Note to listeners: this episode was prerecorded in August 2022.

2022: a year of extremes. During the 40 degree summer heat, roads melted and railway lines buckled. The London Fire Brigade had its busiest day since the Blitz as record temperatures led to hundreds of fires across the city. When it finally rained a month later, the Met Office warned of flood risk. But after a dangerously hot summer, we’re now worrying about whether we can afford our energy bills during a long, cold winter.

This was the year that the climate crisis collided with the scandalously high cost of living. But how are the two related? Why are fossil fuel companies making bumper profits while the rest of us are worried about paying our bills? And can we stay warm while making sure oil and gas stay safely under the North Sea?

Ayeisha is joined by Mika Minio-Paluello, climate and industry lead at the Trades Union Congress and Tessa Khan, environmental lawyer and founder and director of Uplift.

-Want to join a union? You can find the right one for you on the TUC website: https://www.tuc.org.uk/joinunion

- Get involved with the Stop Cambo/Jackdaw and Warm this Winter campaigns: https://www.stopcambo.org.uk/ and https://www.warmthiswinter.org.uk/

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Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence.

Researched by Margaret Welsh. Produced by Becky Malone.

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The Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org