Costing the Earth

Lockdown saw many more people jumping on bikes and walking - as much as a way to get out of the house as get around - but pollution levels dropped and nature could be heard without the background roar of traffic. Jheni Osman asks if this the way it could or should be? Has this given us a new way of thinking about how we get around and can city leaders bank on this to change the infrastructure to b...

Just a few months ago politicians across the spectrum were promising trees, glorious trees, in abundance. In an unlikely game of Top Trumps the numbers of trees promised reached into billions, ultimately settling at an ambitious promise of 30,000 hectares a year by 2025. So, how are we going to reach this target over the next 5 years and is it even the right goal? Things have not begun well with t...

What's the best way to prevent flooding? Caz Graham finds out whether there might be environmental alternatives to building ever-higher flood defences. She talks to a campaign group in Kendal in Cumbria, where there are multi-million pound plans to build flood barriers through the town centre, and asks the Environment Agency whether there could be more imaginative alternatives. Is Natural Flood Ma...

A decade ago, many people saw carbon offsetting as an excuse for carrying on bad behaviour. Need to fly? I can still fly ... look at me - I'm not so bad after all. And the critics lined up to shoot it down. So what has changed, asks Tom Heap, and is it something we should all be doing? With contributions from Juliet Davenport of Good Energy, Charlotte Ashton in Zimbabwe, Tim Brown of Tradewater, M...

Sound is what the world does. From the tiniest bugs to the largest whales, animals use sound to communicate, for example, they sing to attract a mate and establish a territory. But this is all happening against a background of man-made noise that was, until the last few weeks, increasing in volume all the time. So what happens if you can’t hear or make yourself heard or you are too stressed or dis...

In June last year the UK government committed us all to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To reach that ambitious target we're going to have to change the way we travel, heat our homes and farm our food. Tom Heap is joined by an expert panel to measure our progress and gauge our chances of reaching net zero. Tom's joined by physicist Helen Czerski of University College London, James Murr...

In November 2019 the band Massive Attack announced it was working with the Tyndall Centre in Manchester to devise a strategy for touring without emitting carbon dioxide. They join a host of acts including Coldplay, The 1975, Radiohead and Billie Eilish all of whom intend to tour in as green a way as possible in the future. Tom Heap speaks to Chris Jones of the Tyndall Centre to find out what the k...

Tom Heap talks through the environmental issues emerging during the coronavirus pandemic and asks what the legacy might be. He's joined by climate change expert Dr Tamsin Edwards from King's College, London to examine the effect of the lockdown. With millions of people now working from home, planes being grounded and fewer cars on the roads, what level of environmental improvement has there been,...

Plastic waste is the scourge of developing countries. Many have poor waste collection and virtually no recycling. But there may be ways in which local people can put the waste to good use In Cameroon a child called Pierre Kamsouloum wanted to play football, but had no ball. He got the idea of melting soft plastic, the kind that food is wrapped in, and moulding it into a crude football. A few years...

Every year billions of products are sold around the world in plastic packaging. But some countries lack a waste system to collect and recycle or dispose of the rubbish. The result can be that waste is dumped, set on fire or used as an accelerant in domestic fires. A new report by Tearfund claims to reveal the scale of the uncontrolled burning in six key countries. Tom Heap finds out what the impli...

Cherry blossom is a perfect symbol of Japan's relationship with nature and the broader environment. It's beautiful, flawless and disappears with the wind. The organisers of the Tokyo Olympics are keen to use the event to push the nation further toward a sustainable future. When the delayed Games finally go ahead they're promised to run on 100% renewable energy and use recycled rainwater. Even the...

The demand for housing is pushing through developments of millions of new build homes. So why aren't these all being built to the best energy efficiency standards possible with the technology that's now available? Tom Heap reveals how the scrapping of zero carbon homes has meant years of construction has not had to meet the higher standards hoped for. The new Future Homes Standard has just been co...

The Naga people of north-east India and Myanmar have long been famed for their hunting prowess. In the days of traps and catapults a balance was maintained but the influx of high calibre guns and the arrival of the Chinese Medicine Trade have wiped out much of the jungle wildlife. Tigers and Asian Black Bear are now very rare sights and even deer are increasingly hard to find. Travel writer, Anton...

When a frustrated farmer dumped a bag of VHS video tapes onto the desk of Cincinnati lawyer Rob Bilott it kick-started a legal process that would ultimately reveal that one of the world’s biggest chemical companies had poisoned thousands of people. The story of DuPont and their manufacture of the non-stick chemical family PFAS matters to the factory workers of Parkersburg, West Virginia but it als...

Britain's politicians have been promising the Earth on climate change. Tom Heap chews over the plausibility of their pledges. He's joined by Angela Francis of WWF, green finance expert Michael Liebreich, Ellie Whitlock from the UK Youth Climate Coalition and the editor of Business Green, James Murray. Producer: Alasdair Cross

What would the British countryside look like if we all adopted the vegan diet recommended by many environmental campaigners? Tom Heap hosts a discussion with panellists from the National Farmers Union and the Vegan Society. We also hear from expert witnesses from Oxford University, Aberystwyth University, Harvard Law School and Rothamsted Research. Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock

Whilst this Autumn’s heavy rainfall has caused some rivers in the north of England to burst their banks and flood neighbourhoods there are rivers in the south-east with barely a drop of water in them. Tom Heap asks what impact this is this having on aquatic ecosystems. He talks to water companies and environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey to find out how flora and fauna are changing as a result...

The Iron Curtain was an accidental wildlife haven. 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Tom Heap walks the borderlands to see how nature has continued to thrive. Before the fall of the wall naturalists in West Germany had noticed that some bird and mammal species favoured life in the deathzone with its lack of human disturbance. When the Soviet bloc crumbled they joined friends and colleagu...

The last decade has seen a huge rise in the number of people opting for artificial turf in their gardens. Meanwhile businesses and corporations are making more use of plastic plants in both indoor and outdoor spaces. What effect does choosing fake over real plants have on the environment? Peter Gibbs investigates. Producer: Emma Campbell

Britain urgently needs a zero carbon source of reliable energy for our homes, industry and the new generation of electric vehicles. This summer's electricity blackouts suggest that we're a long way from achieving the goal. Tom Heap and a panel of power experts offer their solutions. Tom is joined by Jillian Ambrose, Energy Correspondent of The Guardian, the Chief Executive of the Committee on Clim...

Orkney's strong winds and powerful tides have attracted renewable energy pioneers for decades. For much of the year the islands produce more energy than they can use. Turbines are shut down and green energy goes to waste. The UK government has spotted an opportunity, funding the REFLEX project which aims to use that excess energy to develop new ways to power a community. Tom Heap visits Orkney to...

From the Loch Ness Monster and mammoths to the Amazon river and uncharted river flies - 'environmental DNA' is revolutionising how we tell what species are present in a certain landscape. Traces of skin, mucus or gametes can be left by creatures in their environment and scientists can use samples from the water, air or soil and sequence the DNA found within to test for a specific species or to get...

Plastic nets and equipment left in the ocean by fishing boats is estimated to make up over 10% of marine rubbish and in the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' over 40% of the accumulated plastic is lost fishing gear. Even worse these plastic 'ghost nets' can go on catching fish and attracting other wildlife which then become entangled too. Often these nets are very old and once they finally do start to...

How can we prevent a repeat of the devastating fires in the Amazon? Tom Heap and Lucy Siegle search for solutions. Producer: Emma Campbell

Verity Sharp wants to turn her small garden into a haven for wildlife. She's inspired by the Rewilding movement, but her neighbours aren't too keen on wolves in Wiltshire. Inspired by the work being done at Knepp Castle Estate in West Sussex, Verity loves the idea of abandoning the lawn mower and letting nature take control. But will her abandoned garden turn into a natural paradise or an embarras...