The Climate Question · BBC World Service

Your Questions Answered

·26 min·2 clips

Justin Rowlatt explains why double glazing his home 20 years ago wasn't worth it financially.

Listeners ask the questions. Greer Jackson sets up an inbox-led programme where the audience drives the climate conversation. It moves around a bit, in a good way. One listener asks whether cargo ships and oil tankers are getting more energy efficient. Another asks what really stores carbon. Kelp forests, seagrass, and land forests all enter that question. Then a younger listener brings it home, literally, asking what a household can do. The panel keeps the advice usable. Eat leftovers. Throw out less food. Buy fewer clothes. Choose secondhand when it makes sense. Even ripped jeans get their due, with sewing treated as a small but worthwhile move. Food is trickier. The panel separates plants, chicken, beef, sheep, and some tomatoes with higher footprints when they come from abroad. Chicken comes off as efficient. Ruminant animals are the bigger problem, with steak carrying a far heavier footprint than a chicken breast. From there, the episode asks who should carry the weight: households, companies, or both. One number lands hard. Seventy percent of greenhouse gas emissions are said to be linked to just 100 companies, probably mostly fossil fuel extraction companies. The episode does not make that an excuse to do nothing at home. It also does not pretend the whole burden belongs there.

As heard by us

A listener-led climate briefing that pairs household fixes with the tougher question of who should carry the burden.

A BBC World Service climate episode that stays practical: shipping efficiency, carbon storage in kelp and seagrass, and the small changes people can make at home.

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Why you'd press play

If you want listener questions answered with calm, practical climate advice, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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