The Climate Question

World leaders are gathering in Glasgow for a global climate summit to agree on how to further limit the threat of global warming. Experts say the conference, known as COP26, could be the last chance for governments to agree on a way to cut global emissions in half by 2030. It’s also an opportunity to assess how well they have been doing with previous targets to prevent average global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, agreed at a big climate meeting in Paris in 2015. According to the Climate Action Tracker, The Gambia is thought to be one of the only countries with plans in line with 1.5 degrees. What further commitments will leaders from the rest of the world arrive with at COP26 and what will it take for countries to keep those climate promises? Presenters Kate Lamble and Katie Prescott are joined by: Sandra Guzman, consultant, Climate Policy Initiative. Jennifer Morgan, executive director, Greenpeace International. Niklas Höhne, founding partner, New Climate InstituteProducer: Darin Graham Researcher: Natasha Fernandes Reporter: Thomas Naadi Series producers: Alex Lewis and Rosamund Jones Editor: Emma Rippon Sound engineer: Neil Churchill

Russia is the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses. Any talk of changing that needs to focus on President Vladimir Putin. Under his leadership, Russia has become a fossil fuel powerhouse. Since he took office in 2000, Russian oil production has risen by 70%. Today, the state is dependent on its revenues. Four in every ten dollars Moscow spends comes from fossil fuels. So the idea that Russia needs to shift away from fossil fuels to prevent the worst effects of climate change strikes at the very heart of Mr Putin’s power. But Russia is already suffering more than most from the effects of climate change. Arctic temperatures are rising faster than the global average, forests the size of countries are going up in smoke. Two thirds of the country’s permafrost - permanently frozen ground - has roads, homes, schools, oil and pipelines and even nuclear reactors are built on it. And the permafrost is starting to melt. Putin’s latest national security document for the first time mentions climate change as a risk. But can he do what is necessary to prevent things from getting worse?Contributors - Angelina Davydova - Environmental Journalist Chris Miller - Director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program Vladimir Chuprov - Director of the Energy Program, Greenpeace Russia Presenters: Neal Razzell and Kate Lamble Reporter - Olga Dobrovidova Producer: Jordan Dunbar

There are thought to be over 10,000 gas flares around the world that contribute to global warming by emitting tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane. Flared gas is a by-product of oil extraction and is frequently used as a method of eliminating unwanted gasses in countries such as Albania, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Russia and Nigeria. Yet, year after year deadlines set to stop the practice are missed. The oil industry says better infrastructure is needed to stop flaring and some of the world’s largest producers of oil have committed to ending flaring by 2030. What will it take for that to happen? Presenters Neal Razzell and Kate Lamble are joined by: Bjørn Otto Sverdrup, chair, Oil and Gas Climate Initiative Mark Davis, CEO of Capterio. Sharon Wilson, senior field advocate, Earthworks Producer: Darin Graham Reporter: Fyneface Dumnamene Series producer: Rosamund Jones Editor: Emma Rippon Sound engineer: Tom Brignell

Recent research has shown that oil companies knew about the threat of climate change decades ago. Yet over forty years, it has been revealed that they contributed millions of dollars to think tanks and campaigns to spread doubt and misinformation about climate change – its existence, the extent of the problem, and its cause.Across the US, these revelations have sparked a wave of lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry, demanding accountability for climate change – and now a US congressional committee has started to investigate. Executives from the world’s biggest oil companies and trade groups have been called to testify before US lawmakers in October this year, in an inquiry modelled on the tobacco hearings of the 1990s, which paved the way for far tougher nicotine regulations.This week, The Climate Question looks over the evidence behind these allegations – and asks whether Big Oil might finally be facing a reckoning for its role in the climate crisis.Presenters: Neal Razzell and Phoebe Keane Producer: Zoe Gelber Series Editor: Ros Jones Editor: Emma Rippon

Heatwaves and floods are becoming more frequent around the world. But are the homes being built today taking that into account?The Climate Question considers the impact that living in a building threatened by rising water or constructed so that you bake in the heat has. And it asks why planners and developers in many countries have been so reluctant to adapt. Where are lessons being learnt and will other places follow their lead?

For decades, around the world, climate change coverage has been thin. Guests discuss why the media in petrol states, in particular, have struggled to tell that story. Science illiteracy in newsrooms has led to a mixture of climate silence and false balance in print and on air. But, even when the science has not been contested, the way the crisis has been reported may have caused audiences to turn away. Can climate coverage learn lessons from how that other hugely consequential science story of our time – the pandemic - has been told? Contributors : Mark Herstsgaard, co-founder Covering Climate Now Marianna Poberezhskaya, associate professor Nottingham Trent University Kris De Meyer, neuroscientist Kings College London Wolfgang Blau, The Reuters InstitutePresenter: Graihagh Jackson Producer: Rosamund Jones Editor: Emma Rippon

If we are to ensure that there’s no more than a 1.5 degrees centigrade increase in global warming, the International Energy Agency recently stated that oil exploration must stop. A few countries have heeded that warning but the vast majority have not. The Climate Question hears from two nations – one already rich from oil, the other poor and yet to benefit from recent oil finds – about why they are continuing to explore. But, even for those who are following the IEA’s advice, will stopping be straightforward or might hurdles still lie in wait?Contributors: Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Bård Lahn, Research Fellow at the Center for International Climate Research, Norway Catherine Higham, Climate Change Laws of the World Coordinator, London School of EconomicsPresenters: Jordan Dunbar & Gaia Vince Reporter: Kiana Wilburg Producers: Darin Graham & Soila Apparicio Series producer: Rosamund Jones Editor: Emma Rippon

As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, the developing world says urgent action is needed to avert catastrophe.Some in the developing world say that as richer countries caused the bulk of global emissions, they should compensate them for the losses and damages caused by the climate crisis.But will delegates, negotiators and politicians gathering at the international climate conference, COP26, in Glasgow in November take notice? In previous years rich countries have been reluctant to agree to compensate poorer countries. If that happens again, what will the impact be on reaching a global commitment to reduce emissions? Joining presenters Graihagh Jackson and Gaia Vince:Dr Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development. Rémy Rioux, chief executive of the French Development Agency. S.I Ohumu, Lagos reporter Linnea Nordlander, postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for International Law and Governance, University of Copenhagen.Producer : Darin Graham Series Producer: Rosamund Jones Editor: Emma Rippon Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell

Another chance to listen to an episode that asks whether we can change our ways. Drastic change is needed to limit the increase in global temperature caused by climate change. More than two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide result from how we live our lives. But the behaviours that drive these emissions tend to be deeply habitual and hard to shift - the way we heat our homes, what we eat and how we travel to work. And our behavioural good intentions all too often fail to translate into action. So our climate question this week is how we can be nudged, or even shoved, to change?First broadcast on 1st March 2021Guests: Elisabeth Costa, senior director, Behavioural Insights Team Erik Thulin, behavioural science lead at the Centre for Behaviour and the Environment at Rare Professor Martine Visser, behavioural economist at the University of Cape Town Mo Allie, BBC reporter in Cape TownPresented by Graihagh Jackson and Neal Razzell Produced by Alex Lewis Researched by Zoe Gelber Edited by Emma Rippon

A diplomatic deadline looms as new science urges faster action. Can nations respond? So far, the answer has been ‘no.’ Three decades of international talks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has left them higher than ever and set to rise further. We provide a brief history of climate talks, with an eye on what can be learned ahead of the next round, called COP26, in Glasgow.Contributors: Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, University College London and author of How to Save Our Planet. Navin Singh Khadka, Environment Correspondent, BBC World Service Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation Ambassador Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, lead climate negotiator for the Democratic Republic of Congo Presenters: Graihagh Jackson and Neal Razzell Producer: Josephine Casserly Series producer: Ros Jones Editor: Emma Rippon