The Sustainable Futures Report

OK, OK, I don't deny it. I said there wouldn't be another Sustainable Futures Report until Friday 14th February. That's still true, although you've got this extra one for Friday 24th January. There's just so much piling into my inbox that I   have to do something   about it. This episode is about denial.

This episode is about ideas. I asked you suggest in 100 words your ideas of what we should do in 2020. Ideas came from Australia and America as well as from the UK.  I had some ideas from Ian Jarvis  following up on previous topics.  What are you going do differently in 2020? Let me have your ideas too!

It's the final Sustainable Futures Report of 2019 - episode No. 45.  I'll be commenting on the British General Election, although it won't take long. More important is the outcome of COP25, the UN Climate Conference in Madrid, where hard-fought negotiations struggled into extra time over the weekend.  And Sarah Tuneberg of Geospiza explains how we can take back control of the "natural" disasters a...

Aside from election news, on the sustainability front Australia is still ablaze, COP25, the UN Climate Conference, draws to a close this week with criticism and complaints, Greta Thunberg says the school strikes have achieved nothing and some in Scotland are having a grouse - about grouse moors. But apart from all this, whatever we do to our world we are going to have to live in it and it's import...

COP25, the UN Climate Change Conference, started this week in Madrid under the Presidency of the Government of Chile and with logistical support from the Government of Spain. Big beasts on the financial scene, like Christine LaGarde and Mark Carney are entering the climate debate. As coal becomes uninsurable fossil fuel lobbyists redouble their greenwash and VW has its day in court to answer the e...

The week before last I was talking about carbon offsets - and all of a sudden everybody else is talking about carbon offsets, even Julia Hartley Brewer. You'll hear her later. easyJet tells us that Tuesday 19th November was a historic date - was it though? And listener Ian Jarvis asked some pertinent questions which I'm going to try and answer.

In the news this week, some capitalists seem to be having doubts about capitalism, the European investment bank is having doubts about fossil fuels, the International Energy Agency has doubts about coalmines, the Lancet gets to the heart of the matter and the BBC does Climategate. And what about plastic?  

Carbon offsetting has been in the news this week and I've been working on an analysis of the pros and cons for a client. What's the answer? Well, it's certainly not simple as I shall attempt to explain. And then, in other news, I look at the Shell Prélude, the Aramco share offer, a new oilfield in Iran, tree planting in Turkey, and what looks like a U-turn on fracking in the UK less than a week af...

I call this episode "It's later than you think", but really it's later than you want to think. We've had warnings for years about the climate crisis but as a global population we've been postponing serious action. Now, at the 11th hour plus 59 minutes there's the World Scientists' Warning of a Climate Emergency. This one is serious. (As if the others weren't.) In other news I'll be talking about t...

This time I'll be talking about the growth in renewable power including signs that France may prioritise renewables over nuclear, climate rules for corporations, forces behind climate denial, plumbing the depths of abandoned coal mines and some news and comment on climate science.   But first, news from California.  

This week Zoe Cohen, who spoke to us recently about being arrested at the XR protest in April, came to trial. We'll hear from her later. We also hear from Laura Cox who was in London for the latest XR rebellion and she too was arrested.   First, we'll look at what happened over those two weeks of rebellion.

      Another chat with Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk Radio. We didn't fall out this time!   

This week marks the start of the International Rebellion led by Extinction Rebellion and I bring you my impressions of the first day in London, including an explanation of a Citizens' Assembly, and interviews with a lady dressed as a rubbish heap, protestors on Millbank and at Lambeth Bridge. What does Section 14 mean to demonstrators? Why is XR disrupting cities around the world? Greta Thunberg -...

Today I'm tying up more loose ends and bringing you stories which I haven't had time to cover over the last few weeks. You'll hear about system change, about protests, prosecutions and protests to come, about energy: oil, gas and hot water. Can we over-engineer our climate solutions? I'll talk about stormy weather, a fishy tale about plastic, a green new deal and the circular route to climate salv...

Following on from last week's episode there's news from Hinkley C, and unsurprisingly it's bad news. I spoke to Julia Hartley Brewer on Talk Radio this week about Labour's 30-year zero carbon target. You can judge for yourself how well I did. This is the week of another United Nations climate conference and I'll talk briefly about that. Do stay on to the end. I'll play out with a new track by John...

This is an extra edition. There will be another on Friday, as usual.      

Today is Friday, 20th September, the day of the global climate strike..     Also this week I'm talking about why scientists need to speak up and about those that do. The weather forecast is extreme. I bring you news of nuclear from Normandy, of VW from Australia, of living in a cardboard box and explain why I'm going nuts about packaging.

This week's episode is devoted to a matter of principle. Would you be arrested for your principles? Would you go to prison for your principles? I recently met Zoe Cohen who believes that she should go that far to protect herself, her family and indeed the rest of us from the risks of catastrophic climate change.   She told me why.

In the climate crisis news this week: the Amazon fires, why they're not the only fires, why they may not be as bad as you think and why they may be much more serious in ways you don't expect. The future for the consumer society. Prof Sir Ian Boyd, retiring chief scientific advisor at Defra, has set out his thoughts, which look very much like system change to me. And the flying prince. Are carbon o...

I mentioned last time that Julia Hartley Brewer of Talk Radio wanted to know what I thought about the decision of Goldsmith College to ban beef. And then Talk Radio rang me again and asked if I'd talk to Mike Graham about Elton John, flying  Royals and carbon offsets. You've got two for the price of one!

I didn't buy a car this week - not even an electric. The Commonwealth research organisation suggests the age of the car is coming to an end. How will that work? I didn't eat red meat this week which is just as well because both George Monbiot and Mark Lynas say I shouldn't. But what does the IPCC tell us? Can the four-day week or the four-hour-day become a reality? And I don't know about straws in...

A report revealed that the birth-rate in England and Wales reached an all-time low last year. Talk Radio asked me to talk to them about it.

A few weeks ago, back when Theresa May was still Prime Minister, I had a roundtable discussion with three patrons of the Sustainable Futures Report and we made a recording. This turns out to be one of the longest episodes to date but I hope you find interesting. We'll probably hold another discussion in September and if you'd like to take part please contact me via p a t r e o n . c o m / s f r

No, this one is not the one about electric vehicles that I promised . I'm holding that over for a future episode because I wanted to catch up with Extinction Rebellion and last week's protest. Not everyone agrees with XR's message. Powerful forces are gathering to stop it being heard.

This week saw renewed protests from Extinction Rebellion. I went down to the bridge in Leeds and spoke to some of the people taking part.