Pesticides are destroying the land we depend on. So why are we bailing out these companies with billions of pounds?

The climate column: Pesticides are like heroin. They give an initial blissful boost to production, but the underlying price is decimation of the living world, writes Donnachadh McCarthy

Key to this destruction has been the decades-long drenching of our agricultural land and gardens with toxic pesticides and herbicides (Getty)

The Bank of England may not spring to mind as one of the main players when it comes to the destruction of our climate and what is left of nature. But it, and the Treasury, as part of their Covid-19 economic recovery plan, are pouring billions of our pounds into the industries which are destroying the future of the global economy. So much for a green recovery.

One of the huge positives that many people spoke about during the lockdown was the pleasure they got from being able to hear bird-song again.

The endless destructive drone of millions of unnecessary car journeys and the constant overhead roar of planes that destroy the quality of life for people living in cities all over the UK gave way to a blissful historic silence. But the UK’s dawn chorus, as birds welcome the new day, one of the wonders of the natural world, has become weaker and weaker, as agricultural industrialisation decimates our wildlife. Britain’s dawn chorus is down a staggering 40m birds from what it was 50 years ago.