary principle, which will require the Government to act with caution when the science indicates there may be a risk of harm to the environment. The Government’s decision to authorise the use of neonicotinoids against the advice of expert opinion does not fill us with confidence that these vital principles will be at the heart of government decision making.
Support for farmers
Instead, environmental leadership is being shouldered by those farmers who understand that the use of toxic chemicals is not a long-term solution. Many sugar beet farmers recognise that the future of farming lies in working with nature, and that embracing alternative methods to control pests and diseases rather than relying on toxic chemicals will be crucial to producing better, healthier food and restoring nature.
Farmers should not have to choose between pesticides and pollinators.
Rather than support these farmers, today’s decision will mean they now have to compete with sugar beet growers who are able to use thiamethoxam treated seed this year. This will only serve to hamper efforts to find a long-term solution to the issue of virus yellows in sugar beet and penalise those farmers who are already doing the right thing for nature.
What needs to happen now
Farmers should not have to choose between pesticides and pollinators. Rather than legalise the use of banned pesticides, the Government should instead offer support and incentives to farmers to transition away from using harmful chemicals.
Investment into research and development of alternative solutions to yellows virus in sugar beet is also needed, as well as the introduction of environmental standards to the importation of sugar to ensure high standards at home are not watered down.
The continued authorisation of toxic chemicals will only serve to push the Government’s target to halt species decline by 2030 out of reach and undermine the UK’s ambition to be a global leader in the fight against the nature and climate crisis.