ClimateCast with Tom Heap

On this week's ClimateCast, we're talking rubbish.

Tom Heap visits a historic landfill which was supposed to be buried beneath ground, but due to climate change and coastal erosion, the waste from our past is "coming back to terrorise us" by polluting our coastlines and water.

He speaks to mudlark Monika Buttling-Smith about searching for treasure in the Thames and the importance of conserving our history - but the right parts of it. Just miles away AJ McConville of Thames21, who work with communities to improve waterways in London, shows Tom how a historic landfill in Tilbury is being churned up due to coastal erosion.

But could there be a cost-effective solution to the "zombie rubbish"? Tom asks Andrew Jenkins, founder of Ecological Landfill Mining and Recycling.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Paul Stanworth

Six months ago, the UK experienced its hottest day on record. As a result a village in Essex, on the outskirts of London, caught fire, destroying dozens of homes.

On this edition of ClimateCast Tom Heap returns to the village ravaged by flames to meet the residents who lost their homes. He speaks to Robbie and Dave who own the last remaining cottage of a now demolished cluster. They tell him about the hardships extreme weather has caused them and their neighbours.

Plus chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, Chris Stark, joins Tom to explain what the UK needs to do to adapt to a more threatening climate.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Paul Stanworth

On this week's ClimateCast, Tom Heap heads into the rainforest - but he didn't have to travel far. In Dartmoor, Devon, he explores a temperate rainforest dripping with a rare and lively ecosystem that only exists in regions without extreme temperatures.

The rainforests are once thought to have made up 20% of Britain, but centuries of deforestation means there are just little pockets left.

Joining Tom in the "green cathedral" to discuss how these fragments of forest could be saved and why they're so important to preventing climate change is author and environmental campaigner Guy Shrubsole and Dr Debbie Hemming, scientific manager of vegetation-climate interactions at the Met Office.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Podcast promotions producer: David Chipakupaku
Editor: Paul Stanworth

Floods, droughts and extreme weather have been some of the biggest and most important climate stories of the year.

On Sky News ClimateCast, Tom Heap and our climate change and energy correspondent Hannah Thomas-Peter break-down the past 12 months and the stories they've covered, and look ahead to 2023.

Producer: Soila Apparicio
Editor: Paul Stanworth

On this episode of ClimateCast it's all about nature. This week UN General Secretary Antonio Guettres said "we are treating nature like a toilet" addressing the once in a decade summit where governments from across the world try and agree ways to stop the loss of nature across the planet - and even restore it.

It's not just about protecting the Amazon, it matters here in the UK too. In this episode, Tom Heap is in Befordshire to explore ways the UK can rebuild its natural world decimated by decades of intensive farming and industry.

Rewilding is a growing solution - but some farmers say the practice damages food supply. Tom Heap examines the pros and cons and finds out how the UK can restore biodiversity to its countryside.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Paul Stanworth

Hydrogen could be a vital bridge in the transition to renewables, but is there enough investment and commitment at a government level?

On Sky News ClimateCast, Tom Heap is at the UK Hydrogen Summit exploring how it could be used, and he is joined by the director of created hydrogen technology company FusionBlu, Fred Davey.

Tom also discusses the opportunities and challenges in using hydrogen with Clare Jackson, chief executive of Hydrogen UK, and Michael Liebreich, who provides advisory services and speaks on clean energy.

Producers: Soila Apparicio and Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Paul Stanworth

A Sky News Climate Show investigation has discovered businesses - and even some households - are switching from mains power to generating electricity from diesel because of soaring energy bills.

This comes at a big environmental cost, while a switch to renewable energy still seems out of reach to many consumers.

So how can we drive our bills down without burning more fossil fuels?

On Sky News ClimateCast, Tom Heap visits an Oxfordshire butcher who says he was forced to switch to a diesel generator to keep the family business afloat. Plus, Michael Grubb, professor of energy and climate change policy at University College London, shares ideas on how to kickstart the renewable revolution while driving down the cost of energy.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Interviews producer: Alys Bowen
Editor: Paul Stanworth

This week, ClimateCast is in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt where COP27 is reaching crunch time. Tom Heap looks at what the complications are around a potential deal on "loss and damage". A deal would see developed nations compensating developing countries for catastrophic climate events. It would be the first deal of its kind, but the details still need thrashing out.

Tom speaks to leader of The Elders and former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson on what loss and damage means, what developing countries are asking for and what it would look like for indigenous communities. Plus he's also joined by Nigel Topping – who was appointed as a "climate action champion".

Producers: Emma Rae Woodhouse and Alys Bowen
Editor: Paul Stanworth

Sky News ClimateCast returns with climate journalist and broadcaster, Tom Heap. This week, Tom looks at the big stories from the COP27 summit in Egypt where Rishi Sunak promised continued support, but no extra UK funding, for conserving forests around the world.

A group of 25 countries said they’d hold each other accountable to stick to a pledge to end deforestation by the end of the decade.

Although not part of that group, Brazil’s incoming president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva did attend COP to discuss new ways of protecting forests with world leaders.

Tom is joined by Dr Alexander Lees, Senior Lecturer in Tropical Ecology at Manchester Metropolitan University, who has worked on Amazon conservation issues for 20 years. They discuss potential “new hope” for the lungs of the planet, whether that international deadline can be met and how choices closer to home can impact the scale of deforestation.

Podcast producers: Emma Rae Woodhouse, Soila Apparicio, Anne Marie Bullock
Editor: Paul Stanworth

Carolyn Cobbold has been fighting to save the West Sussex coast from coastal erosion for almost two decades. After a mighty campaign, she oversaw Europe’s largest coastal realignment scheme.

But as average temperatures keep rising can Britain continue to preserve its other coastlines and the low-lying towns behind them?

On Sky News ClimateCast Leah Boleto is joined by environmental journalist and presenter of Sky’s weekly climate show, Tom Heap, to discuss the impact of coastal erosion and how this example of people power has helped the fight against climate change.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Interviews producer: Madeleine Drury
Editor: Paul Stanworth