The Land & Climate Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Have wildfires become a major public health risk? Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

Bertie speaks with Mark Parrington about this year’s record-breaking wildfires, and the health implications of increasing air pollution.

Mark is a senior scientist at the EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, where he uses satellite imagery to monitor wildfire emissions in real-time.

He tells Bertie about the scale of the recent surge in wildfires across Europe, North America, and the Arctic, and the health impacts of particulate matter and long-range pollution transport. They also discuss the climate implications as wildfires – especially in Arctic peatlands - release millions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Further reading:

Arctic Climate Change Update 2024: Key Trends and Impacts, AMAP , 2024
State of Wildfires 2023-2024, Earth System Science Data, 2024
'Global, regional, and national mortality burden attributable to air pollution from landscape fires: a health impact assessment study', The Lancet, 2024
'EU wildfires worst on record as burning season continues', The Guardian,2025
'Why are Europe and the Arctic heating up faster than the rest of the world?' Copernicus, 2025
'Current wildfire situation in Europe', The Joint Research Centre: EU Science Hub, 2025

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Can the world regulate plastics? Aug 01, 2025

Show notes

Next week, negotiators meet in Geneva to finalise the UN’s historic Global Plastics Treaty, originally announced in 2022. The additional session was scheduled after years of tense international disagreement.

Bertie talks to Punyathorn ‘Arm’ Jeungsmarn, Plastics Campaign Researcher at the Environmental Justice Foundation. Arm attended previous rounds of the UN talks, and recently worked on research about problematic solutions to plastic pollution.

Arm discusses his experience of the negotiations and the influence of industry lobbying, as well as issues around the implementation of policies addressing plastic waste – from bioplastics to recycling.

Further reading:

False solutions unmasking policy gaps in addressing plastic pollution in Thailand and Southeast Asia, Environmental Justice Foundation, 2025
A global treaty to limit plastic pollution is within reach – will countries seize the moment? The Conversation, 2025
Room for Reduction: Towards sustainable production and consumption of plastics in Thailand, Environmental Justice Foundation, 2024
There is so much to say about plastic pollution. Why are we not talking about it? Land and Climate Review, 2023

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Is green shipping all plain sailing? Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

In April, the International Maritime Organisation held the 83rd session of its Environment Protection Committee, where it established a system of penalties and rewards to advance shipping decarbonisation. This follows 2023 industry commitments to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030.

Alasdair speaks with Simon Bullock about whether the recent agreement is strong enough to meet climate goals and explores practical actions that can be taken now without relying on greenwashing, expensive infrastructure, or scarce biofuels.

Simon Bullock is an interdisciplinary climate change Research Associate at the Tyndall Centre, University of Manchester. He recently completed his doctorate, with his thesis focusing on "Accelerating shipping's climate change transition, and the role of UK shore power.

Further reading:

Ten ways to cut shipping’s contribution to climate change, The Conversation, 2021

Update on the latest International Maritime Organization climate meeting, The Conversation, 2025

The need for action now on shipping and climate, Climate Policy, 2025

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Can U.S. climate science survive under Trump? Jul 04, 2025

Show notes

Yesterday, the U.S. Congress approved President Donald Trump's so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill'. This controversial federal budget is set to defund a huge proportion of the nation's climate and environmental science - what will the impacts be for America, and for global efforts against the climate crisis?

Bertie spoke to John Holdren, who served as President Barack Obama's Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2009-2017, becoming the longest-serving Science Advisor to the President in U.S. history. He is now a Research Professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Further reading:

‘How the G.O.P. Bill Will Reshape America’s Energy Landscape’, The New York Times, 3/7/25
‘Key climate change reports removed from US government websites’, The Guardian, 1/7/25
‘Turmoil at US science academy as Trump cuts force layoffs’, Nature, 1/7/25
‘Here Is All the Science at Risk in Trump’s Clash With Harvard’, The New York Times, 22/6/25
‘Time for Congress to save American science … and the nation’, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 6/6/25
‘The Trump administration has shut down more than 100 climate studies’, MIT Technology Review, 2/6/25
‘The U.S. Under Trump: Alone in Its Climate Denial’, The New York Times, 19/5/25
‘The Future of the U S Climate and Environmental Science Funding’, The Salata Institute, 14/5/25 [video]

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Colombia versus oil and gas: what’s the truth behind the transition? Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

In 2022, Gustavo Petro became the first left-wing candidate to win the Colombian presidential election. During his election campaign, Petro pledged to end the granting of new oil and gas exploration contracts, a commitment his government has so far succeeded in maintaining.

This week, Alasdair speaks with third-year doctoral student Guy Edwards who has interviewed over 50 people - from former government ministers to academics and industry representatives - about the impact of Petro’s pledge on Colombia’s energy transition.

Guy and Alasdair discuss what the pledge entails, how it was received by the fossil fuel industry and right-wing media and what will likely become of it following fresh presidential elections next year.

Guy Edwards is a PhD candidate in International Relations at the University of Sussex and a member of the Working Group on Natural Resources, Energy and Climate Obstruction in the Global South of the Climate Social Science Network

Further reading:

Commentary: The Petro government’s big gamble on ending fossil fuel licensing,
University of Sussex, 2025

Climate obstruction in the Global South: Future research trajectories, PLOS Climate Journals, 2023

Supply-side climate policy: A new frontier in climate governance, WIREs Climate Change, 2024

El dilema de Colombia y el mundo: salir de la era fósil o sufrir sus impactos devastadores, Elespectador, 2023

Retrasar la transición energética podría costarle a Colombia 88.000 millones de dólares,
Elespectador, 2023

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Has neoliberalism undermined climate action? Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

Germany's 2025 federal election saw the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) double its support to 20.8%, becoming the second largest party, while the Green Party fell from 14.8% to 11.6%. The AfD denies climate science and opposes environmental policies on economic grounds.

This week, Alasdair interviews academic Felix Schulz, whose recent research has examined public attitudes toward climate policy across six countries - three in the global north and three in the global south.

The research found that core values – particularly those derived from neoliberalism and free-market ideology – are more effective than socioeconomic factors in indicating how people will respond to climate policies.

Felix and Alasdair discuss how neoliberal thinking has shaped public opinion, why climate policy must integrate social and economic considerations, and how job security concerns in industrial roles affect political support for climate action.

Felix Schulz is a postdoctoral research fellow at Lund University researching public opinion and climate policy.

Further reading:

Why focusing on “climate change denial” is counterproductive, 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
People with neoliberal views are less likely to support climate-friendly policies, 2025, The Conversation
Public support for climate policies and its ideological predictors across countries of the Global North and Global South, 2025, Ecological Economics
Navigating sustainable futures: The role of terminal and instrumental values, 2024, Ecological Economics
German elections: why most political parties aren’t talking about the climate crisis, 2025, The Conversation

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How did China become a green economy powerhouse? May 23, 2025

Show notes

From widespread industrial pollution to emerging as a green powerhouse, China’s economic evolution shows how grassroots activism has pushed ecological issues to the political forefront.

Tianjie and Bertie discuss China’s green evolution, Pan Yue’s introduction of environmental nationalism (now championed by Xi Jinping), flawed provincial reporting, and whether the country’s model can be sustained.

Ma Tianjie is a freelance writer and environmental activist based in Beijing. He worked as Greenpeace’s Program Director for Mainland China until 2015, and then as Director of China Dialogue Beijing until 2022. His book, In Search of Green China, was published in February 2025 by Polity Press. Buy it here.

Audio engineering by Vasco Kostovski.

Further reading:

Après moi, le deluge: how a fight over garbage challenged China’s growth model, Land and Climate Review, 2025

Researchers unveil roadmap for a carbon neutral China by 2060, Modern Diplomacy, 2020

Clearing the skies: how Beijing tackled air pollution & what lies ahead Sustainable Mobility, 2023

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Are we prepared for geoengineering? May 09, 2025

Show notes

A UK government agency recently announced it would spend £57 million on a controversial project to develop geoengineering technologies.

The Exploring Climate Cooling Programme will fund 21 international research teams to conduct small-scale, controlled outdoor experiments to thicken Arctic sea ice and brighten clouds, to prevent global warming from increasing past irreversible tipping points.

Geoengineering has long been a point of contention amongst scientists, environmental academics and conspiracy theorists - each firm in their beliefs about whether such interventions are necessary, effective, or risk irreversibly damaging the planet.

Alasdair speaks with two academics studying geoengineering - Albert Van Wijngaarden and Adrian Hindes - who call for nuanced understanding and more productive conversation between the advocates and opposers of such radical interventions. They discuss the history of polar and solar geoengineering, the risks involved, and the lack of global governance.

If you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned - we plan to explore geoengineering in more detail in the future.

Further reading:

Plans to cool the Earth by blocking sunlight are gaining momentum but critical voices risk being excluded, October 2024, Albert Van Wijngaarden and Adrian Hindes

Do-or-Die: Should we be talking about geoengineering?, December 2022, Land and Climate Review

Soviet and Russian perspectives on geoengineering and climate management - Oldfield, J. D., & Poberezhskaya, M. (2023). .Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews

Controversial geoengineering projects to test Earth-cooling tech funded by UK agency, May 2025, Nature

Not such a bright idea: cooling the Earth by reflecting sunlight back to space is a dangerous distraction, March 2024, The Conversation

Securing the ‘great white shield’? Climate change, Arctic security and the geopolitics of solar geoengineering, August 2024, Nordic International Studies Association

After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair and Restoration, 2019, Holly Jean Buck, Verso

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Has Russia committed ecocide in Ukraine? Apr 25, 2025

Show notes

On 6th June 2023, the Nova Kakhovka dam was breached while under Russian occupation, releasing a wave of toxic pollution into Ukraine’s rivers. The number of casualties – both human and animal – may never be fully known.

Ukraine is one of a small number of countries to include ecocide in its domestic criminal code, and the destruction of Kakhovka Dam is one of hundreds of incidents that prosecutors are studying while building environmental damages cases against Russia. On the global stage, Ukraine is leading efforts for the International Criminal Court to recognise ecocide as the fifth core international crime, alongside genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression.

Bertie speaks to Darya Tsymbalyuk, Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago, about her new book, “Ecocide in Ukraine: The Environmental Cost of Russia’s War.” They discuss the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, the sensory impact of war, and Tsymbalyuk’s intention to bring Ukrainian environmentalists and humanities scholars into this growing legal dialogue.

Buy a copy of Ecocide in Ukraine: The Environmental Cost of Russia’s War from Polity Press here.

Further reading:

Destruction og Ukraine dam casued 'toxic timebomb' of heavy metals, study finds, The Guardian, March 2025

Ukraine's Ravaged Environment, The New York Times, April 2025

Constellations of Ukranian Thought and the Environmental Humanities, Tanya Richardson and Darya Tsymbalyuk, 2024

What my body taught me about being a scholar of Ukraine and from Ukraine in times of Russia’s war of aggression, Springer Nature – Darya Tsymbalyuk, July 2023

The unlikely species entangled in Ukraine's resistance to Russia, BBC, February 2024

A Landmine Detonates in the Woods, IWM – Darya Tsymbalyuk, October 2022

Darya’s fundraising for Ukraine

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How is mining in Sweden affecting Indigenous Saami communities? Apr 11, 2025

Show notes

In 2022, the Swedish government granted an exploitation concession to Jokkmokk Iron Mines AB — a subsidiary of British company named Beowulf Mining — to develop an open-pit iron mine in Northern Sweden. The decision has been opposed by both Indigenous and environmental activists, who have expressed concerns about the mine’s impacts on Saami communities and the surrounding ecology.

Bertie speaks to Tor Tuorda about the long history of extraction and exploitation in the region, the erasure of Saami culture, and resistance from Indigenous and environmental activists.

Tor Tuorda is a nature photographer and Indigenous campaigner based in Jokkmokk. He is a long-time opponent of the Kallak mine, and a prominent voice in Saami activism.

Audio engineering by Vasko Kostovski.

Further reading: