Around the world a growing number of rivers, mountains, nature reserves, even marshes have all been given legal rights. It’s an idea that’s being tested in courtrooms around the world. But to what extent might this help reduce the worst impacts of climate change and help us adapt to a warmer and wetter world? Presenters Kate Lamble and Neal Razzell are joined by: Natalia Greene , Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature John DX Lapid, reporter in the Philippines Liza Osorio, lawyer Jacinta Ruru,...
Nov 21, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast The lights have come on in Glasgow, the bar is closed and it's time to head home. Now the 26th Conference of Parties is over we ask what's really been decided and where do we go from here? In discussion with our presenters Neal Razzell and Kate Lamble are; Jeffrey Sachs - Director Earth Institute, Columbia University Dr Rose Mutiso - Research Director, Energy For Growth Hub Kenya Helen Mountford - Vice President, Climate & Economics, World Resources Institute
Nov 14, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Climate negotiators from all over the world are gathered in Glasgow for the global summit to discuss how we can curb the worst effects of global warming. The Conference of Parties (or COP26) has now reached its half-way point. Kate Lamble and Neal Razzell take the temperature on what has been discussed so far.
Nov 08, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week will bring around 25,000 world leaders, business people, policy shapers and campaigners together in Glasgow for COP26, a global climate summit that’s seen as a crucial moment in the fight to curb global warming. Among them will be young activists who in the last few years have made global headlines with the School Strike for Climate movement. Beginning with Greta Thunberg in Sweden in 2018, millions of young people have taken to the streets to try to get their voices heard. We hear fro...
Nov 01, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast World leaders are gathering in Glasgow for a global climate summit to agree on how to further limit the threat of global warming. Experts say the conference, known as COP26, could be the last chance for governments to agree on a way to cut global emissions in half by 2030. It’s also an opportunity to assess how well they have been doing with previous targets to prevent average global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, agreed at a big climate meeting in Paris in 2015. According ...
Oct 24, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russia is the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses. Any talk of changing that needs to focus on President Vladimir Putin. Under his leadership, Russia has become a fossil fuel powerhouse. Since he took office in 2000, Russian oil production has risen by 70%. Today, the state is dependent on its revenues. Four in every ten dollars Moscow spends comes from fossil fuels. So the idea that Russia needs to shift away from fossil fuels to prevent the worst effects of climate change strik...
Oct 17, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast There are thought to be over 10,000 gas flares around the world that contribute to global warming by emitting tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane. Flared gas is a by-product of oil extraction and is frequently used as a method of eliminating unwanted gasses in countries such as Albania, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Russia and Nigeria. Yet, year after year deadlines set to stop the practice are missed. The oil industry says better infrastructure is needed to stop flaring and some of the world’s largest...
Oct 10, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Recent research has shown that oil companies knew about the threat of climate change decades ago. Yet over forty years, it has been revealed that they contributed millions of dollars to think tanks and campaigns to spread doubt and misinformation about climate change – its existence, the extent of the problem, and its cause. Across the US, these revelations have sparked a wave of lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry, demanding accountability for climate change – and now a US congressional c...
Oct 03, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Heatwaves and floods are becoming more frequent around the world. But are the homes being built today taking that into account? The Climate Question considers the impact that living in a building threatened by rising water or constructed so that you bake in the heat has. And it asks why planners and developers in many countries have been so reluctant to adapt. Where are lessons being learnt and will other places follow their lead?
Sep 26, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast For decades, around the world, climate change coverage has been thin. Guests discuss why the media in petrol states, in particular, have struggled to tell that story. Science illiteracy in newsrooms has led to a mixture of climate silence and false balance in print and on air. But, even when the science has not been contested, the way the crisis has been reported may have caused audiences to turn away. Can climate coverage learn lessons from how that other hugely consequential science story of o...
Sep 19, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast If we are to ensure that there’s no more than a 1.5 degrees centigrade increase in global warming, the International Energy Agency recently stated that oil exploration must stop. A few countries have heeded that warning but the vast majority have not. The Climate Question hears from two nations – one already rich from oil, the other poor and yet to benefit from recent oil finds – about why they are continuing to explore. But, even for those who are following the IEA’s advice, will stopping be st...
Sep 12, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, the developing world says urgent action is needed to avert catastrophe. Some in the developing world say that as richer countries caused the bulk of global emissions, they should compensate them for the losses and damages caused by the climate crisis. But will delegates, negotiators and politicians gathering at the international climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow in November take notice? In previous years rich countries have been rel...
Sep 05, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Another chance to listen to an episode that asks whether we can change our ways. Drastic change is needed to limit the increase in global temperature caused by climate change. More than two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide result from how we live our lives. But the behaviours that drive these emissions tend to be deeply habitual and hard to shift - the way we heat our homes, what we eat and how we travel to work. And our behavioural good intentions all too often fail to translate int...
Aug 22, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast A diplomatic deadline looms as new science urges faster action. Can nations respond? So far, the answer has been ‘no.’ Three decades of international talks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has left them higher than ever and set to rise further. We provide a brief history of climate talks, with an eye on what can be learned ahead of the next round, called COP26, in Glasgow. Contributors: Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, University College London and author of How to Save Our Plan...
Aug 15, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hydrogen gas has long been recognised as a potentially valuable tool for tackling climate change. The most abundant element in the universe, it is also a clean-burning gas and – in theory – could be used to power almost anything, from our cars and homes, to planes and ships, to agriculture and heavy industry. We already produce millions of tons of hydrogen each year for use in the chemicals industry, by extracting it from natural gas - a process which emits CO2. But hydrogen can also be made by ...
Aug 08, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Climate change is going to shape young people’s lives, and yet many students feel their schools are not equipping them with the knowledge and skills to face this future. Teachers aren’t always confident broaching climate change in the classroom. And governments have been slow to get comprehensive and compulsory climate change education onto national curriculums. But how do you teach young children about something so big and scary? And how should adults deal with the hopelessness that some young ...
Aug 01, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's estimated that 9 out of 10 items sold in our shops are shipped halfway around the world on ships. The resulting emissions amount to around 3% of the global total, more than many countries, but we rarely hear about the role shipping plays in the climate crisis. Partly this is because most of shipping's pollution occurs far out at sea, out of the sights and minds of many consumers - and largely out of the reach of regulation. Like aviation, ships travel across borders, so their emissions are ...
Jul 25, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast The heatwave that hit parts of the west coast of North America shattered records by several degrees. It affected parts of the United States and Canada that were unused to extreme heat. Hundreds of people died and emergency teams were pushed to their limits. In Lytton, Canada, temperatures reached 49.6 degrees celsius. Days later, the entire village burnt down. Scientists say that climate change had made this heatwave 150 times more likely. They also warn that, if global warming continues, about ...
Jul 18, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast You don’t often hear climate change and football mentioned in the same sentence, but rising temperatures are set to disrupt every area of our lives, the ‘beautiful game’ included. Heat and other extreme weather have already been affecting training and matches, which experts say we can expect a lot more of in coming years. But not only is the sport at risk from the climate crisis, it’s also a significant contributor to it. The operation of multi-thousand capacity stadiums, spectator travel and me...
Jul 11, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Freshwater sources around the world are becoming more irregular, and disputes between countries are common, with fears that access to water could eventually lead to conflict. There’s a high-profile case going on right now in northeast Africa, where talks about a huge new dam on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia have stalled. Ethiopia says it needs the hydroelectric dam to help solve some of its power supply problems. However, the Blue Nile is the largest source for the river Nile, which runs through Egy...
Jul 04, 2021•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Australia is one of the world's biggest per-capita greenhouse gas emitters, and a Climate Question listener wants to know why the world isn't demanding her country do more. Jodie lives in tropical Queensland, which she says is 'paradise', but it's also a place affected by bushfires, drought, and cyclones. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says 'Australia can always be relied upon' to deliver action on climate change, but critics at home and abroad point to a record of over-promising and under-delive...
Jun 27, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Brazilian legislature is currently considering a bill that would legalise the private occupation of some public land in the Amazon region - a move that would most likely lead to further deforestation. But could renewed international pressure from foreign governments and corporations demanding protection of the Amazon convince the Brazilian government to rethink its policies, or will they simply go ignored, as it favours short-term economic gain over long-term environmental protection? Presen...
Jun 20, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s likely that there will be no successful green transition without an element of carbon capture, storage and re-use. The oil industry has been burying CO2 underground since the 1970s, so the infrastructure and technology is already available, but removing CO2 from the air at scale is new, and the companies doing it are small. We head to an experimental ‘direct air capture’ plant in Canada to hear how they are making fuel out of air, and explore what changes will be required to ensure that the...
Jun 13, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cities emit around three-quarters of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations, and over half of the world’s population now live in one. Many have set ambitious targets to slash and offset their emissions, in the hope of neutralising their impact on the environment and slowing climate change. Some are aiming to do this very soon. Copenhagen’s goal is 2025. More than 700 others have committed to targets over the following decades. But how does a city, choked with traff...
Jun 06, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Scientists agree that cutting carbon emissions as soon as possible is key to tackling global warming. But as emissions continue to rise, some are now calling for more research into measures that could be used alongside decarbonisation, including – controversially – what’s known as ‘solar geoengineering’ technologies. One idea being considered is spraying light-reflecting particles into the atmosphere to temporarily cool down the earth. It may sound far-fetched, but the idea is based on naturally...
May 30, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast More than two thirds of our planet is covered by the oceans, but there’s still much to be uncovered about the role that these watery worlds play in climate change. But recent scientific research claims that bottom trawling, a method of fishing that involves dragging heavy nets across the seafloor, emits about the same amount of carbon annually as aviation. Seabed sediments, which act as huge carbon sinks, are churned up, resulting in carbon dioxide emissions. So should trawling – commonplace aro...
May 23, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast South Korea’s economic development has been the envy of many nations: from war, famine and poverty to one of the richest countries on Earth, all within just a couple of generations. In 1955, gross domestic product was just $64 per capita. Last year, it was $31,000. But this growth was turbocharged by fossil fuels, and has come at a high environmental price. Seventy percent of the power generated in the country comes from fossil fuels and, compared to many rich nations, its commitment to renewabl...
May 16, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Indigenous people represent only about six percent of the world’s population, but they inhabit around a quarter of the world’s land surface. And they share these regions with a hugely disproportionate array of plant and animal life. According to the UN and the World Bank, about 80 percent of our planet’s biodiversity is on land where indigenous people live. Global climate policy has however been slow to recognise that indigenous knowledge - built up over centuries - is worth listening to. This i...
May 09, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast From fruit rotting in fields, to retailers turning down funny shaped vegetables, and consumers scraping leftovers into the bin, food waste is everywhere. It’s estimated that around a third of all our food ends up not being eaten. If we could sort this, total greenhouse gas emissions would reduce by around eight percent. To put that in context, the only countries that are responsible for emissions of that size are China and the US. So, what can be done? Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar discuss ...
May 02, 2021•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast More companies are rolling out carbon dioxide emission labels on products to help us make greener choices. Unilever, the global consumer goods giant, recently announced it is committing to put carbon footprint information on 70,000 products, while multi-national companies Oatly and Quorn have already started adding labels like this to their packaging. But this is not the first time companies have tried this. In the 2000s, for example, an international supermarket put carbon labels on hundreds of...
Apr 25, 2021•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
