BBC World Service
317 episodes listed below
BBC World Service reporters explain climate mechanisms and policy from the Amazon to Delhi to the Alps.
The Climate Question treats climate change as something felt in cities, homes, shipping, advertising, rising water, heat, and mountain rock. Its episodes move between field reporting, expert explanation, listener questions, and careful policy context.
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The Climate Question is produced by BBC World Service and structured mostly as location-based interviews: a host and reporting team travel to or call into a specific place — the Swiss Alps, the Amazon, Delhi, Darjeeling, Bognor Regis — to unpack one climate mechanism or policy story per episode. Greer Jackson is a credited presenter, and BBC climate correspondents Justin Rowlatt and Carl Nassman appear as recurring on-air contributors providing policy analysis and Washington-based reporting. Guests are typically scientists (seismologists, marine researchers, climate scientists), think-tank and NGO staff (RMI Foundation, C40 Cities), and occasionally authors or prize judges when the episode covers climate culture. Recurring subject areas include the physical science of climate change (glacial melt and seismicity, carbon removal methods like rock weathering and kelp sequestration), climate policy and geopolitics (US federal rollbacks, NOAA funding cuts, COP30 preparation, EU deforestation rules), and climate solutions in transportation and forestry, with particular attention to the Global South (India's EV boom, Amazon and Indonesian deforestation). One episode also examined climate fiction as a genre and its handling of gender-based violence and women's roles in climate-stressed communities. The tone is investigative and educational rather than opinion-driven, with an emphasis on caveats and uncertainty when scientists themselves are cautious. Episodes run roughly 23 to 27 minutes. The show suits listeners who want policy and science context behind climate headlines rather than campaigning content, including people following COP negotiations, climate science generally, or how climate is discussed in literature and culture. Production draws on a dedicated BBC team including named producers, editors, and mix engineers credited per episode.
Made for: Listeners following international climate policy and science journalism who want mechanism-level explanation rather than campaign messaging.
What sets it apart: Pairs hard science explainers (glacial seismicity, rock weathering, kelp carbon storage) with on-the-ground policy reporting from the Global South, rather than focusing mainly on Western climate politics.
Why we find it so hard to save our own planet, and how we might change that.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Clear questions and well-chosen specialists connect climate mechanisms with the policies, behaviors and cultural responses that shape their consequences.
The Climate Question starts with a clear problem, then follows it through science, policy and human behavior. Greer Jackson keeps the questioning direct while specialists supply the detail, from how glacier melt can affect faults beneath the Alps to why consistent enforcement…
Melting glaciers meet fault lines, and suddenly your nightmare list has footnotes.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A careful look at whether climate change and earthquakes are linked.
This BBC episode asks whether climate change and earthquakes are linked, and it walks through the idea in a steady, readable way with Jordan Dunbar, Greya Jackson, Verena Simon and Sean Gallen.
A careful look at dams that weighs electricity, flooding, and the people living with the costs.
It traces a river in Thailand to ask whether dams still earn their keep when electricity gains come with flooding, displacement, and ecological harm.
Two carbon-removal bets are tested in the field, with a needed reminder that cuts still matter.
The episode makes a large climate question feel concrete by moving between two bets: kelp in cold seas and basalt dust on tea gardens in Darjeeling.
An ocean episode that ties climate, carbon, and destructive fishing together with calm clarity.
This episode keeps the ocean at the center of climate, air, and food, which is where it belongs. It also makes a plain case that climate conversations still leave it out too often.
A calm, compact case that nature can nudge better choices.
The episode follows a clean line from a fishing game to skyline and forest videos, then into conversations in Nairobi with young people and conservation educators.
A measured health briefing on why climate change now belongs in everyday medical judgment.
The Climate Question handles climate change as a health issue, with Greer Jackson giving Dr Jamila Mahmood and Dr Omnia El Omrani room to link planetary health to everyday clinical judgment.
India's electric rickshaw boom shows climate action arriving through energy security, health, and industry first.
India's e-rickshaws and other smaller electric vehicles make for a strong climate story because the shift is about more than emissions alone. The episode makes clear that electric mobility in India is being pulled forward by energy security, air pollution, and manufacturing…
A papal succession story becomes a serious test of climate faith and influence.
White smoke over the Sistine Chapel becomes a story about power, continuity, and whether Pope Leo will carry Francis's climate emphasis forward. The episode treats the Vatican succession as more than ceremony; it asks how far one pope's climate teaching can actually reach.
Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser build single reported stories around one scientific question.
Flora Lichtman interviews scientists, from gut-health researchers to Queen's Brian May.
Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
Long interviews with neuroscientists and philosophers on consciousness, decision-making, and whether AI is anything like a brain.
Bob McDonald anchors weekly multi-segment interviews on new research, from cricket courtship to moon missions.
APA's Kim Mills interviews psychology researchers on tipping, crying, and extremism.
Listeners take the controls.
The Climate Question assesses Trump's first 100 days of climate policy, covering the US exit from the Paris Agreement, $1.3 billion in NOAA cuts, cancellation of $8 billion in clean energy projects, and the firing of roughly 1,300 NOAA staff including climate scientist Tom DiLiberto, who was dismissed, reinstated by courts, then re-fired within seven weeks.
White smoke starts the question.
The Climate Question hosts a conversation with Abhi Dari, whose debut novel 'And So I Roar' won the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize in the UK, and Madeleine Bunting, chair of the prize judges.
Climate change is already showing up in the clinic.
Tropical forests take up little land, but they carry a lot of the planet on their backs.
BBC World Service host Greer Jackson investigates two nature-based carbon dioxide removal approaches: enhanced rock weathering and kelp sequestration.
The ocean is the story here.
What changes when people meet nature first?
A dammed valley still has something to say.
The BBC's Climate Question visits Delhi to explore why electric scooters, mopeds, and e-rickshaws have surged — over half of India's two- and three-wheeler sales are now electric — while car electrification remains stalled.
Can a warmer climate shake the ground?
This episode explores why cities like Amsterdam are banning fossil fuel ads and examines whether such advertising restrictions effectively combat climate change.
This episode explores the role of a chief heat officer through a journalist's firsthand account of extreme heat conditions in Sierra Leone's largest slum.
This episode discusses the proposal for a global carbon tax on shipping emissions as a key strategy to reduce maritime pollution and combat climate change.
A mother reflects on the emotional complexities and practical challenges of raising a child in a climate crisis, balancing love and fear for his future.
Listeners submit questions about climate change, including wind turbines, flood water storage, and converting vehicles to electric.
This episode explores how Bangkok, one of the world's fastest sinking cities, is coping with climate change and rising sea levels.
This episode explores the importance of energy efficiency in reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change.
A monthly roundup of climate news covering topics like a coal mine in Germany, polar bear encounters in Svalbard, and glacier updates.
This episode examines the devastating impact of Mongolia's extreme winter, known as the Zud, on herders and livestock, highlighting the broader issue of climate change.
This episode reviews the major global developments of 2024, focusing on climate change impacts like record heat, solar energy growth, deforestation, extreme weather, and the COP29 climate finance agreement.
A special crossover episode where The Climate Question and People Fixing the World discuss climate solutions.
A podcast exploring why it's hard to save our planet and how we might change that, using science fiction to imagine climate futures.
This episode examines how elections around the world are affecting climate policy, with a focus on major polluters like the US, India, and Indonesia.
This episode explores how new drone technology can help map informal settlements to improve flood defense in cities affected by climate change.
This episode explores the impact of climate change on Himalayan glaciers, with a reporter on the ground in Nepal.
A host visits a top marathon runner training for the Paris Olympics, exploring how athletes prepare to compete in extreme heat.
A BBC podcast exploring why it's difficult to save our planet and how we can change that, with a dramatic intro set in Stratford-upon-Avon.
A Romanian environmental activist recounts being violently attacked by men involved in illegal logging.
The hosts discuss recent dire warnings from the UN Secretary General about climate change and the role of fossil fuel companies.
This episode revisits a previous show on lab-grown meat, exploring whether it is better for the climate than conventional meat.
Listeners ask climate experts about nuclear fusion, electric cars, and talking to children about climate change.
This episode explores China's dominance in the global green technology supply chain and the geopolitical tensions it creates.
This episode explores how cities can be redesigned to improve mental health and reduce climate impact, featuring solutions from the Netherlands and Egypt.
This episode explores how reducing energy waste can help meet climate goals and save money.
A BBC podcast exploring why it's hard to save our planet and how to change that, starting with a live recording at Imperial College London.
This bonus episode of Climate Question features a conversation with former co-host Neil Rizal about his new podcast The Global Story, while hinting at the main topic of climate activists who successfully sued their government.
This BBC podcast episode explores the nature of coral reefs, revealing they are actually animals rather than plants, and discusses their importance in marine ecosystems.
This episode explores how fertilisers contribute significantly to carbon emissions in food production and questions whether they can become more environmentally sustainable.
This episode explores the booming adoption of electric scooters, mopeds, and rickshaws in Delhi as a key success story in the fight against climate change and the transition to greener transport.