GND Media

In 1950, world shipping was roughly half a million tonnes of cargo. As of 2019 it's now 11 billion tonnes. A mind blogging increase in 70 years.  Shipping  is one of the most resistant and slow sectors to clean up its climate act, with only a commitment to reduce emissions by 50% from the International Maritime Organisation at 2050.  So what can we do to green maritime trade? And has the answer been blowing in the wind all this time? This week Ads and Andrew are joined by Dr Christiaan De Beukelaer to discuss his new book "Trade Winds: a voyage to a sustainable future of shipping".  We discuss how a couple of weeks of research at sea  turned into half a year due to COVID-19, How global shipping made capitalism even more extractive,  the realities of going back to sail powered shipping and  why the IMO might be more effective compared to other U.N institutions. LinksYou can pick up Christiaan's book  Trade Winds: a voyage to a sustainable future of shipping" HERE Read the International Maritime Organisations Carbon targets HERELearn more about the sail cargo organisations like Timbercoast HEREShout outsAlson Kelen and the  Waan Aelõñ in Majel (WAM) team.  Check out their great work HERE Support the show

If you're living in a house that was built in the last 20 years, chances are the bricks it's made from travelled 18,000 miles to build your front door. The question is, why? As ever, the pursuit of profit has the economy doing mad things and bad things for the climate. Turns out carbon emissions don't cross borders when you write them down.  This week we are joined by Laurie Parsons,  Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Royal Holloway, to discuss his new book "Carbon Colonialism: How rich countries export climate breakdown".  We discuss the "Global Factory" and how rich nations export their emissions to the global South, and how the logic of colonialism has informed international development and aid programs. We also get into how, by accepting framing from elite universities on climate change, we miss different visions of value and society.Links Pick up Carbon Colonialism HEREShout outEnvironmental defenders in CambodiaSupport the show

It's time for our regular update from the climate movement in the USA. This week we are joined by fossil fuel and climate journalist Dharna Noor. Dharna has just started a new role as a climate reporter for the Guardian US, with previous work at the Boston Globe and Gizmo.  We discuss how the "biggest climate legislation" in the US  is still supporting the fossil fuel barons, how Joe Biden has backtracked on oil drilling in the Arctic Circle, recent developments in the US climate movement and the tragic murder of a climate activist at the hands of the police. LinksAlex's piece in the Bristol Cable about the sorry state of Bristol's housing stock. David Griscom's piece for GND Media on the IRAShout outsAnthropologist  Nicole Fabricant Journalist  Lucas BattAny new climate conscious councillors. We need you now more than ever. Support the show

 The IPCC report always comes as a splash for those in the climate movement, ringing the alarm bells ever more about our planet's awful condition. But who writes it? And who gets to write it? how do these influential documents and frameworks come about and how do those who write it, affect the narrative around climate breakdown?This week we are delighted to be joined by one of the leader authors for the latest IPCC report Yamina Saheb. We discussed how the IPCC reports get made and who gets to make it, the working conditions of the people writing it,  how those most affected by current climate breakdown are cut out of the decision making processes. Yamina also updates us on the protests in France and how the Gilet Jaune and the climate movement are linked together. LinksThe Energy Charter Treaty Why the The Energy Charter Treaty is a threat to climate action- article by War on WantYamina's piece on Sufficiency in Buildings and CitesShout outs Friend of the show Julia Steinberger  @JKSteinberger Support the show

What's that old line? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different outcomes is a sign of madness. There is plenty of consensus around what we should be doing to mitigate the worst affects of climate breakdown, but if all the methods we are using the ones that got us in this predicament in the first place, chances are they're not going to work. Is the dominant climate strategy built on a series of dangerous assumptions?  This week on the show we are joined by Ben See. Ben is a  high school teacher and  climate activist based in Paris . We discuss the potential underlaying assumptions that could be scuppering radical change to save the planet.  Is an economic system built on assumed rationality putting the brakes on necessary  change?  Are hopes of technological fixes wasting time? How do we communicate our situation to the children who will grow up in ecosystem collapse?Links Andrew's  piece on climate grief IPCC AR 6th synthesis report IPBES report on global biodiversity  and eco systems. Environmental Audit committee report Shout outsThe climate justice movement Innes Fitzgerald- UK under 20s cross country runner who won't fly to take part in competitions due to its climate implications.  Read about Innes hereSupport the show

If you're someone who is engaged with climate breakdown, you may be stunned by the lack of action you're seeing on it from our politicians, institutions and media. You may even find yourself frustrated at how climate change is framed as a problem that is looming on the horizon, or just a technical equation waiting to be solved. So why is this the case? Why do so many of those in power communicate on climate so poorly?This week on the show we are joined by Dr. Genevieve Guenther. Genevieve is the founder of End Climate Silence, an organisation that is trying to tackle the sticky semantic subject of climate communication. We discuss how language itself can shape our responses to climate change, why journalists are all too happy to adopt right wing framings of the issue and how we can use art to understand our current predicament. LinksEnd Climate Silence Platforms just transition for oil and gas workers. Working Class Voices series Shout outfossil fuel non proliferation treaty https://fossilfueltreaty.org/Support the show

This week we are taking stock with Dr James Dyke. James is a an Associate Professor in Earth System Science, and Assistant Director of the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter. James has written extensively for The i newspaper, The Guardian and The Ecologist on the climate crisis.  Ads, Andrew and James discuss where the the climate movement is right now, how deep time plays into the effects we are having on the planet, when good people do bad things because of poor systems and what happens next if 1.5°C fails. LinksYou can buy James Photographic essay on climate change " Fire, Storm and Flood: The violence of climate change" HERECheck out James' blog HEREShout OutsEdred Whittingham an activist who's taken part in direction action with Just Stop Oil and is currently on trail for trying to stop climate breakdown Ali Roe, working with medical and health workers on the affects of climate change. Support the show

You might be forgiven thinking that something as huge and undeniable as climate change would manage to stay out of the way of the madness that is right wing culture wars. And you'd be wrong. As strategies to mitigate climate change start to be implemented around the world, the long shadow of conspiracy, moral panic and hysteria are circling the internet and their coming for your air source heat pump!This week on the show we are joined by Ketan Joshi ( KetanJ0). Ketan  is a communications and research consultant working with European climate organizations currently based in Norway and has recently been writing about how conspiracy theories and culture war can affect climate change policy.  we discussed the bizarre controversy over gas stoves in the US,  how Covid-19 conspiracy theorists have moved into climate change culture war and how to combat climate disinformation. Links Read Ketan's article "The Dawn of the Gas Stove Denialism" at New RepublicTracking conspiracies during COP 27 Renew Economy AusShout outsfirst nations clean energy network  in Australia  Senator Bernie SandersJosh Davies and David Wilkinson at UCU. Support the show

This week on the show we are joined by Dr Sarah Watts, an expert in all things montane  botany. We discuss what over grazing has done to Scotland's mountainous regions, the complex systems of inter species co-operation that make up highland forests, what plants and trees should we reintroduce into Britain and how Scotland used to be and could like Scandinavia again. LinksRead Sarah's paper on the benefits of mountain woodland restoration here. Read Felicity  Monger's paper on the impact of mountain tree planting on lowland floods hereReforesting Scotland's mountain Birch Project. Botanical society of Britain and Ireland Shout out All of Sarah's mates doing their PHDs at the University of sterling All the people who took a stand against the fascists attacking the refugees in Knowesley on the weekend. Support Care for Calais and help refugees in Calais and across Europe.  https://care4calais.org/donate-now/@Care4CalaisSupport the show

This weeks show covers about 71% of the globe and some how we haven't talked about it before.  The Green New Deal is a plan for economic and ecological transformation across the earth. But where do the sea and ocean play into this? Do we need a plan for making sure this vast space full of resources and natural beauty is saved from the logic of the market?This week on the show we are joined by Professor Chris Armstrong, author of the new book "A Blue New Deal: Why we need a new politics for the ocean".  We discuss with Chris how U.N. treaties have shaped the current exploitation of the Global South through fishing rights and sea bed mining , how we can develop carbon-negative industries by caring for the sea and he lays out the arguments for a treaty on the rights of sea life.LINKSChris' website you can buy Chris' book hereProgress on the High Seas Treaty  U.N Convention of the Law of the Sea Stella Maris Shout OutsOcean Rebellion @oceanrebellionSea Shepherd @seashepherdSupport to everyone out on strike on Feb 1st. Teachers, Rail workers, Nurses, Ambulance drivers. You're all fighting for a better world. @eiecampaignSupport the show