logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2022
27m 43s

Are prizes the best solution for climate...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

We know many of the obstacles in the way of a creating a cleaner planet - making cement green, decarbonising electricity or creating affordable clean transport. But how do we get the experts the funding they need to bring these solutions to the world?

Many people see innovation prizes as the answer - from Prince William’s ‘Earthshot’ to Elon Musk’s ‘X-Prize’ there are hundreds of millions of dollars up for grabs. Is this the best way to find solutions to the climate crisis? Who really wins from these prizes, companies or the climate?

Joining presenters Neal Razzell and Graihagh Jackson are –

Marcius Extavour, Chief Scientist and Vice President for Energy and Climate at the XPrize foundation

Robert Burrell, Professor of Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law

Zorina Khan, Professor of Economics at Bowdoin College and Author of Inventing Ideas

Vidyut Mohan, Co-Founder of Takachar

Plus an interview with Hannah Ritchie from Our World In Data, on plans put forward by the New Zealand Government to tax cow burps.

Email us: theclimatequestion@bbc.com

Producer: Jo Casserly Reporter: Partha Prasad Researcher: Natasha Fernandes Series Producer: Jordan Dunbar Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production coordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross

Up next
Yesterday
How can the world speed up climate action?
<p>How can the world speed up its efforts to fight climate change? </p><p>It’s been a dramatic fortnight at the COP climate summit in the Amazonian city of Belem, with torrential rains and floods, protests and even a fire. A deal has finally been done but it’s divisive and has le ... Show More
29m 17s
Nov 20
The oil lobbyist who tried to sink the first big climate deal
<p>The American lawyer, oil lobbyist and master strategist Don Pearlman is said to have chain-smoked his way through almost every UN climate gathering from the early 1990s until his death in 2005.</p><p>Some of those who saw Pearlman operate in Kyoto, where the first legally bind ... Show More
27m 36s
Nov 16
How does carbon dioxide shape our world?
<p>Carbon dioxide is a molecule so important it has shaped life on Earth for billions of years. Without it, there would be no plants, no oceans, no people. But now, after centuries of burning coal, oil and gas, it's in the atmosphere at levels that alarm scientists.</p><p>In this ... Show More
25m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2022
Cosmic Queries – Climate Change at NASA with Chief Scientist Katherine Calvin
<p>How does NASA combat climate change? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Chuck Nice answer questions about renewable energy, geoengineering, and how science is helping us battle the climate crisis with NASA Chief Scientist Katherine Calvin. </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch ... Show More
46m 6s
Feb 2024
The Life Scientific: Mercedes Maroto-Valer
How do you solve a problem like CO2? As the curtain closes on the world’s most important climate summit, we talk to a scientist who was at COP 28 and is working to solve our carbon dioxide problem. Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer thinks saving the planet is still Mission Possible ... Show More
27m 23s
Apr 2022
Cosmic Queries – Climate Solutions with Katharine Hayhoe, PhD
<p>What solutions exist to fix climate change? On this Earth Day, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice answer Qs about real-world solutions and aspects of climate change you might not be thinking about, with atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe, PhD. </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patron ... Show More
50m 34s
Oct 2023
Why is Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rowing back on climate pledges?
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave a hastily arranged press conference this week in which he confirmed he would be rowing back on some previously made government commitments regarding net zero - the point at which we remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as we put in. The rea ... Show More
35m 10s
Jun 2023
World leaders met in Paris to unlock trillions in climate finance. What did they achieve?
<p>Last week, 50 world leaders met in Paris with the goal of moving trillions in climate finance to developing countries. What was achieved, and what is still left to do? Akshat Rathi was on the ground and gives Oscar Boyd his key takeaways.</p> <p><strong>More:</strong></p> <ul> ... Show More
17m 11s
Sep 2023
How will climate change affect where we can live?
Extreme weather is forcing communities to leave their homes and it's becoming a bigger and bigger issue. What can we do about it? In this edition of BBC Inside Science, Gaia Vince and her guests discuss what climate displacement means for people all over the world. We hear from D ... Show More
28m 6s
Oct 2023
Can climate capitalism work?
<p>It is now cheaper to save the world than destroy it. But is capitalism up to the challenge of preventing the climate crisis? </p> <p>In his new book <em><a href="https://akshatrathi.com/book/">Climate Capitalism</a>, Zero</em> host Akshat Rathi introduces a dozen people who ar ... Show More
30m 14s
Oct 2022
Coming soon: Will climate tech save the planet?
<p>The climate crisis threatens the future of the planet. But don’t worry, technology will save us. At least that’s the message from startups, innovators and investors. Are they right? FT columnist and climate journalist Pilita Clark discovers the tech scene’s latest moonshot eff ... Show More
1 m
Nov 2021
Geoengineering The Planet
Even with the best efforts, it will be decades before we see any change in global temperatures through our mitigation efforts. Given the pace of global heating and the time lag before our emissions reductions have any impact, scientists are exploring additional ways of reducing g ... Show More
27m 23s
Apr 2021
Climate Science! With NASA's Gavin Schmidt
<p>How do we fix climate change? In this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice sit down with Sr. Advisor on Climate Science at NASA, Gavin Schmidt, for the Youth Climate Summit to answer questions about climate change.<strong></strong></p> <p>NOTE: StarTalk+ P ... Show More
46m 39s