For thirty years world leaders have been gathering to negotiate the planet's route away from climate disaster. For thirty years carbon emissions have been rising and hopes have been fading. Is it time to admit defeat and search for a new strategy to persuade corporations and individuals to cut their pollution and save the planet?As the COP30 summit begins in Brazil, Helen Czerski and Tom Heap will be joined by an expert panel eager to come up with fresh solutions that could accelerate climate action and bring a unified, international response to the existential crisis of our time.With them are Nigel Topping, Chair of the UK Climate Change Committee, Corinne Le Quéré, professor of climate change science at the University of East Anglia, Anna Åberg from the Chatham House think tank and Georgina Rannard, BBC Climate and Science correspondent.Producer: Alasdair CrossAssistant Producer: Toby FieldRare Earth is produced in association with the Open University
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Trains on Trial
It's 200 years since the first passenger rail journey saw George Stephenson’s Locomotion No.1 travel 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton. Environmentalists love trains - making a journey by rail can be up to 80% greener than doing it by car - and there are exciting new inventions hoping to make train travel even greener. But can we pin part of the blame for global warming on the invention of the railways in the first place? Presented by Tom Heap and Helen Czerski
Produced by Beth Sagar-Fenton
Assistant Producer: Toby FieldRare Earth is produced in association with the Open University
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Great Migrations
New technology gives fresh insights into the great animal migrations. Tom Heap and Helen Czerski discuss the great spectacles of the bird, mammal and insect worlds and consider how they're changing in an era of climate change and habitat destruction.They're joined by insect migration expert, Will Hawkes, David Barrie, author of Incredible Journeys and the leader of the ICARUS satellite monitoring project, Martin Wikelski from the University of Konstanz. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent reports from the dangerous songbird migration route over Cyprus while ecologist and concept developer Mark van Heukelm reveals the secrets of the extraordinary fish doorbell and Martha Kearney visits Britain's migration hotspot, Fair Isle. Producer: Alasdair CrossAssistant Producers: Toby Field and Georgia ChristieRare Earth is produced in association with the Open University
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World of Steel
The modern world is built on steel but can it ever be green? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski search for the holy grail of environmentally friendly steel.Panellists: Ed Conway – Sky Economics & Data Editor and Author of “Material World”
Will Arnold – Head of Climate Action, The Institution of Structural Engineers
Dr Abi Ackerman – Imperial College London
Caroline Ashley – Director, SteelWatch
Producer: Beth Sagar-FentonRare Earth is produced in association with the Open University
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Engineering the Planet
Efforts to reduce our carbon emissions are falling far short of what’s necessary to keep our temperature rise below 2 degrees centigrade. Is it time to seriously consider another option- using technology to cool the planet? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski explore the controversial field of geoengineering.They're joined by Shaun Fitzgerald, Director of the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University, Peter Brannen, author of The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything and by Alex Davey, Deputy Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.Producer: Alasdair CrossAssistant Producer: Toby FieldRare Earth is produced in association with the Open University
Environmental journalist Tom Heap and physicist Helen Czerski tackle major stories about our environment and wildlife, celebrate the wonder of nature and meet the people determined to keep it wonderful.
Ireland