The Sustainable Futures Report

If things go wrong and we fail to overcome the climate crisis there will be profound consequences for society and humanity. My guest is Fernando Garcia Ferreiro from The Deep Adaptation Forum, which exists to help people prepare for this worst case scenario.  

The Sustainable Futures Report   aims to bring you news and insights into the ongoing climate crisis, but other such podcasts are available. On this occasion I bring you an interview with the founder and presenter of the Sweaty Penguin, Ethan Brown.

The British Energy Security Strategy was published at the end of last week and although it runs to only 15 pages it has caused a lot of controversy...

This is edition No. 400. Thank you for listening and supporting the Sustainable Futures Report since I started podcasting back in 2007. AR6 The big news this week, overshadowed by Ukraine like everything else, is the publication of the latest part of AR6, the climate report from the IPCC. I also mention shortages of water and shortages of sand - and fewer downloads than I'd hoped for.

If we want to build a truly circular economy there's a lot more to do, like refurbish or even re-manufacture or re-purpose. I've been talking to a man with a solution to the problem.

(And other stories) This week I'm going to talk about a range of issues including how older people are damaging the climate, why we're growing food in the wrong place, global action on biodiversity, news from the Antarctic, a call to more action following COP26, action on emissions and the rumoured reasons for the delay on the UK's energy strategy.

Today we're looking at the step beyond Net Zero: climate intervention or geo-engineering. Our interview guest says, "Geo-engineering in any form sounds like a terrible concept, until you peer carefully into the future and realise that not geo-engineering would likely prove worse."

  António Guterres said that the world must do more to Keep 1.5 alive. The UK has decided to make it cheaper to run a car on fossil fuels, some in the government want to restrict renewables while others would restart fracking. Now we see water being used as a weapon of war. Next week we can look forward to the government's energy security strategy and the final part of the AR6 report from the IPCC...

Every product has an environmental impact, but how can we choose the one with the smallest impact?  Lizzie Horvitz introduces us to FINCH.

Energy is always in the news. It's inextricably linked with emissions and the level or absence of emissions determines the outcome of the climate crisis. Nevertheless, it's time to talk about something else as well. OK, I did promise to tell you about space energy, so we'll look at that.  I'm also going to look again at Deep Adaptation from Jem Bendell, at the pressures in the UK to reject Net Zer...

The Wednesday Interview with Wayne Visser talking about the ideas in his new book. How complex organisations don't need to wait for leaders to achieve fundamental change. How change is happening already.              

This week there's sustainability news about food, fuel, forests and floods in China. I look again at the IEA report that Sarah Cullen mentioned in Wednesday's interview. There's a dark side to solar farms, a pressure group intent on depressurisation and more dangers for bees. Can we summon a wartime spirit to save our economy and save the planet, and is mega finance group Blackrock walking the gre...

The Wednesday Interview Sarah Cullen, energy expert, joined me  to talk about clean energy. We covered a number of controversial issues. For example, will Germany slow down the pace of decommissioning its nuclear plants in the face of a possible shortage of gas from Russia? We talked about citizens' assemblies, and how they might empower politicians to adopt policies that they wouldn't dare consid...

This week's episode is about the latest IPCC report. You're probably already aware that it's pretty pessimistic. Will the warning be heeded this time? I'll talk also about the effect of the conflict in Ukraine on global energy prices and I've followed up the question from Sophie Jarvis about infrared heating.

Today I'm talking to Nick Spencer in Cambodia who is helping local people to survive and thrive while protecting wildlife and avoiding deforestation.  

I wrote a lot about Ukraine and energy and sanctions to start this week's episode, but I've deleted it all. This is not the place.   This week I look at a battle for coal in Australia, the need for long duration electricity storage, a UK government reminder about political impartiality in schools, green bonds and ghost flights. And what will the IPCC's latest report say when it's launched next wee...

Russia is in the news and Russia is also a major player in the global commitment to achieve net zero. Can Russia truly be sustainable? How do we make sense of all this? I spoke to an expert. I spoke to Louis Cox-Brusseau of Sibylline.

This week I'm talking about energy - again. About fusion and fracking and batteries and banks. I'm talking about carbon. About capture, offsetting, inequalities and scrutinising net zero. Pollution is still an issue, increasingly so, it appears in the United Kingdom. And I look at the wider environment and the changes in the oceans, in the permafrost and in the record books.

Most of us are on some sort of sustainability journey and today I'm going to talk to someone who's been asking a lot of people, important people from across the world, about their sustainability journeys. Samuele Tini is Italian but he's based in Kenya where he works as a sustainability and development expert.

Don't miss that film, if you haven't already seen it. This week there's more about domestic energy, including free socks and star jumps. The government publishes its Climate Change Risk Assessment and the Climate Change Committee says, "Could do better!" The Net Zero Scrutiny Group of MPs flexes its muscles. Greenwash is still alive and well. Find out what major corporations say they're doing and...

Plastic pollution. Those nappies we use to keep our babies clean seem to be part of a problem which starts at birth. Today's interview guest explains the stats. He shows how we can reduce the impact of disposable nappies by replacing them with a product which can be reused and recycled. Plastic pollution is not the only thing that can start from birth. The circular economy can start there too.

Causes, effects and what the chancellor proposes to do about it. And what he ought to do about it. This episode is dedicated to energy in a week when the British government announced its revised energy price cap. First indications are that energy prices in the UK will rise by 54%. I'm going to look in detail at what the energy price cap actually is, explore the reasons for the dramatic increase in...

Sustainability is about protecting our world against the challenges of the climate crisis, but it's also about making our world a sustainable and better place. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address all aspects of a sustainable future with a target for completion by 2030. UN-Habitat, a United Nations agency, focuses on sustainable cities and communities. Today's interview examines how...

Cryptocurrency, blockchain, NFTs. Two founders of Crypto Coral Tribe explain their plans to use these cutting edge technologies to support wildlife conservation.

Welcome to the first Wednesday interview of 2022. Today we have a discussion with two patrons about the future of electric vehicles.