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London's climate change action plan
04/04/2008
The London Mayoral election is 27 days time. Continuing our theme of sustainable towns and cities, Phil England interviews the GLA's Mark Watts to discuss London's climate change action plan.
Judge its success for yourself.
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Growing communities
13/03/2008
Living an alternative, 'green', life is often considered harder if you live in a big city like London but there are plenty of people doing it.
Growing communities is a social enterprise based in Hackney, North London that uses urban gardens, the only organically certified growing land in London, and a network of small organic farmers to produce veg boxes for over 420 house holds in Hackney.
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A low carbon Britain
07/03/2008
This week's podcast has Phil England talking to Tim Helwig- Larsen for the Centre of Alternative Technology in Wales on how to achieve a sustainable Zero Carbon Britain.
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Mukti Mitchell on a low carbon lifestyle
29/02/2008
This week's podcast has Phil England talking to Mukti Mitchell. A sailor, author and creator of an excellent online carbon calculator Mukti sailed around the coast of Britain giving talks on how going green improves the quality of life.
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Tom Hodgkinson: How to be free
15/02/2008
Idler editor, author and Ecologist contributor Tom Hodgkinson talks to Phil England about his book 'How to be free' a manifesto for saving the world through doing as little as possible.
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Organic Farming Pt2
01/02/2008
In the part two independent experts, Peter Smith of the IPCC and Phil Metcalfe assess the validity of Craig Sams claims.
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Organic Farming Pt1
01/02/2008
Phil England interviews Soil Association Chair and co founder of whole foods Craig Sams who claims that a world wide transition to organic agriculture will take us half way to achieving the carbon reduction necessary to stabilise the climate.
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Carbon Trading Special Pt2
24/01/2008
Phil England gives an overview of carbon trading and takes a critical look at the projects it promotes.
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Carbon Trading Special Pt1
24/01/2008
Phil England gives an insight into ideas on how carbon trading could be better regulated.
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Decentralised Energy
17/01/2008
In our first podcast for 2008 Phil England talks about decentralised energy and in particular the inefficiency of current production methods where 60% power generated is lost, and the benefits of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) where heat from generation is used to warm the houses that surround the plant.
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Phil England talks to Rob Hopkins
14/12/2007
From theory to practice, how one man is helping a community respond to the threat of peak oil – from its own currency to relearning lost arts.
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The Science Behind Climate Change
05/12/2007
In this podcast Phil England talks to David Griggs of the Hadley Centre and Alice Bows of the Tyndall Centre about the science behind climate change.
A perfect introduction to the topic or an ideal refresher.
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Phil England interviews David Miliband
29/11/2007
The Government's Climate Change Bill is a critical piece of legislation in tackling the UK's contribution to global warming. That is why there is so much conflict over its content.
In this exclusive interview Phil England speaks to the then Environment Minister David Miliband about the introduction of the bill.
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Phil England interviews Chris Goodall
23/11/2007
Chris Goodall is author of the acclaimed 'Low Carbon Life' a guide to cutting your carbon footprint. Phil England asks him what simple steps we can all take to lead a greener life.
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Creditability for the carbon market?
22/11/2007
The Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007 (VCS 2007) aims to provide a trustworthy, robust global standard for voluntary carbon offsets.
In this podcast Dr Anne-Marie Warris, who wrote VCS 2007,talks about how the system will work and its effects on business.
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Phil England interviews Mark Lynas
15/11/2007
Phil England talks to author Mark Lynas about his book 'Six Degrees' and hears that Mark now feels many of his predictions of change in our environment are too conservative.
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Climate camp debate: Ways to two degrees
08/11/2007
A special edit of the historic panel discussion held at this year's Camp for Climate Action featuring:
George Monbiot - Guardian columnist and author of "Heat: How to stop the planet Burning"
Richard Hawkins - contributor to "Zero Carbon Britain"
And Sophie and Olly who are both involved in the Camp.
Recording by Indymedia. Programme produced by Phil England.
http://www.zerocarbonbritain.com
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Organic farming CAN save the world
19/07/2007
A new study by the University of Michigan has shown that organic farming in industrialised countries can produce comparable yields to conventional farming, and up to three times the yields currently obtained in less-industrialised countries. This is groundbreaking research, and adds weight to environmentalists' arguments that the world certainly wouldn't starve if we all farmed organically. Listen to one of the lead authors in this podcast.
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Zac Goldsmith at Slow Food Nation Launch
27/06/2007
Zac Goldsmith introduces Carlo Petrini at the launch of his book, Slow Food Nation, at the RSA in London. Zac stresses the importance of food in changing shopping habits and supply chains.
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Tim Lang at Slow Food Nation Launch
27/06/2007
Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, highlights Carlo Petrini's impact on food, and calls for us to think outside of our boxes. Food culture needs to change.
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Carlo Petrini at Slow Food Nation launch
27/06/2007
Founder of the Slow Food movement and author of the new book Slow Food Nation, Carlo Petrini explains through a translator how a combination of McDonalds and traditional Italian cooking inspired him to found the Slow Food network.
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George Monbiot
14/06/2007
Veteran environmentalist George Monbiot explains why climate change is the moral issue of our time, why preventing a 2 degree rise in global temperature is crucial, and why we seem to want politicians to talk the talk but are terrified of them walking the walk.
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Interview with Bill Oddie part II
05/04/2007
In the second part of our interview, Bill Oddie tells the Ecologist why 'soulless, slick and lying' politicians will not get people to act on climate change, and explains why the message just isn't getting through to the 4x4-driving residents of North London. But changing people's lives, Oddie says, is what keeps him going...
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Interview with Bill Oddie
29/03/2007
In the first of a two-part exclusive interview, television's favourite birdwatcher Bill Oddie tells the Ecologist why he's fed up of not being allowed to be controversial, and why banning bluetits might help tackle global warming...
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Phil Woolas at the Sustainable Communities Rally
26/03/2007
The Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion was on the defensive. He thinks that the government's policy already deals with sustainable communities. Devolving power to the people, he says, it what Labour is all about. Listen and make your own mind up.
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David Cameron at the Sustainable Communities Rally
26/03/2007
David Cameron has thrown the full weight of his party behind the Bill. But does he realise what it entails? He thinks that people would need to start 'thinking local' to take advantage of what the Bill offers. Listen and make your own mind up.
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Radley Lakes
22/03/2007
Thrupp lake in Radley, Oxfordshire, is one of the county's prime wildlife havens. It is slated to be filled with a toxic blend of pulverised fuel ash from nPower's nearby Didcot power station. In our exclusive podcast, we talk to the local community, campaigners, ecologists, the press and nPower themselves to uncover some very murky waters...
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Paul Kingsnorth vs Mark Lynas
15/03/2007
We ask environmental campaigners and authors Paul Kingsnorth and Mark Lynas whether campaigners can save the world? Mark thinks there's still hope. Paul is of the opinion that things have already gone too far. According to Mark, there's a waking argument and sleeping one...
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Paul Kingsnorth vs Mark Lynas
15/03/2007
Paul asks whether Mark thinks that the cuts in carbon dioxide now thought necessary - at least 80 per cent by 2050 - are really achievable. Lawrence Buckley tackles Mark on whether defeat might be an acceptable option...
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Paul Kingsnorth vs Mark Lynas
15/03/2007
Paul's interested in the psychology of climate campaigners - "we have to do something because we can't do nothing". Is that the best option? What's the role of the 'technofixes' which Blair and Branson are so keen on?
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Paul Kingsnorth vs Mark Lynas
15/03/2007
If it were possible to fly without producing any polluting gases would it be a good thing? If we discovered fusion power tomorrow, would our problems be solved? Mark and Paul argue it out...
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Paul Kingsnorth vs Mark Lynas
15/03/2007
Is the real problem for the planet population? Can we ever have a sustainable society for 6 billion people?
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Paul Kingsnorth vs Mark Lynas
15/03/2007
The solutions are there - plans have already been put forward for an energy 'climb-down' by 2030. So what's stopping us? Mark and Paul agree that it all comes down to our obsession with economic growth...
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Pauls Kingsnorth vs Mark Lynas
15/03/2007
'China' has become the man-on-the-street's word to dismiss climate change campaigners. What is the future for global warming if China's growth continue apace? Where is the global economy headed? Mark and Paul fight it out...
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Paul Kingsnorth vs Mark Lynas
15/03/2007
Where is the environmental movement headed? Has it moved forward since the 1970s, or backwards? Paul thinks that democracy is the problem...
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Fairtrade Fortnight - less-unfair trade?
01/03/2007
'Fairtrade' is sometimes described as merely 'less-unfair trade'. Are there global trading mechanisms that need to be tackled first before fairtrade can work? What about the role of subsidies? Harriet Lamb, Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, and Silver Kasoro, a fairtrade tea grower, give their answers...
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Fairtrade Fortnight - Can fairtrade be organic?
01/03/2007
What is the role of organic farming in fairtrade cooperatives? Will higher prices for produce encourage more intensive farming? Silver Kasoro and Harriet Lamb answer...
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Fairtrade Fortnight - Can fairtrade be local and low-carbon?
01/03/2007
Fairtrade products brought from farms in the less-industrialised world incur food miles. Environmentalists are trying to reduce food miles. Can 'fairtrade' and 'buy local' campaigns sit together? Harriet Lamb and Silver Kasoro respond...
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here to download |
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Fairtrade Fortnight - Could European products be fairly traded too?
01/03/2007
Fair trade has brought rewards to farmers in Africa and Asia. Is there a role it could play in poorer European countries as well? Silver Kasoro and Harriet Lamb answer...
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Fairtrade Fortnight - What does the label cover?
01/03/2007
The fairtrade logo is renowned and trusted. But exactly what aspects of production does it cover? Will it ever be extended to the whole supply chain? Harriet Lamb responds...
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Fairtrade Foundation - What difference has it made?
01/03/2007
Silver Kasoro, a fairtrade tea grower from Mbaele, explains the difference fairtrade has made to the lives of farmers in Africa...
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Community Pubs Week
22/02/2007
According to the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA), 56 pubs are being forced to close in the UK every month. Rising property prices and the underhand tactics of big pub chains are two major causes. We asked Iain Loe, from CAMRA, and John Longdon from 'Pub is the Hub', what communities can do to save their locals.
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Climate challenge swim
15/02/2007
Lewis Gordon Pugh, an endurance swimmer who has swum in the Artic, Antarctic and the Thames, is planning to swim the 160km across the Maldives to highlight the impact of climate change.
We joined him on his final training session in the Serpentine lido, and asked him what he was hoping to achieve in the balmy waters of the Indian ocean.
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Carbon off-setting
01/02/2007
Carbon off-setting hogs the headlines. Blair says he is going to off-set all his flight. MPs fall over themselves to join him. The government declares that it will introduce a 'kite-mark' standard to regulate the industry. Prius-driving Hollywood actors help launch the 'Global Cool' campaign.
What is going on?
Listen to our podcast programme to uncover what's behind the glossy websites and 'carbon neutral' pledges...
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Question to Ian Pearson
01/02/2007
Ian Pearson, Britain's Climate Change Minister, put a smile on the face of the environmental movement in January when he derided Ryan Air as 'the irresponsible face of capitalism'. That smile was soon wiped off, however, when he was reputedly 'slapped down' by the Treasury for his comments.
Our reporter was in Parliament to ask Ian Pearson why he was forced to back down over his comments...
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Mark Lynas - Fabian Society Annual Conference
25/01/2007
author of High Tide - News From a Warming World: "We need to address consumption as the essential issue"
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David Miliband - Fabian Society Annual Conference
25/01/2007
The Labour think-tank the Fabian Society held its annual meeting on Saturday 13th January. Under a motion of 'Can't We Get Greener Than This?', four speakers including David Miliband MP offered their views.
David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment: "Climate change needs Labour and Labour needs climate change". Can he be serious?
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Nick Butler - Fabian Society Annual Conference
25/01/2007
Centre for Energy Policy Studies: "Technology can still save us"
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Stephen Hale - Fabian Society Annual Conference
25/01/2007
Stephen Hale, Director of Green Alliance: "Labour are in trouble; we need to see action now"
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Interview with William Hudson
25/01/2007
William Hudson, an ex-strawberry farmer from Essex, speaks candidly about how supermarket buyers treat suppliers, create packaging cartels and keep farmers gagged.
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Manor Gardens allotments
18/01/2007
84 plot owners at Manor Gardens allotments in East London are soon to have their lovingly tended vegetables bulldozed for the 2012 olympic games. We asked the gardeners, including one man who has held his plot for fifty years, how they felt about the London Development Agency's decision, and what they plan to do now.
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Caroline Lucas, Green MEP
11/01/2007
Caroline Lucas was arrested on 8th January for protesting against the Trident missile system at the Faslane naval base in Scotland. She spoke to the Ecologist shortly after her release to talk about the illegality of the weapon, and why politicians should be spending less time in the House, and more time under the placard...
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Graham Thompson, Plane Stupid
05/01/2007
Graham Thompson, from the pressure group 'Plane Stupid', talks to the Ecologist about facing an ASBO, what needs to be done about aviation, and who's next on the target list. Watch out, O'Leary...
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Tom Hodgkinson, editor of The Idler magazine, on 'The Importance of Being Merry'
21/12/2006
The Idler magazine promotes, among other things, a good work-life balance. And its editor, Tom Hodgkinson, had things other than work on his mind when he gave this talk in a shop full of Ukeleles. Find out about the origin of mince pies, the puritans who banned Christmas, and Gordon Brown's bottom...
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Jeanette Longfield, on why the Economist got it wrong
18/12/2006
The Economist magazine ran a cover story suggesting that buying ethical food was a useless, 'feel good' gesture. The Ecologist says that they are wrong. We spoke to Jeanette Longfield, coordinator of the food and farming charity Sustain, to find out why.
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How can you encourage growth in resource-poor countries?
12/12/2006
If you've got nothing to sell, can you escape the poverty trap?
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Where is our standard of living now?
12/12/2006
Lord Adair Turner showed a graph which plotted standard of living against population. It formed a curve. The audience wanted to know whether our standard of living is rising...or falling.
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We don't all consume the same!
12/12/2006
An African child consumes a fraction of what a child born in the UK consumes. Had the debate ignored this fact
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Population and Sustainability Network Debate
12/12/2006
In an article for the Ecologist, David Nicholson-Lord likened discussing population to 'placing your head on a stand at a coconut shy'. This didn't stop Lord Adair Turner, Richard Ottaway MP, and Catherine Budgett-Meakin tackling some tough questions at the Royal Geographic Society. Listen to their responses below.
Never mind population increase; shouldn't it be decreasing?
A biologist asks the most sensitive question of all.
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David Cameron, Green Alliance Annual Debate
07/12/2006
How green is David Cameron really? Make up your own mind, by listening to the speech he gave on Conservative environmental policy at the Green Alliance Annual Debate.
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Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Debate - Replace Trident...or tackle Climate Change?
07/12/2006
What would you spend £20 billion on rather than an outdated military deterrent? Click here for some answers, and to listen to the reasons why nuclear is nonsense.
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Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Interview
07/12/2006
Our reporter asks Kate Hudson why we don't need Trident, and what can be done now?
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5 Billion Excess People - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
Are there 5 billion excess people on the planet at the moment? Professor Lovelock seems to think so
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Are Our Personal Actions Any Use? - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
Does changing a lightbulb really do any good?
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Are We All Doomed? - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
A nervous journalist asks the ultimate question.
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Are We The Virus? - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
Does humanity need to be cut out of the ecosystem?
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Gaia as Theory and Religion - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
'Gaia' is the name given by the ancient Greeks to the Earth. Is it really appropriate for a scientific theory?
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Gaia Theory Development - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
How did the theory come about? Why was Lovelock ostracised by his peers?
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Has IPCC Got It Wrong? - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
Is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change any use?
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How Far North Do We Go? - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
The camel is packed and the water loaded - but will Scotland be far enough in 2050?
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The Nuclear Question - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
Our own reporter asks James Lovelock how he can justify his support for nuclear power?
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Ocean Positive Feedback - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
What's the most terrifying 'feedback' effect of global heating likely to be? Listen for the answer...
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Planetary Dunkirk Spirit - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
It's not all doom and gloom. Lovelock thinks we'll be singing 'Roll out the Barrel' in a few decades...
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Siberia: The New China - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
Where are one billion Chinese going to move to when China can't grow any more crops?
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Why Global Heating? - James Lovelock
28/11/2006
Why 'global warming' is "just too cosy" a term.
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