Alasdair talks to John Vaillant, author of the Baillie Gifford shortlisted book Fire Weather: A True Story From A Hotter World and explores how fire is evolving in the 21st century and if humanity is going to be sufficiently prepared to tackle its advance.Fire Weather tells of the catastrophic wildfire in Fort McMurray in Canada in May 2016, and asks if the fire's surprising power and devastation is a harbinger for greater threats to our climate as we know it.John Vaillant's recommended further reading:Less is More by Jason HickelEnergy and Civilisation by Vaclav Smil 'Shell Knew Fossil Fuels Created Climate Change Risks Back in 1980s, Internal Documents Show' by Inside Climate NewsAudio production by Vasko Kostovski. Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

In a controversial decision this week, the UK government approved development of a huge new oil and gas field in the North Sea. The Rosebank oil and gas field is majority owned by the Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor. Following this news, Alasdair talked to Professor Jonas Fossli Gjersø (University of Stavanger) about the history of Equinor - previously Statoil - and the way it has shaped Norway's economy, history, and environmental policy.Audio production by Vasko Kostovski. Further reading: 'Britain approves huge, controversial oil and gas field in the North Sea', CNN, 27/9/23'The Great Leap Offshore: Sino-Norwegian Relations and Petro-Knowledge Transfers, 1976–1997'  by Jonas Fossli Gjersø in Enterprise and Society, 2022Commerce and politics: Statoil and Equinor 1972-2001, Eivind Thomassen, 2022'Norway wants to lead on climate change. But first it must face its legacy of oil and gas', Vox, 15/1/21'A greener shade of black? Statoil, the Norwegian government and climate change, 1990—2005' by Ada Nissen in Scandinavian Journal of History, 2021Det svarte skiftet, Eivind Trædal, 2018 [Norweigan]'A Short History of the Norwegian Oil Industry: From Protected National Champions to Internationally Competitive Multinationals' by Helge Ryggvik in Business History Review, 2015Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

 American agrochemical firm Monsanto was the world’s largest maker of genetically engineered seeds until merged with German pharma-biotech giant Bayer in 2018. Its Roundup Ready® seeds, introduced twenty-five years ago, are still reshaping farms, landscapes and ecosystems all over the world.  Bart Elmore is a professor of environmental history at Ohio State University, as well as an award-winning author. Alasdair spoke to him about his 2021 book on the history of Monsanto, Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future. Further reading:Click here to buy Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future Click here to buy Bart's latest book, Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade Our Economy and the Planet'The herbicide dicamba was supposed to solve farmers’ weed problems – instead, it’s making farming harder for many of them', The Conversation, January 2022'Coca-Cola’s biggest challenge in greening its operations is its own global marketing strategy', The Conversation, May 2023Baptized in PCBs: Race, Pollution, and Justice in an All-American Town, Ellen Griffith Spears, 2014Genetically Engineered Crops: Experiences and Prospects, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, 2016Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

At the beginning of August, hundreds of NGOs signed a letter to Kenyan President William Ruto, alleging that US and European governments and companies had "seized" the inaugural Africa Climate Summit due to begin in Nairobi on Monday 4th September, in order to "hijack Africa’s just energy transition".  Their criticism paid particular mention to international management consultancy McKinsey & Company, who were removed from the summit website and events calendar shortly after. Bertie spoke to one of the campaign leaders, Omar Elmawi, about these issues.  President Ruto has denied that the summit has been "hijacked by foreign interests", telling the BBC that "African people will truly be represented" at the summit. McKinsey declined to comment, or answer our questions, but directed us to this press conference, and the question at 0:57. Further reading:You can find the 'Real Africa Climate Summit' campaign website here, which includes the original letter.'Africa Climate Summit: Kenya’s green growth pitch sparks justice concerns', African Arguments, 21/08/23'Why fury has met McKinsey’s return in Nairobi summit', Daily Nation, 15/08/23'Omar Elmawi Believes In an Africa Free From Fossil Fuels', Sierra, 27/4/23The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies, Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington, 2023On the Trail of Capital Flight from Africa, Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce, 2022Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

 A new investigation has revealed that a biofuel company called System Ecologica scammed the International Sustainability Carbon Certification, petrol companies, and EU governments, in a biofuel fraud case totalling tens of millions of euros. Regulators are increasingly worried that other companies may similarly be passing off unsustainable, imported vegetable oil as used cooking oil (UCO). This would have severe implications for emissions, deforestation, and the viability of a key EU climate initiative.The findings were reported by Eli Moskowitz from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Mira Sys from Follow the Money, along with Mubarek Asani from the Bosnian Center for Investigative Reporting. Bertie caught up with Eli and Mira to get the full story. Further reading: Read Eli, Mira and Mubarek's story on OCCRP here.'Multimillionaire convicted of tampering with biodiesel', Follow the Money, 22/7/23 (Dutch) 'Europe Battles Flood of Green Fuel Suspected to Be Fraudulent', Bloomberg, 27/4/23'Industry suspects fraud as flood of Chinese biodiesel destabilises market', Euractiv, 8/6/23Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Last week, after intense debate between member states, the UN's International Seabed Authority decided not to fast-track licences to start mining the deep ocean floor. But while waters have calmed for now, nothing is set in stone: talks renew in 2024. Ahead of the conference, Alasdair spoke to Professor Mats Ingulstad, who is leading the TripleDeep research project at the Norweigan University of Science and Technology. They discussed the history of extraction in Norway & the development of discussions around deep sea mining, as well as the risks and rewards of this new frontier.Audio editing by Vasko Kostovski.  Further reading: 'Deep sea mining: Here’s which countries oppose and support the controversial practice', Euronews, 2/8/2023'Experts agree – deep sea mining is not worth the risk', Land and Climate Review, 13/7/2023'A historical perspective on deep-sea mining for manganese nodules, 1965–2019', Ole Sparenberg'The Mining Industry: Expanding, Deepening, and Widening since the 1750s', Ingulstad et al., 2023'Marine minerals' role in future holistic mineral resource management', Ingulstad et al., 2022Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Copa Cogeca is the largest agricultural lobbying group in Europe, claiming to be "the united voice" of 22 million farmers. But a new investigation from Lighthouse Reports suggests the true size of their membership is far smaller than this - and that the group uses its unrivalled influence to block climate and environmental reform, and lobby for industrial farmers at the expense of smallholders. Bertie spoke to award-winning journalist Thin Lei Win, Lighthouse's Lead Food Systems Reporter, about the story.Audio editing by Vasko Kostovski. Further reading: 'Europe’s Potemkin Lobby' - Lighthouse Reports 'The truth behind Europe’s most powerful farmers lobby' - Politico View Copa-Cogeca's specific figures on lobbying spending on lobbyfacts.eu here.Greenpeace's Out of Balance report, mentioned in the interview.'EU Investigating Agribusiness Lobby Group Copa-Cogeca Over Potential Transparency Breach', DeSmogRomanian language reporting on the story from Libertatea here and here.Danish language reporting on the story from Danwatch here.Polish language reporting on the story from OKO.press here.Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Alasdair speaks to Professor Ángela Vergara about the history, economics, and environmental impact of mining in Chile. Ángela Vergara is a member of the history faculty at California State University. Her books include Fighting Unemployment in Twentieth-Century Chile (Pittsburgh, 2021), and Copper Workers, International Business and Domestic Politics in Cold War Chile (Penn State, 2008). Podcast Editing by Vasko Kostovski.Further reading: 'The ‘Alterlives’ of Green Extractivism: Lithium Mining and Exhausted Ecologies in the Atacama Desert', International Development Policy | Revue internationale de politique de développement. Stay tuned for our upcoming collection on www.landclimate.org, The future unrefined, coming next week - including content about Chilean mining!Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Joëlle Gergis (@joellegergis) is an award-winning climatologist and writer based at the Australian National University. Her latest book, Humanity's Moment: A Scientist's Case for Hope, is a passionate and unsparing look at what has been lost but also what can still be saved - and why should still have hope. Dr Gergis draws on her experience as the lead author of Working Group 1, of the IPCC's latest assessment report (AR.6), as well as on her own experiences of facing up to the scale of the challenges posed by a rapidly warming natural world. She speaks to Edward Robinson. Podcast editing by Vasko Kostovski.  You can read more about Joëlle, including about her new podcast series at the Conversation, here and you can her order Humanity's Moment from Island Press, here. Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Following US Climate Envoy John Kerry's latest remarks on overpopulation, Bertie spoke to Diana Ojeda, Associate Professor in sustainability, environment and development at the Universidad de los Andes' Interdisciplinary Center for Development Studies, about why many scholars and activists are wary of populationist narratives in climate planning. Audio editing by Vasko Kostovski.Further reading: 'A feminist exploration of ‘populationism’: engaging contemporary forms of population control''Confronting populationism: Feminist challenges to population control in an era of climate change''Malthus’s specter and the anthropocene'Anne Hendrixson and Diana Ojeda's article on population for Uneven Earth Betsy Hartmann’s webpage PopDev’s short documents series'For reproductive justice in an era of Gates and Modi – the violence of India’s population policies' by Kalpana Wilson Libby Lunstrum’s work'Angry Young Men, Veiled Young Women: Constructing a New Population Threat' by Anne Hendrixson Jade Sasser’s workClick here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.