The Climate Question

Bill Gates, the tech billionaire turned philanthropist, has been combating poverty, disease, and inequity around the world for decades. However, in recent years he has shifted focus and resources towards the climate crisis. Gates believes fighting climate change and fighting poverty are two sides of the same coin. Food, health and economic crises will last longer and become more severe as climate...

This week we speak to people in the greater Horn of Africa, experiencing the worst drought in 40 years. It's left 23 million people at risk of starvation and new research has found that it was 100 times more likely to have happened because of climate change. Presenter Sophie Eastaugh hears about a climate adaptation strategy pioneered by the Maasai people. Food insecurity, conflict and perishing l...

About 16 percent of the world’s population is thought to be disabled, but they are still 2 to 4 times more likely to be injured or killed in a natural disaster than those who are not disabled. Emma Tracey, from the BBC’s Access All podcast, investigates for The Climate Question, meeting disabled people who have dealt with extreme weather events first hand. As well as those who are researching and...

This week, we’re off to Costa Rica, an eco-tourism hotspot in collaboration with BBC’s The Travel Show. Eco-tourism is big business - it’s forecasted to generate $103 billion annually by 2027. But how well do its green claims actually stack up when it comes to the climate? Presenter Qasa Alom visits the birthplace of Sea Turtle conservation, goes on patrol with a ranger protecting the forest from...

The Climate Question receives lots of emails from listeners asking about the impact that the food and drink we consume on a daily basis has on the environment and climate: which foods are most associated with greenhouse gas emissions? Which fruits and vegetables are the most sustainable choices at the supermarket? How would a tax on carbon-intensive imported produce, like beef, work? In this progr...

In this, the second episode in our spin-off series on Climate Quitters, we invite trailblazers from three different continents to reveal the ups and down, highs and lows of their new lives in climate conscious careers. In Mumbai, Namita Dandekar swapped a role marketing stock for one of India's largest - and wealthiest - conglomerates for a front-line position with The RainTree Foundation, an orga...

Bornholm – a Danish island in the Baltic Sea – is trying to go carbon neutral by 2025. It is a lofty ambition that would put the island decades ahead of most countries. This dream has been 15 years in the making; a crash in fish stocks meant Bornholmers had to reinvent themselves and they chose to become ‘the bright green island’. Since then, they have been making biogas from pig manure, building...

The live music industry is booming. With global growth in concerts and festivals, more and more of us are enjoying our favourite bands and artists live. The music industry now relies on touring for money – encouraging more and more bands to travel and fans to see them. This is causing emissions to soar just like the private jets. So what can be done? Jordan Dunbar discovers the problem isn’t comin...

The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has been raising awareness of the impact that climate change is having on small island nations like hers, from the Caribbean to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In addition to facing more extreme weather and temperatures, these islands also have to contend with the threat posed by rising sea levels – which, for some islands, is existential. In this episod...

Jordan Dunbar introduces The Climate Question's guide to the Climate Change basics - with the help of some friends of the show.

July 2023 has been confirmed as the hottest month ever on Earth. A combination of heatwaves across the Northern Hemisphere, unseasonable warmth in parts of South America and Antarctica, and global sea surface temperatures around 0.51°C above the 30-year average, meant it broke all previous records. Climate scientists are now poring over the data, including Prof Jim Skea, the newly-elected chair of...

Have you thought about quitting your job because of climate change? Research shows more and more people are worried about their career’s impact on the planet. So this week The Climate Question hears from four people from around the world who’ve taken the plunge and done it. Luke Jones meets an air steward who's swapped flying for teaching; a restaurant critic who's become a tree-planter; a fossil...

Funeral rites are steeped in culture, tradition and faith, with most of the world opting for cremation or burial. However, with new research now revealing the carbon impact of established funeral choices, more people are questioning their cost to the climate. With alternatives such as ‘water cremation’ and ‘eco-burials’ becoming available, will people start to consider another way? Presenter Jorda...

Climate change has been tightening its grip on the people of Afghanistan, with flood after flood and drought after drought. It’s considered to be one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, not just because it's warming twice as fast as the global average, but because its people’s ability to fight back has been severely hampered by decades of conflict and war. To add insult to injury, Afgha...

Scientists say an El Nino weather event has started. Its effects will be felt everywhere in the form of heavier rainfall in some parts of the world and deeper droughts in others. What's the link with Climate Change? And is it making it harder for us to prepare? On this week's edition of The Climate Question, Graihagh gets a briefing on El Nino from a leading expert; we travel to Peru to meet the c...

The journey from catwalk, to wardrobe, to landfill is getting shorter and shorter. Our demands for fast fashion mean around 100 billion garments are produced every year. We’re buying more, then wearing them less often. Many will end up in the trash. Not only that, there’s been a big growth in clothes being made out of synthetic materials originating from crude oil. In this updated edition, we ask:...

Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, is on a mission to fight climate change through a radical scheme to reform the international financial system. Called the Bridgetown Initiative, her plan aims to transform global institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank – freeing up billions, maybe even trillions of dollars, for poorer countries that are struggling to cope with the impacts of a hotte...

The world loves coffee. We drink two billion cups each day! But it’s very vulnerable to climate change, and millions of coffee farmers are struggling. Rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall and diseases are threatening our favourite caffeinated drink and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. But there are solutions. We hear from a coffee farmer in Uganda and taste a new variety that could b...

With the Ukrainian counter-offensive underway, Sophie Eastaugh looks at the climate damage caused by the conflict there and by the recent civil war in Tigray, Ethiopia. Sophie speaks to Lennard de Klerk, a Dutch specialist in carbon accounting, who’s just published the most comprehensive analysis yet of the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the fighting in Ukraine. For her part, an environmental...

This week, we’re off to Costa Rica, an eco-tourism hotspot in collaboration with BBC’s The Travel Show. The Climate Question gets lots of emails from listeners asking what they can do about climate change. Is it morally justifiable to fly for leisure? Which type of fish is most sustainable? And how can I use my career or free time to help the planet? In this programme a panel of experts answer you...

How can you have a successful relationship with someone if you believe passionately in climate action, but they don’t? The fate of our planet can be a divisive, emotive, even frightening issue. It’s something that’s tearing more and more couples and families apart, experts have told us. It’s not easy getting past those differences with the ones we love, but it is possible. We speak to a couple, as...

The impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world. Research shows that some groups are disproportionately affected. Women already face many socioeconomic, cultural, and political inequities, with those living in areas heavily impacted by natural disasters related to climate change, such as floods, drought, and coastal erosion, enduring even worse outcomes. So what can be done t...

Billions of dollars have been pumped into the promise of a climate-friendly way of producing meat, but is growing a steak in a lab any better for the planet than rearing a cow on a farm? Supporters of the idea say it will dramatically reduce the impact of livestock, which is responsible for about 15% of the world’s planet-warming gases, as well as returning huge amounts of land to nature. But stud...

If you are planning a trip, but you want to check the climate impact before choosing how to get there, then beware. Google has been seriously underestimating the carbon footprint of plane flights, and overestimating that of some train journeys. And its calculations don’t just appear in its search results, but also feed the sites of more and more online booking companies, like Skyscanner and Bookin...

The idea of cities where everything you need on a daily basis can be reached within a quarter of an hour by foot or bike has grown in popularity in recent years, as local authorities adopt more sustainable approaches to urban planning. In theory, by having work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure all within a short distance could reduce dependency on cars, improving personal health and l...