In this episode we delve into the heart of IE’s new investigation, Silent Death: Europe’s deep-rooted pesticide problem and a biodiversity crisis. To sum up this months-long research: Europe is yet to wake up to its fatal dependency. Today, over 400 different active pesticide substances are approved in the EU. Global pesticide sales have doubled in the last 20 years. The European market for agricultural pesticides is one of the largest in the world.

All of this paints a very bleak picture for the state of our environment. We are already witnessing a significant loss in biodiversity, including plants, birds and insects. Even if farmers are keen to use alternatives, these might not be accessible or affordable. So what is the European Union doing about it? What can we expect from the future? Lead researcher Harald Schumann, founding member of IE based in Berlin, joins the podcast to discuss the findings.