Anthony Day helps you plan a sustainable future with expert guests and reports on green technologies from across a warming world.
The climate crisis has created immense challenges, challenges which only governments and mega-corporations can solve. On the other hand there are things which all of us can do to make a difference, and consumer power when it's spread across millions of consumers, should never be underestimated. We're not going to solve the climate crisis on our own but we are able to contribute to keeping our earth a clean and safe place to live by making responsible choices when we shop.
For example, the laundry products we buy, the cleaning materials, the preparations for skin and health care, even baby wipes and toilet paper involve chemicals in production and ingredients that may come from halfway across the world. Not all brands are the same, of course, but how do we make the right choice and select the product with the smallest environmental impact?
Lizzie Horvitz, today’s guest, can help with that.
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.
There’s a new book out at the end of this month called Thriving, but before we start let’s welcome our latest patron, Tommy Wiedmann. Tommy tells me he worked at the University of York here in the UK for some years, but he’s now living near the Blue Mountains in Australia. Lots of rain, but fortunately he’s escaped the floods. Tommy, welcome.
My guest on today’s Wednesday Interview is Dr Wayne Visser.
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 green walk or just talking the green talk?
Back in May last year we had a debate on the Sustainable Futures Report called The Nuclear Option. One of the panellists was Sarah Cullen and she has joined me again today, this time 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 consider on their own. We spoke about the need to consider all energy options and to recognise that all have risks.
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. Before I start, let me welcome Sophie Jarvis, our newest Silver Supporter who has just signed up on Patreon. Sophie tells me that she's heard that infrared heaters are a better solution than a heat pump. I'll have a look at that and comment on it on Friday. Friday’s big news will of course be the latest report from the IPCC. This document will report on the impacts of the climate crisis. It’s not expected to be reassuring reading.
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. Events are moving too fast and I am no political expert. So this week I’ll stick to sustainability news as usual, but let’s not forget the people of Ukraine. If they are driven from their homes I hope we will have the courage, the generosity and the humanity to welcome and support them. I hope that Western governments can take action to bring this conflict swiftly to an end.
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.
It's the Wednesday Interview from the Sustainable Futures Report.
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. He is the Country Head of Associazione Mani Tese, an organisation which fights for social, economic and environmental justice.
We spoke about COP26, consumer power, the need to act and walk the talk and the political angle. And I thought it was about time someone asked him about his own sustainability journey. (See bio at the end of this article)
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 how it compares with what they're actually doing. "Could do better", says the New Climate Institute. The Port of Newcastle in Australia is going green. I reveal why that's my Irony of the Week. And Greta warns, "This is not a drill!"
Welcome to the Wednesday Interview and a special type of 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.
Nappies or Diapers?
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 energy costs and look at what governments can do to soften the blow for consumers.
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, working closely with GIS specialist Esri. In today’s interview we learn how this works.
The Wednesday Interview. Today’s interview is about a radical new approach to funding conservation. Let’s get straight to it. Christian and Sean spoke to me from their base in the south of Spain.
Welcome to the first Wednesday interview of 2022. Today we have a discussion with two patrons about the future of electric vehicles. Let me know what you think - and let me know what you would like to discuss.
Let me start by telling you that the Wednesday Interview next week is a discussion on the future role of electric vehicles. Don’t miss it and do let me know what you think.
In this Wednesday interview from the Sustainable Futures Report I talk to Alex McCallion, Director of Works and Precinct,
I'd like to start by taking a moment to remember and respect the dozens of people who lost their lives and the hundreds who lost their homes from the tornadoes which swept through the United States this week. It's tempting and glib to say here's another example which reinforces the truth of the climate emergency. It probably does, but let us not forget that it has devastated lives and livelihoods. Similar disasters have hit more remote and less developed nations this year with hardly any headlines. This week’s events demonstrate that as things get worse, no one and nowhere will be safe.
In This Episode
In this episode I'm going to talk about spending $1 trillion, about behaviour change and about carbon neutral and net zero.
It sounds too good to be true. Just pay to plant a few trees and you can travel as far and as frequently as you like. Offsetting schemes, particularly ones offered by budget airlines, have been roundly condemned and criticised. In more than a few cases those criticisms have proved justified. I admit, I was very sceptical when I first met Christian Møller-Holst whose business is based on making business trips not just carbon neutral, but net zero.
This is what Christian told me:
It's not just about greenwash this week; I'll also talk about the Climate Change Committee’s reaction to COP 26, the future of the Cambo oilfield, why it might be a good thing for the environment that Allegra Stratton has resigned and rubbish in Romania.
Can Covid help us solve the climate crisis? This week I'm talking to authors Graeme Maxton and Bernice Maxton–Lee about their new book. It's a very wide-ranging discussion and I think you'll find it interesting.
It's getting warmer. This week I look at some of the consequences of global warming which have hit North America and China this year. It's getting colder, as winter takes over the northern hemisphere. Is Russian gas the best way of keeping Western Europe warm? And here in the UK, are there political changes afoot? And if there are, how will that affect our progress towards net zero?
This week I’m talking to Michelle Marks about how one part of the world is starving while another part is wasting food. Michelle is a sustainability consultant. She’s owner of Coral Mountain and co-founder of Speak Carbon, an organisation dedicated to raising Carbon Literacy through training.
If you want to know what Greta Thunberg or David Attenborough or Alok Sharma thinks you only have to open a newspaper or go on line. What about the rest of us? After all, we’re all in the front line. I’ve collected a few comments. And what about the Insulate Britain protestors? Nine of them are in jail. A motorist responds.
A conversation with Jenny Bailey, children’s author, about making people aware of their environment from an early age. You’ve heard of Black Friday, but did you know it’s Green Jumper Day as well? We’ll be talking about that too.
Hello. I'm Anthony Day and welcome to this week’s Wednesday Interview from the Sustainable Futures Report. It's Wednesday 24th November.
Well it's over. Where are we now, now that all the delegates have gone home from Glasgow and COP26 is finished? For the last two or three weeks I have felt as though all the topics covered in my 360 odd podcast episodes have been thrown at me all at once. Now that the big United Nations climate conference is over I still feel overwhelmed.
Welcome to the Wednesday interview from the Sustainable Futures Report. Today I’m talking to Mattias Axelson of the Stockholm School of Economics about his concept of the Oval Economy.
The Circular Economy optimises the use of global resources and minimises pollution, but the success of the concept depends on how much use is obtained from each product and how rapidly each product is returned for recycling.
Today is the last day of COP26 but I'm not going to talk about that for a change, partly because I have to write this in advance and therefore the conference hasn't closed yet so it's too early for me to be able to comment. You can look forward to that next week. Also next week we will have the Wednesday interview as well as the regular Friday podcast.
The Wednesday Interview with Veeral Hardev of Ubiquitous Energy
Is the sun shining where you are? Well let’s not waste it! It’s energy, it’s free, it’s clean and it’s renewable. You may be picking some of it up through the solar panels on your roof, but the sun lights up the whole world. Here’s a man to tell you how to make the most of it!
So we’re in the last chance saloon! Who would have thought it? Maybe anybody who has been listening to the Sustainable Futures Report for the last 14 years. But let’s accentuate the positive.
Hello and welcome. I’m Anthony Day and this is the Sustainable Futures Report for Friday, the 5th of November.
As COP26 swings into action I’m talking to Ian Riley, CEO of the World Cement Association. I recorded this conversation just before the association held its annual conference last month. Recognising that the industry is a major contributor to global emissions, the conference had a clear focus on emissions reduction. Sessions included Key Challenges in Decarbonising Hard to Abate Industry, CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) and the Cement Industry - Where we are and what’s needed for net zero, and presentations on financing the transition and on low carbon concrete. There was an interesting short video from Dr Paula Carey of Carbon8 who explained how carbonation can incorporate emissions into rock and effectively sequester them for all time.
Here’s what I discussed with Ian Riley.
Seeing as COP26 has made the front cover of The Big Issue magazine the message must really be getting through! The key question is whether the message is getting through to the right people and whether the right people have the power to do what is needed. Prime Minister Johnson is making all the right noises. The trouble is that he's in thrall to right-wingers within his party.
Welcome to another Wednesday Interview from the Sustainable Futures Report.
There will be another one next Wednesday and the Wednesday after that!
Here’s today’s.
Agriculture is crucial in our campaign against the climate crisis. Without agriculture, of course, we'd all starve, but agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Over-use of fertilisers is creating nitrate pollution, and agriculture uses vast amounts of water, which is becoming increasingly scarce.
Before looking at prospects for COP26 and other sustainability news, let's remember Sir David Amess MP, who lost his life last week while serving the public.
Hello and welcome to the Sustainable Futures Report for Friday 22nd October, a week on from a very dark day in Britain. The murder of Sir David Amess MP reveals altruism and dedication as well as the risks that our public servants face in serving the public. RIP. May he rest in peace.
This week, unsurprisingly, there are many articles about the forthcoming COP26 conference in Glasgow.
Welcome to the second weekly interview from the Sustainable Futures Report. We're talking about the search engine that plants trees.
Yes that's right it's the second episode this week. I've started publishing interviews separately so that the episodes don't get too long. In the coming weeks we’ll hear about the sustainable search engine, about using AI to irrigate crops, how members of the World Cement Association aim to cut their carbon footprint and solar energy generated without solar panels. If you become a patron at patreon.com/sfr you’ll never miss an episode and always get them in advance of general release.
Welcome to this Extra Edition.
I’m frequently approached by companies and organisations who want to be interviewed on the podcast to showcase their sustainability. I turn quite a lot away, but there are still many interesting ones. I’ve decided to publish them separately because otherwise the regular episodes get far too long.
I have several other interviews lined up for most weeks between now and the end of the year. Let me know what you think -
We're just 23 days away from COP 26, the United Nations climate conference which will be held in Glasgow from 31st October to 12th November. We’ve just come to the end of the Conservative party conference here in the UK; the party in government. A conference where the Home Secretary promised draconian measures to criminalise protesters, including those who are urging the government to take urgent action to address the climate emergency.
COP26 and Insulate Britain. These are the two key issues I’ll discuss today. I’ll also tell you about plans for extra editions of the Sustainable Futures Report, coming soon.
A weekly podcast and blog brought to you by Anthony Day. A selection of stories and interviews aiming to be sustainable, topical and interesting.
And also, I do address conferences.