ClimateGenn hosted by Nick Breeze

In this ClimateGenn episode I am speaking with Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert, who is the Halley Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford about solar geoengineering. He and Professor Michael E. Mann from Pennsylvania University coauthored an article in The Guardian on the 12th March 2025 titled:‘The UK’s gamble on solar geoengineering is like using aspirin for cancer’."We shouldn't be actively creating harm. And the first line of defence is to actually not at least have governments and philanthropy funding these outdoor experimentations."Professor PierrehumbertHere we delve deeper into Ray’s overt objections to the UK’s Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA). ARIA is the UK’s version of the mysterious US Defence Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA). ARIA has recently allocated £45mn British Pounds to fund solar geoengineering projects including outdoor experiments.

"The Amazon directly influences global climate stability. If it collapses, the consequences will extend far beyond Brazil – disrupting weather patterns, increasing extreme events, and accelerating global heating."Visit https://Genn.cc for more information.View the related article: https://monicapiccinini.com/2024/03/06/the-br-319-highway-a-scientists-call-to-action-for-the-amazon-and-beyond/In this Climategenn episode we are taking a closer look at conflicts of interest in Brazil, threatening the Amazon rainforest, an essential global ecosystem. As well as the indigenous communities that live within the forest regions and it also threatens all of us around the world. A common phrase we hear these days is: what goes on in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic. We also know that what goes on in Antarctica does not stay in Antarctica. It is the same for the Amazon. If it is allowed to collapse – and this is the policy trajectory Brazil is on – then the outcome will be catastrophic for the global climate system. Two years ago I interviewed a Chinese climate scientist, professor Jingfang Fan, working with the Potsdam Institute, who identified a teleconnection between heat from the burning Amazon and the Tibetan Plateau. The transported heat to the Tibetan Plateau, via stratospheric jets, is accelerating the melt of the ice in a region often referred to as the third pole. The heating of the Amazon directly threatens the water security of 1.5 billion people on the other side of the world.To bring us up to speed on the conflicts of interest between what the Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, says is policy and the projects he is green lighting, is journalist Monica Piccinini. Monica and her colleagues are covering these issues in depth and as the spotlight is shot on Brazil for COP30 in Belem, a city within the Amazon region, we get a glimpse of what is really going on. Links to Monica’s related articles are also in the notes.In the next episode I am speaking with Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert from University of Oxford. Professor Pierrehumbert coauthored an article in The Guardian very recently with Professor Michael E. Mann from University of Pennsylvania, specifically criticising the UK government for their research grants into solar radiation management geogineering techniques. This is a topic I have covered for about 15 years and – far from fading away – geoengineering is being seen by a growing number of people as humanity’s escape route from continued burning of fossil fuels. Thank you to all subscribers and members for supporting this ongoing series of interviews. I have many more in the pipeline and episodes are available in the members area before going public. If you like, you can also support my work by ordering my book 'COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate’ available worldwide in paperback and from a multitude of online retailers not owned by Jeff Bezos. It remains as relevant as ever in todays world of political malaise.

In this ClimateGenn episode I am speaking with Professor David Beerling about his rock-breaking research that could help to regenerate agricultural soils, while also enhancing their capacity as vast carbon sinks. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is a controversial topic and yet it is also embedded within many national plans for carbon reduction. David Beerling is the leading researcher in this field of Enhanced Rock Weathering, and here he shares a wide range of insights about the potential for deployment, effectiveness and scaling to meet our global challenges.For more information and links click here.

Welcome to ClimateGenn and I am Nick Breeze. The following is an update from a post a year ago looking at the impacts on marine ecosystems with the 2024 data on dolphins that came in for the Galician coast in NW Spain.You can order COPOUT By Nick Breeze worldwide from all retailers.Doniños beach is a 2km (1.18mile) stretch of sweeping sandy shoreline, exposed to the wild roar of Galicia’s Atlantic waves. At this time of year it is shrouded in a fine sea mist. About midway along the beach a colony of shearwaters takes flight as they eye our arrival. It is only when we are closer to where they were gathered that we see a large common dolphin lying dead, mouth agape in a jovial toothy smile. Later, further along the beach, we spotted another dolphin lying with the familiar grimace, covered in flies, rotting on the shore. This one, smaller in size, had been dead longer.“There are days with one dead dolphin, other days with nine.”Mónica González - Galician Stranding Network (CEMMA)

In this ClimateGenn episode I speak with Dr Gianluca Grimalda, the researcher who shot into the limelight when he was sacked for refusing to fly back from Papua New Guinea. I met Gianluca at the Films For Future Festival in Zurich where his movie was getting an early screening. He represents a growing number of scientific researchers who are prepared to take action to draw attention to what the science is telling us - namely that we are barreling towards total global climatic disaster. Grimalda is calling for a global strike by scientists in protest of decades of allowing special interests and profits to override what is best for society.The Researcher documentary is now available for streaming and download on platforms including YouTube, Amazon and iTunes.

In this interview we recorded at COP29, Professor Hugh Hunt speaks with UK Climate Change Committee Chair, Piers Forster. [Order 'COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate' by Nick Breeze] Piers clearly asserts that Carbon Capture and Storage technologies (CCS), that are forecast to remove emissions from so-called hard-to-abate sectors like aviation and steel, will not be enough to offset the damage causing carbon pollution. Whether CCS is viable at any meaningful scale remains highly uncertain. At a time when global heating is accelerating and the destructive impacts, such as fires and floods, are making much of the planet uninsurable, phasing out fossil fuels and reducing carbon pollution has never been a more serious issue. Forster also responds to questions related to Al Gore calling CCS a fraud and whether the UK is anywhere near prepared for the more extreme climate impacts that are coming towards us.  The UK must take phasing out fossil fuels and protecting nature seriously, to send a signal that we are truly out of the extractive and destructive 20th century mindset that has become an existential threat. Thanks for listening. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in UK Decarbonisation Piers Forster confirmed that CCS plays a role in the UK's net-zero strategy, particularly for difficult-to-decarbonise industries and sectors like aviation, which faces major challenges in reducing emissions. He emphasised that "you can't get there all the way with carbon capture and storage," making it clear that reducing emissions must remain the priority. The UK government has earmarked £22 billion for CCS over 25 years, mainly to support two industrial clusters, ensuring a "just transition" without shutting down key industries like Port Talbot and Grangemouth. Response to Al Gore’s Accusation that CCS “… is a fraud!” When asked about Al Gore calling CCS a "fraud," Forster acknowledged concerns, stating, "it depends on the context." He explained that CCS should not be used to justify fossil fuel expansion but should be reserved for sectors with no viable alternatives. "As soon as you say you want to use it for generating electricity, that's not a good use of it at all," he said, advocating for renewables like wind and solar instead. UK Preparedness for Extreme Weather Forster was clear about the UK's lack of readiness: "We are absolutely not prepared. We should be. We are encouraging the government to really think about climate resilience, just as it thinks about reducing its emissions.” He stressed the need for urgent action to protect infrastructure, homes, and lives from increasing climate risks.

Welcome to this ClimateGenn episode recorded during COP29 in Baku, a conference unashamedly hijacked by the fossil fuel industry. John D. Liu is a renowned ecologist, filmmaker, and environmental advocate. Liu's later career has been dedicated to large-scale ecosystem restoration, emphasising the profound impact of natural regeneration in combating climate change. His pioneering work with the Ecosystem Restoration Camps and his advocacy for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration have made significant contributions to global environmental efforts. This discussion offers profound insights into reimagining our future through the lens of ecological restoration and sustainability. If you are concerned about the future then why not travel with me through every COP conference from COP21 in Paris to COP28 in Dubai, by ordering my book ‘COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate’. In COPOUT you’ll gain insights into what actually is going on in these supposed world saving conferences and how we have ended up in this dire era of dangerous consequences. You can order COPOUT via the link in the notes or on any online bookstore worldwide in paperback and audio version. 2025 has opened with terrifying wildfires in Loss Angeles demonstrating that climate catastrophe is not only here but that it is tearing great holes in the fabric of our societies. I will be posting many more interviews and also adding many more archive interviews on key topics to the members area. Thank to you for listening, sharing and also to all subscribers for support. Order COPOUT: https://amzn.to/4gSAU19

As Gabriel says in the interview, if the AMOC collapses then we can expect much harsher weather in Europe (especially in UK & Ireland) as less heat is transported via the Atlantic circulation. Less heat means less moisture leading to less rain and more drought. In these conditions, food production is impossible and, with concurrent food crashes around the globe, famine is likely. What an AMOC collapse means for us all should be understood by citizens and policymakers alike. Averting it, if possible, a primary collective goal. From Climate Genn host Nick Breeze: Welcome to this ClimateGenn Episode. That opening clip was recorded on the Cryosphere Pavilion at COP29 in Baku. It shows IPCC Deputy Chair, Diana Urge-Vorsatz asking Professor Stefan Rahmsdorf about the latest research on the potential halting of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation – known as AMOC –  the ocean currents that transport heat from the tropics to the north Atlantic.  In this following interview with researcher Gabriel Pontes, we expand on his recent AMOC research and what this means for places like the UK and Ireland, identifying key components of the AMOC puzzle. We also consider whether policymakers should be weighing this kind of climate risk more seriously. If you are interested in how the COPs have been manipulated and rendered unfit for purpose by successive governments then you can order my book ‘COPOUT’ from any online retailer. COPOUT traces my own footsteps documenting the failures that have led us to where we are now in the era of severe consequences. In the next episode I speak with Camilla Gjerde about her recently published book, Natural Trailblazers, about the authors travels in search of .

Welcome to this episode of ClimateGenn recorded at the end of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The question we are putting to Norwegian MP for Oslo, Ola Elvestuen is: Should Norway’s Equinor energy company cease new oil and gas production to avoid irreversible climate catastrophe? A quick note that if you want to come with me into the COPs from COP21 Paris to COP28 in the UAE, meeting lots of experts, and digesting the layers of complexity and eye-popping contradictions, over a beer or glass of wine, then order my book ‘COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate’, from any online retailer. COPOUT has been commended as ‘A Must Read’ and ‘Essential Reading’, taking the reader up close to the worlds largest summit to try to change our current disastrous trajectory for climate breakdown. Norwegian fossil energy company, Equinor, formerly Statoil, has been widely criticised for not aligning with the Paris Agreement. Equinor continues to plan for expanded oil and gas production, maintaining a dangerously high 95% reliance of fossil fuel revenue by 2026. Critics argue that Equinor must halt new fossil fuel exploration and stop developing pre-final Investment Decision (FID) projects outside Norway to avoid 67% of emissions from unapproved projects. Equinor’s capital expenditures conflict with essential climate goals, raising concerns about greenwashing and inadequate short-term emission reduction targets. This next excerpt from Professor Kevin Anderson is taken from the last ClimateGenn episode and was recorded the day before this interview with Ola Elvestuen. Thank you for your attention:

Welcome to ClimateGenn. I recorded this interview with Professor Kevin Anderson via Zoom from Baku in the last days of COP29. Kevin provides some critical insights into how the headlines we often see reported breakdown from a numerical standpoint.  Although the COPs remain an important component of our overall global diplomatic approach to this complex existential problem, there are no signals that the promise of the Paris Agreement will be kept by the nations who repeatedly pledge to hold to it. So what do we do? Here Kevin offers a range of his insights. With the clock ticking, and human greed still in charge of the agenda, our collective agency and actions matter much more than we can ever imagine. Thank you for listening. There are many more episodes on the way. Please subscribe to support this work, or you can order my book COPOUT and join me on the journey from COP21 to COP28 to see how we have ended up in this mess and why we urgently need to break the pattern. Thank you.