Alasdair speaks to Thomas Pellerin Carlin, Director of the EU Programme at the Institute for Climate Economics, about France's relationship with nuclear energy, growing support for legislation focused on sufficiency, and how party politics shapes these issues. Audio editing by Vasko Kostovski.Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Bertie speaks to Professor Laura Murphy about international supply chains and forced labour in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, where more than a million Uyghur people have been detained in concentration camps.The solar panel industry has been disentangling itself from the Uyghur genocide for several years, since researchers publicised how much polysilicon was produced by Uyghur forced labour. Professor Murphy's work has now found that the electric vehicle industry is risking a similar path, and that China uses Xinjiang as a production zone exempt from climatic or environmental regulation.Podcast edited by Vasko Kostovski.Read Professor Murphy's reports: Driving Force: Automotive Supply Chains and Forced Labor in the Uyghur Region (2022)Built on repression: PVC building materials' reliance on forced labor and environmental abuses in the Uyghur region (2022)Financing & Genocide: Development Finance and the Crisis in the Uyghur Region (2022)In broad daylight: Uyghur forced labour in global solar supply chains (2021)And more on the Helena Kennedy Centre website.Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

The UK was the first major power to sign net zero into law in 2019, and was once considered a global leader on climate policy. After Brexit and a change of government, is the country failing to live up to its promises? Alasdair speaks to Dr. Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK's Chief Scientist, about the UK's place on the global stage, how its net zero policies are progressing, and how the country is taking dangerous risks with nuclear and aviation. Podcast editing by Vasko Kostovski. Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Bertie speaks to Wijnand Stoefs, Carbon Market Watch's policy lead on Carbon Removal, about how EU policy is developing around greenhouse gas removals. They discuss the Carbon Removal Certification Framework, along with other legislation like the Innovation Fund and the Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication, as well as talking about risks with bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and failures of France's Label Bas-Carbone. Futher reading: Read Carbon Market Watch's position paper on the Carbon Removal Certification Framework here. 'Environmental stewardship yes, ‘carbon farming’ no', Social Europe'EU’s carbon farming plan comes under fire', Politico'EU’s Carbon Removals Certification Framework is certifiably problematic', Carbon Market Watch'EU member states’ haphazard approach to carbon removals puts climate goals and nature at risk', Carbon Market WatchLe Label Bas-Carbone : outil d’optimisation ou de transition? , Le Réseau Action Climat [French]'What are the European Commission’s plans for negative emissions?', Land and Climate ReviewClick here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

In this next installment in our oil series, we have Professor Paul Stevens, Emeritus Professor at the University of Dundee and senior research fellow at Chatham House. Professor Stevens is a world leading expert on global petroleum policy. We spoke about the history of energy transitions and the fallacy of ‘peak oil’. Covered in this episode are: the current “energy establishment”, forecasts of the speed of the energy transition, and oil exporter’s dominance at climate talks. Recommended reading: Handbook on Oil and International Relations. (2022). eds. R. Dannreuther, W. Ostrowski. United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. Gustafson, T. (2012). Wheel of Fortune: The Battle for Oil and Power in Russia. United Kingdom: Harvard University Press.Blas, J., Farchy, J. (2021). The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth's Resources. United States: Oxford University Press.Helm, D. (2017). Burn Out: The Endgame for Fossil Fuels. United Kingdom: Yale University Press.Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Bertie speaks to fashion journalist and sustainability consultant Lucianne Tonti about her new book Sundressed: Natural Fabrics and the Future of Clothing.They discuss issues with sustainability indexes and modern fibres created from crude oil and trees, vs the benefits of clothes made from natural materials produced through regenerative agriculture. Podcast editing by Vasko Kostovski. Futher reading: Buy Sundressed from Island Press.Read Lucianne's column in The Guardian.Preorder To Dye For from Penguin.'There is so much to say about plastic pollution. Why are we not talking about it?' on Land and Climate Review.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 Mike Norton, Environment Programme Director at the European Academies Science Advisory Council, about newly published research on neonicotinoid pesticides. In 2013, the European Commission severely restricted the use of several 'neonics' due to emerging research showing they had wide ranging harfmul environmental impacts on insect populations and ecosystems. But last month, the European Court of Justice ruled that Belgium had abused emergency authorisations to continue using them. Many Member States have similiarly authorised their continued usage since 2013, and the EU is now considering stricter legislation to prohibit the substances. Further reading: - Read the full EASAC report here, or the press release here. - 'EU Court puts end to emergency use of bee-toxic pesticides', EURACTIV, Jan '23- 'Commission’s verdict still out on EU court ruling on bee-toxic pesticides', EURACTIV, Feb '23- 'Neonicotinoids in Africa' - a 2020 article by Mike for Chemistry WorldClick here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

In this episode, Lauren Sneade speaks to Professor Thane Gustafson for a second instalment on how the Russian oil industry affects the country's attitudes towards climate change, given the country's distinguished history of climate science. They cover how climate change has affected the country so far, and how Russian policymaking has responded, raising questions around the political will of Russian political figures to tackle the crisis. Further reading: Igor Makarov, Henry Chen & Sergey Paltsev (2020) Impacts of climate change policies worldwide on the Russian economyThane Gustafson, Klimat: Russia in the Age of Climate Change. Harvard University PressTynkkynen, V. (2019). The Energy of Russia: Hydrocarbon Culture and Climate Change. United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.Gordon, D. (2021). No Standard Oil: Managing Abundant Petroleum in a Warming World. United States: Oxford University Press.Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

Alasdair talks to Roger Smith, Japan Director for Mighty Earth, about Japanese biomass imports and the risks of the country's coal power stations switching to wood-burning. Further reading: SMOKESCREEN: SUMITOMO’S “CARBON NEUTRAL” FAILURES SUMITOMO CORPORATION’S DIRTY ENERGY TRADE: Biomass, Coal and Japan’s Energy FutureBiomass cofiring loopholes put coal on open-ended life support in Asia, MongabayAs biomass burning surges in Japan and South Korea, where will Asia get its wood?, MongabayFossil Free JapanBiomass Info, a resource library  (Japanese) Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

The Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) was signed in 1959, and will not be modified until 2048. Climate diplomacy expert Dhanasree Jayaram tells Bertie about the environmental risks that could threaten Antarctica before then, including illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, militarisation, bioprospecting, increased tourism, and resource extraction. Dr. Jayaram is Assistant Professor at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, and Co-Coordinator of the Centre for Climate Studies, in Manipal Academy of Higher Education, and an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation International Climate Protection Fellow. Further reading: In 30 years the Antarctic Treaty becomes modifiable, and the fate of a continent could hang in the balance, The Conversation By Dr. Jayaram:'Geopolitics, Environmental Change and Antarctic Governance: A Region in Need of a Transformative Approach to Science Diplomacy', Assessing the Antarctic Environment from a Climate Change Perspective'Geopolitical and geoeconomic implications of climate change in the Arctic region: the future of contestation and cooperation', Understanding Present and Past Arctic Environments 'Geopolitics, Science and Climate Diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific: An Assessment', Science Diplomacy ReviewClimate Diplomacy and Emerging Economies: India as a Case StudyClick here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.