The Land & Climate Podcast

Liz Carlisle talks to Bertie about her new book, soon to be published by Island Press: 'Healing Grounds - Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming'. The agroecologist, Environmental Studies Professor and award-winning author has spent the last year talking to Indigenous communities & farmers of colour across North America about their approaches to land, crop cultivation and livestock. Originally looking to learn more about soil sequestration, she was confronted with bigger picture issues about the relationships between climate policy, social justice, and agriculture.Liz's further reading: ·        HEAL Platform for Real Food·        Soul Fire Farm·        Vox’s coverage of Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren’s farming legislation·        IPES Food reports ·        Adam Calo’s work on Scottish low carbon farming·        You can order Liz Carlisle’s previous books on agroecology on her websiteClick here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

Alasdair talks to John Sterman about his groundbreaking research that found burning wood for energy will "increase atmospheric CO2 for at least a century". John Sterman is the Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the Director of the MIT System Dynamics Group and the Director of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative. His team developed a model for dynamic bioenergy lifecycle analysis, which he hoped would prove burning "wood was part of the solution" for the climate. Instead, "it came out the other way". Further reading: ·         Professor Sterman’s paper about the outcomes from his bioenergy modelling·         More details on the study, in reply to a comment on the paper·         En-Roads, MIT Sustainability Initiative’s interactive climate simulator that allows users to explore the impacts of different climate policies·       Read more about bioenergy and BECCS, and listen to more podcasts on the topic, in Land & Climate's bioenergy hubClick here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

Louisa Casson from Greenpeace (now on an Antarctic expedition) explains her work looking into carbon offsets and how they have developed since COP26.  She also gives her view on the  development of voluntary carbon markets.Here is some of Louisa's suggested further reading on the issue:- Oxfam’s report on the use of offsets in net zero  - European Climate Foundation CEO, Laurence Tubiana's commentary on offsets Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

"There is more CO2 contained in the oil and gas reserves already being extracted than in our entire global carbon budget to keep warming under 1.5 degrees C."Romain Loulalalen from NGO Oil Change International (OCI) tells Alasdair where we are on the global phase out of fossil fuels, what the current challenges are, how COP26 was significant and what political changes to expect in the next few years on oil and gas.  He also comments on whether the oil majors are genuinely committed to net zero targets.Further reading: Production Gap Report 2021Managing Peak Oil: a recent report by Carbon TrackerOil Change International's Big Oil Reality CheckBeyond Oil and Gas AllianceThe Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiativeClick here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

Is the net zero approach to climate mitigation working, or is it an unrealistic framework that does more to help corporations than the planet?Professor Holly Jean Buck of the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York comes onto the podcast to discuss her new book, 'Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero is Not Enough' with Bertie. You can order the book here from Verso, or read Bertie's review of it here. Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

Lauren asks Dr. Mark Bould about his new book The Anthropocene Unconscious.They discuss whether fiction goes far enough in representing narratives of climate crisis, ranging from Jane Austen’s ‘Mansfield Park’ to the 'Fast & Furious' franchise.You can also read Lauren's review of 'The Anthropocene Unconscious' here. Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

"In 2019, the use of United States sourced wood pellets in the UK was accountable for 16 million to 19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, mostly burned by Drax. That is roughly equivalent to a quarter of all the emissions from the UK power sector."Edward speaks to Duncan Brack, Associate Fellow at Chatham House and author of numerous reports into industrial-scale biomass  and forestry policy.Read the report here. Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

"If you follow the developments at Glasgow, everyone's looking for the Big Idea. This, in my mind, is an obvious one."Bertie talks with veteran climate journalist Edward Struzik about his new book, Swamplands: tundra beavers, quaking bogs, and the improbable world of peat. They talk COP, burning peat for energy, the process of rewetting peatland, and Edward gives a cultural & historical background to peatlands, arguing that we still need to change cultural perspectives of our bogs, fens and marshes. Buy Swamplands from Island Press here. Read Bertie's review of the book here. Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

Alasdair talks to Phil MacDonald, Chief Operating Officer of energy think-tank Ember, about new analysis which places Drax as the UK's single biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the UK and among the top 5 emitters in Europe.  Phil provides a startling explanation of how a huge amount of carbon emissions are being missed, and how incentives exist for governments to use biomass for power because of an apparent accounting loophole around its use.Read Ember's research here. Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

Alasdair talks to Lina Burnelius of Protect the Forest Sweden about the Swedish forestry model and the threat that industry poses to biodiversity and the survival of ancient Forests.Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.