The Climate Question

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:
Dario Hidalgo – Professor of Transport and Logistics, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá
Sarah Kaufman – Director, NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, New York
Got a question or comment? email us at [email protected]
Production team: Grace Braddock, Diane Richardson, Nik Sindle, Melanie Stewart-Smith
Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell and Mike Regaard
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Simon Watts
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
Sound Mix: Tom Brignell and Johnny Hall
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Simon Watts
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:
Neta Crawford, Professor of International Relations, University of St Andrews.
Dr. Benjamin Neimark, Associate Professor at Queen Mary, University of London
Got a question or comment? email us at [email protected]
Producers: Diane Richardson, Grace Braddock
Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell and Philip Bull
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Simon Watts

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
Sound Engineers: Tom Brignell and James Piper
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Simon Watts

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
Guest: Laura Bicker, BBC China Correspondent
Producer in China: Joyce Liu
Production Team in London: Simon Watts and Grace Braddock
Sound Mix: Philip Bull and Tom Brignell
Editor: Simon Watts
Image: BBC - Solar panels in Yunnan, China