Local Zero

Matt's first foray into COP26 was into the Green Zone on Finance Day. This mini-episode gives a flavour of talks he attended, and the atmosphere around Glasgow. There's also a chat with Amanda Carpenter from the excellent www.theplanetpod.com

COP26 is here! We look ahead to a whirlwind two weeks, get excited, and sketch out plans. Sign up now if you want to be at Local Zero Live on Saturday 6th Nov, and make sure you subscribe to the podcast feed, as we switch to 'breaking-news' style ad-hoc content drops across the fortnight whenever we have them available. Follow us on twitter: @LocalZeroPod.

Leo Hickman of the Carbon Brief looks ahead to COP26. We also invite back a selection of guests from across Local Zero's first year, to hear their hopes and fears ahead of this historic climate summit getting underway in Glasgow.

Concern over energy prices has dominated headlines in recent weeks - but what does the energy 'crisis' mean for consumers, communities and the road to net zero? The team are joined by Clem Cowton from Octopus Energy, Dhara Vyas from Citizens Advice, and Dr Jeff Hardy, of Imperial College London.

What jobs, skills and training are needed to deliver smart zero-carbon home heating? How big is the skills-gap? (Spoiler: It's quite big). Matt and Becky are joined by Cardiff University's Dr Jo Patterson, and Adam Chapman, director of Heat Geek, while Fraser's been chatting about retrofitting and the just transition with Carbon Co-op co-founder Jonathan Atkinson. Tweet us @LocalZeroPod, or email [email protected] - we always love to hear from you.

Dr Ewan Gibbs joins us to discuss what the history of UK industry and energy can teach us about a just transition.

Can communities built around industries of the past drive forward, as well as benefit from, a greener future?

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Dr Alice Bell discusses the work of the climate change charity Possible to get communities engaged with climate action. Her recent book is called Our Biggest Experiment: A History of Climate Change. Tweet us @LocalZeroPod or email [email protected]

A landmark UN scientific report has detailed how human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented and irreversible ways. It warns of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding, and is widely reported to be "a code red for humanity". In this bonus episode, the Local Zero team, Becky, Matt and Fraser, share their thoughts, feelings, hopes and fears in response to the report.

The team fact-check the science around recent government proposals for climate change “micro-steps”. Our guest is Rob Saunders, Challenge Director for the UK’s flagship Prospering from the Energy Revolution (PFER). Tweet us @LocalZeroPod or email [email protected]

We meet people taking action in their communities to tackle climate change. We hear about their important work fighting locally against the climate emergency, and the wider impacts this work is having. Fraser records at the home of the Pollokshields Community Trust, with Bill Fraser, and South Seeds manager Lucy Gillie. Also in this episode, our first interactive Future or Fiction - listen to find out how to play along!