Transport is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and in cities around the world it is also one of the biggest daily frustrations. Congestion, pollution and long journeys to work affect millions of people every day.

In this episode of The Climate Question, Jordan Dunbar explores how cities can move large numbers of people more quickly, cheaply and with fewer emissions. With most urban journeys still dominated by private cars, the challenge is how to shift people towards more efficient forms of transport.

He speaks to Dario Hidalgo, a transport expert based in Bogotá, where a system known as Bus Rapid Transit has helped transform how millions of people travel. By giving buses dedicated lanes, larger vehicles and faster boarding systems, cities can move more people using fewer vehicles, cutting both congestion and emissions. Variations of the model are now being used in cities around the world.

Jordan also hears from Sarah Kaufman, Director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation in New York, about why similar systems can be harder to implement in dense cities, and how measures like congestion charging are helping to reduce traffic and fund improvements to public transport.

While electric cars are often seen as part of the solution, both experts say reducing the number of cars on the road altogether is key. From buses to bikes, they explore how cities might redesign transport systems to be cleaner, faster and more efficient.

Guests:

Got a question or comment? email us at [email protected]

Production team: Grace Braddock, Diane Richardson, Nik Sindle, Melanie Stewart-Smith

Image: Guillermo Legaria/AFP via Getty Images

The Climate Question panel answer your queries. Do beavers protect the planet? Should we put solar panels in deserts? And why does the world need to upgrade its electricity grids?

Host Graihagh Jackson puts your head-scratchers to Justin Rowlatt, BBC climate editor; Akshat Rathi, senior climate reporter for Bloomberg News and host of Bloomberg's Zero podcast; and Caroline Steel, presenter of BBC CrowdScience.

Got a question for the next listeners' show? You can email us at [email protected] or leave a WhatsApp message at + 44 8000 321 721

Production team: Diane Richardson and Grace Braddock

Picture Credit: A beaver. Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

War leaves a visible trail of destruction: lives and families devastated, homes and communities reduced to rubble.

But there is also a climate cost of armed conflict, and it’s an issue that Climate Question listeners have been asking about. So in this show, Host Graihagh Jackson chats to two leading experts about the carbon footprint of battle itself - the jets, the bombs, the supply lines - and the impact of maintaining armies and bases during peacetime. They discuss Gaza and Ukraine, as well as the current US-Israel war with Iran.

Graihagh also finds out if there any ways for the military to reduce their emissions and whether they see climate change as a strategic threat.

GUESTS:

Got a question or comment? email us at [email protected]

Producers: Diane Richardson, Grace Braddock

Methane is much more powerful than carbon dioxide and emissions are still rising. So what can we do to tackle the human-made sources of this greenhouse gas? And could this buy us time to get to grips with climate change?

It's a topic which many Climate Question listeners have been contacting us about. So in this episode Hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar put some of your questions and comments to Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Sciences at University College London.

What makes methane so powerful? Is meat production to blame? And what about leaks and gas-flaring in the fossil fuel industry?

Got a question or comment, email us at [email protected]

Production team: Simon Watts, Diane Richardson, Grace Braddock

China is installing solar panels and wind turbines so fast that its greenhouse gases emissions may now have peaked. If this trend is confirmed, it would be a major milestone in the fight against climate change because China is the world's largest polluter.

The BBC’s Beijing Correspondent Laura Bicker has travelled across China to see the country’s clean energy revolution first hand.

She’s visited solar farms in the deserts of Inner Mongolia and in the tea plantations of Yunnan. Laura even discovered a huge lake with panels floating on the surface!

But she also saw how China’s addiction to coal is continuing – with new power plants still being built and many poorer Chinese needing to burn coal to get through the winter.

In this edition of The Climate Question, Laura chats about her reporting with hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar. They discuss whether the world’s biggest polluter is moving fast enough to meet its green energy targets, and what that means for China and the rest of the world.

Got a question you’d like answered? Email: [email protected]

Presenters: Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar

Image: BBC - Solar panels in Yunnan, China

First broadcast in 2024. Graihagh Jackson finds out about the little know pollutant making us sick and driving the climate crisis.

It commonly comes from burning coal, diesel or wood and has a habit of getting stuck in people’s lungs as well as causing glaciers to melt.

In Nepal, home to some of the world’s most beautiful glaciers, we meet journalist Tulsi Rauniyar, who tells us all about the impact black carbon is having on women and children. She meets Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa, a glacier expert who maps the ice losses in the Himalayas.

Zerin Osho from the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development helps us understand why black carbon is so important - but often forgotten - in the fight against climate change, and how we can change that.

NOTE: The figure given in this programme for the exact amount of global warming linked to black carbon is incorrect. The correct figure will be included in this programme description once re-checked.

Got a question you’d like answered? Email: [email protected]

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson

PHOTO CREDIT: SAIF DAHLAH/AFP via Getty Images

Winter sport depends on one thing that is becoming less reliable each year: snow. As temperatures rise, glaciers are retreating, seasons are shifting, and lower-elevation resorts are struggling to guarantee consistent conditions.

Hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar explore the ways climate change is reshaping winter sport, from elite competition to local economies. Former alpine ski racer and BBC Ski Sunday presenter Chemmy Alcott describes how competitors have to deal with shorter training seasons, cancelled races and increasing injury risks.

They also speak to Daniel Scott, a leading researcher on climate change and winter tourism at the University of Waterloo in Canada, about which cities may still be able to host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics by the 2050s. And Professor Scott tells The Climate Question how organisers are adapting through snowmaking, snow storage and changes to competition schedules.

Guests:

If you have a question for the team, email: [email protected] or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenters: Jordan Dunbar and Graihagh Jackson

Image: Reuters

Fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, dread and powerlessness are some of the many emotions associated with what’s called climate anxiety.

A global survey of 10,000 young people aged between 16–25 years, found that 60% were very worried about climate change, and nearly half said that their anxiety negatively effects their daily life.

Psychologists say these are rational responses to our changing climate, experienced in many different ways around the world.

Graihagh Jackson asks how people can manage these difficult emotions and whether climate anxiety itself can be motivational.

Graihagh chats to:

Svetlana Chigozie Onye who leads the Eco-anxiety in Africa Project, which looks at the mental health impact of climate change and solutions across Africa.

Dr Daniella Watson, Chartered Health Psychologist and a Research Associate at the The Climate Cares Centre, Imperial College London.

Got a question you’d like us to answer? Send an email to: [email protected] or whatsapp us on +44 8000 321 721

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson

We know the planet is getting hotter because of human-induced climate change. But just how hot could it get?

In this show, Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar chat to Nasa scientist, Kate Marvel, about the world of climate modelling. Kate has spent decades trying to work out what will happen to the Earth as emissions of carbon dioxide increase.

Although the basic facts of climate change are settled, climate modellers are trying to understand how photosynthesis by plants will change in a warmer world. And they’re also puzzling over the crucial role played by clouds!

Recently, Kate has written Human Nature, a book about how climate change affects our emotions - from grief and anger to hope and love. She says the wide range of feelings prompted by global warming are compatible with getting the science right.

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar

If you have a question for the team, email: [email protected] or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

(Image: Wildfires in California. Credit: Reuters)

How farmers and scientists in eastern India are using ancient rice seeds to fight the growing impact of flooding, soil salinity and drought.

The BBC’s William Kremer tells Graihagh Jackson about his visit to the Sundarbans in West Bengal, where cyclones and rising sea levels have devastated crops. William meets the rice growers drawing on the skills of their forefathers to feed their families. Graihagh also gets a global overview from Dr Rafal Gutaker, rice expert at Kew Gardens, London. This programme was first broadcast in 2025.

Reporter in India: William Kremer

If you have a question for the team, email: [email protected] or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721