Living Planet

This week we're sharing an episode from Heat of the Moment, a podcast from Foreign Policy in partnership with the Climate Investment Funds. In Season 3, they explore the idea of a "just transition" away from fossil fuels — not only what that means for the coal miners whose jobs are going away, but also how the opportunity can be used to address wrongdoings such as racism, sexism and colonialism.

On Living Planet this week, too many deer in the Scottish Highlands are leading to community disputes over how to deal with them. As India works to clean up its air, scientists have realized there may be a surprising trade-off: even higher temperatures. And we venture into the heart of the humanitarian disaster that is cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo with author Siddharth Kara.

This week on Living Planet, we hear how refugees in Cameroon are creating shade and fresher air, as they connect their tree-planting project to the Great Green Wall of Africa. We also unpack Uganda's electronic waste problem, which has been made worse by a flood of cheap, counterfeit mobile phones on the market. And we learn about the promise and drawbacks of compostable packaging.

We head to the Hawaiian Islands to hear how climate change and the touristic obsession with a dreamy island getaway is steadily eroding the archipelago, driving local people, flora and fauna to extinction. And we learn from South African scientists and teachers trying to protect 200 species of shark off the country's coast.

Are two of the world's most beloved beverages – coffee and wine – viable in a world warped by climate change? And how's the world going with the whole 'sustainable aviation' thing?

We hear how the next zoonotic disease could be brewing in Kenya, and speak to a non-profit group trying to save the world's rainforests, who may have just struck upon a way to ward off the next deadly virus while they're at it.

From the water shortage in the Western United States to changes in floodplains in the Amazon, how is climate change impacting our water supplies? We explore solutions to these problems. We also hear what it's like to experience the world through the ears of a whale (yes, whales have ears)! And in France, one town is trying out some natural, glow-in-the-dark lighting.

We follow Australians battered by climate catastrophes, a walrus devoid of its ice floes and Indians from the eastern state of Odisha as they grapple with migration amid the climate crisis.

How should we talk to kids about climate change? From Belgian teens interacting with climate change on a philosophical level to an eco-bank in Peru where kids can open their first bank account to a new primary school climate program in Ghana, this week on Living Planet, we find out how schools and organizations are engaging young people on one of the most important issues of our time.

At a time when many people are struggling to pay their energy bills, we hear how oil and gas giants are raking in the profits, while quietly scaling back their emission reduction targets. And we head to Micronesia, via the Caribbean, to find out how small island nations are faring amid the climate crisis.