Planet Possible

In this episode, Niki Roach chats to our expert guests - Jonathon Porritt (author and campaigner) and Niamh Lynch (Just Stop Oil activist and campaigner) who share their insights, motivations, hopes, fears and expectations on climate change. A sobering and insightful listen for anyone who lives on planet Earth. Two campaigners of different generations, they also share their thoughts on inter-generational justice when it comes to climate. Read the UN's 'Limiting Overshoot' report here Find out more about Jonathon Porritt's new book 'Love, Anger & Betrayal' here Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

In this episode, Niki Roach is joined by expert guests: Davey Jones - Professor in Environmental Science & Public Health at Bangor University and Dr Helen Howard-Jones - Research Project Manager (Wastewater) at Bangor University. Sewage contains a whole lot of substances and a whole lot of data. Pathogens, pollution, illicit substances... even human DNA. Analysing sewage, detecting what's present in it, tracking and mapping it - this is an emerging science that holds a lot more potential than has yet been harnessed. First tried back in World War 2, the techniques have modernised and came to the fore during the COVID pandemic. Now, there is an opportunity to collect more data, better analyse it, and create a kind of national health early warning system that is cost effective, and works across the country. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Katie Hargrave-Smith sits in for Niki Roach as host for this August 2026 edition of Planet Possible News - 3 stories making the headlines in water, nature and climate in the UK and around the world. Al Chisholm (Policy, Regulation and Governance lead for Water at ARUP) joins as our expert guest. The three stories being discussed are: The latest UK Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (WFDR) classifications - published by the Environment Agency - have been released. These stats are published every 6 years and tell us the quality of water bodies in the UK. Al gives his analysis. UK Drought - what are the patterns underneath the heatwave dry summer we have experienced in the UK and what does it tell us about the pace of climate change (and our pace of adaptation in response)? Plus, why have the new terms "flash drought" and "whiplash weather" had to be coined? El Niño - what is it, what are the latest predictions of the scale and impact of this iteration... why are financial markets and hedge funds hopeful of making profit out of it... and what does this all say about climate justice? Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Welcome to the first of two 'Best Of' compilation episodes we will make this year (one in the summer and one at Christmas). This collection of highlights covers the first half of 2026, and features some incredible guests. A great chance to catch-up on some of our most-listened-to, and most-talked-about, episodes that you may have missed first time around. The three guests featured here are... Mónica Feria-Tinta - the "Barrister for the Earth" who has moved the law forward by representing the interests of indigenous populations, coastal communities, and even nature and the climate themselves, in international courts of law. A fascinating discussion on how the law is changing, and how that could enable breakthroughs on environmental progress. Vincent Lee (ARUP) - a native New Yorker who has worked on some of the most ambitious projects in the Big Apple, that have attempted (and succeeded) in enabling the city to become more sustainable, work more with nature and water... and be better adapted to (and prepared for) climate change. Lizzie Frost - a UK water professional at Anglian Water, giving her honest reaction to the Channel 4 docudrama 'Dirty Business' which portrayed a challenging depiction of the UK water sector, and its environmental performance. We hope you enjoy this look back at some of the best bits of 2026, so far. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Vast kelp beds once supported a wondrous diversity of marine life, off the coast of Sussex in the UK. They filtered the water, protected the coast from storms and supported local fisheries. By the mid-1980s, 96% of Sussex kelp had disappeared. However, there is an ambitious project underway to bring it back. This is an example of rewilding - an approach that can enable progress in the face of today’s biggest global issues, from biodiversity loss to the climate crisis. In this episode host Niki is joined by two expert guests. Rebecca Wrigley (CEO, Rewilding Britain) and George Short (Sussex Kelp Recovery Project), to discuss rewilding as a concept... and see how it works in action. By understanding the case study of taking a nature-led approach to the recovery of kelp beds, off the Sussex coast. In this episode, topics discussed include: - What rewilding is and how it can offer a "buy one - get five free" list of additional benefits. - How the Sussex kelp beds got so degraded, and what the process is to enable them to recover. - Early signs of hope in the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project, and the emotional impact they have had on the passionate delivery team. - How rewilding can work, at both vast and tiny scales, enabling anyone to get involved. - A fascinating provocation for those living in the British Isles, to get more in touch with an island mentality (and how that could help environmental progress). Find out more about Rewilding Britain here Find out more about the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project here Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Originally published in June 2025, this interview with one of the UK's most influential voices on nature - Tony Juniper - is well worth a revisit. In this episode, host Niki and Tony discuss: - How there can be a "both and" approach to nature and economy, not an "either or". - The scale of the challenge facing the planet, and what can be done. - The vital roles of media, and culture, in enabling people and politics to make the changes necessary. - How environmental challenges and inequality are linked, (and how addressing one helps the other). - Where there is hope, and what people listening can do (plus how they can influence people in power to do more). (The original episode has been abridged with some time-specific references removed). Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Guy Thompson is an expert in clean energy transition, nature positive economy and environmental policy and regulation, having worked at Natural England, Wessex Water and EnTrade (environmental market/credits startup). In this episode, he discussed with Niki the challenges facing the new Burnham-led government, particularly in terms of addressing the root causes of environmental issues, as opposed to addressing the symptoms with surface-level policy tweaks. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

In this episode of Planet Possible News, Emily Blaney and Niki Roach discuss: - Extreme weather becoming the new norm in the UK. - Whether water-saving campaigns work? - and why do animal "characters" go viral, without the wider environmental message connecting? Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Our climate is changing. When it rains, it’s often more frequent, heavier and likely to cause flooded roads, gardens or even properties. In this episode, we explore how we can create homes, cities and infrastructure that can cope with these changing rainfall patterns. Niki is joined by expert and subject champion, CIWEM’s Director of Policy and Projects - Paul Shaffer, and Cristina Refolo - Founding Director of Refolo Landscape Architects. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

In this episode, we explore how the change in our climate is likely to change the economics of free resources, as well. Niki is joined by Adam Lovell - Executive Director at The Water Services Association of Australia, and Karma Loveday - Water sector journalist and Founder and Editor, at The UK Water Report. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

David Shukman is shocked. Both at the climate change induced extremes that Britain now faces... and the nation's lack of preparedness. In his new book 'The Response - A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain's New World of Extremes' makes the argument that things are probably worse than we think... but also that there's more than can be done than we realise. David joins host Niki to discuss his new book, the research behind it and the future that could lie ahead. You can buy David’s book here… https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/210672/david-shukman Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

In this episode of Planet Possible News, Niki is joined by Lee Pitcher, MP for Doncaster East & the Isle of Axholme. The topics being discussed are: -The UK national water safety campaign. - The hidden human health costs for the decline of bees. - News that the UK government has set a target of 87% of a cut in carbon emissions, by 2042. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Guests and themes: New ways to fund nature-based solutions at a catchment scale with Jonathan Moxon from The Aire Resilience Company Tim Armour & Johnny Phillips from United Utilities show Niki a variety of projects designed to make Liverpool more flood resilient Garden Designer Leon Davis on making rainwater management in gardens more effective and beautiful Mary Long-Dhonau OBE on the latest tech that homeowners and renters can use to prepare for, stop and recover from flooding Tor Coombes (Leicestershire County Council) on how flood risk management is done best at local authority level Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Niki Roach is joined by Steve Elderkin - Director of Environmental Sustainability for National Highways and Evan Bowen-Jones, Chief Executive - Kent Wildlife Trust and MD of Wilder Carbon, co-founder of Rebuilding Nature. In this episode, our guests speak to Niki about a visit to the Netherlands to see how the Dutch were delivering on their nature objectives. Inspired by what they learnt, they went on to develop a similar approach in the UK through the launch of the Strategic Nature Network. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

'Dirty Business' is a Channel 4 docudrama, released a few weeks ago, that focuses on England's water companies and sewage spills. The docudrama reported on real life dramas that have surrounded the water industry over the last five years. Environment harm, sewage spills, pollutions, and customerscommunities saying that these are no longer acceptable. Lizzie Frost and host Niki discuss their reactions, and reflect on the programme. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Planet Possible News - once a month an environmental expert joins Niki to highlight 3 big recent news stories in climate, nature and water from around the world. This month's guest is George Wade, co-Founder and COO of Zevero (helps companies calculate their carbon footprint) and blogger behind the Grumpy Optimists (collates climate positive news) Find out more about Zevero here Find out more about The Grumpy Optimists here Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

The winners of the sixth Water Breakthrough Challenge, part of the OFWAT £600 million Water Innovation Fund, have just been announced. In this episode, Hannah Muirhead joins Niki to discuss some of winners. Together, they highlight the emerging themes in innovation in the UK water sector, and some of the most exciting concepts. Find out more about the OFWAT Innovation Fund here Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Jim Tan is CEO of Kuzuko Private Game Reserve, which has connected and rewilded 35,000 acres of un-economic and over-farmed areas in the Eastern Cape of South Africa since 2001. In this episode you’ll hear how Kuzuko is now a thriving wildlife reserve home to elephants, buffalos, lions and three of South Africas 9 biomes. Kuzuko has enabled local flora and fauna to re-populate huge swathes of land whilst providing a significant boost to the economy of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The project is also sequestering 1.5 million tonnes of carbon each year through the planting of 26 million cuttings of spekboom. Importantly, the principles pioneered here could be used in other locations around the world to provide environmental recovery that is investable. To find out more about Kuzuko , click here For weekly updates on the latest episodes of Planet Possible sign up to our mailing list Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

In this week’s episode, we dig into soils - both literally and metaphorically. Soils aren’t really visible to us, but they underpin every single life system on planet earth. Soil is one of our most important carbon sinks, critical to water, home to 60% of all bio-diversity and helping to produce 98% of our food. In this episode, Niki goes on location to a soil-progressive farm where Yorkshire Farmer, Paul Temple, is managing his soils a little differently and she is joined by Expert co-host, Ellen Fay, Founder and Executive Director of the Sustainable Soils Alliance. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Each month Planet Possible News will bring you an update on the latest big environmental stories. Host Niki will be joined by an expert guest to discuss recent events in climate, nature and water. In this episode... Climate adaptation in the UK - what's coming in terms of reports, policy and progress How the Iran conflict is impacting the environment Crisis management - are extreme weather and flood warnings being communicated effectively? Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland