Generation One: The Climate Podcast

Our Generation One Podcast Series aims to tackle the biggest challenges facing the climate crisis, together with expert guests and questions from the public.

UCL’s Generation One is a collective of people committed to a new era of positive climate action. By turning science and ideas into action we are working towards creating a positive, fair and progressive future. For us and for the generations to come.

Welcome back to season two of the podcast! Join our podcast hosts and world leading climate experts from University College London, Helen Czerski and Mark Maslin for our second six-episode series, which will tackle the biggest challenges facing the climate crisis, together with expert guests and questions from the public. Meet the team here.

Each week on the podcast we’ll be discussing a crucial climate topic, from plant based diets, to tech, to gender and we’ll have a look back at the climate news of the week.

We would love to hear your thoughts, and for you to get involved in the #UCLGenerationOne podcast, email us at podcasts@ucl.ac.uk or find us on Twitter using #UCLGenerationOne

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We have just started Season 3 of our Climate podcast. Whether you've listened to one episode or the whole series, we would appreciate any and all feedback!

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Welcome to Season Three

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Ep 1: LIVE FROM COP27

Welcome back to UCL Generation One: The Climate Podcast. We’re back for a two-part series, and part one is coming to you live from COP27 in Sharm El-Sheik. Join Prof Mark Maslin as he takes us through the conference centre, and chats to multiple people along the journey.

Views expressed by our guests are their own.

Access the transcript here

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Ep 2: POST COP27 - What happened and was it enough?

Join host Helen Czerski as she discusses what happened at the COP27 conference, and whether the negotiations went far enough. Helen is joined by Dr Nadia Ameli and Katie Kedward to discuss the financial implications of COP27, international financial institutions, and also the focus on loss and damage at COP27.

We also hear from Zi Han Xuan, UCL Student and climate activist with YOUNGO, the youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Zi Han shares his perspective as a young person at COP27, and why young voices are so critical.

Access the transcript here

Listen to Season Two

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Ep 1: How can we eat our way to a better planet?

Welcome back to season two of Generation One: The Climate Podcast! We're back with hosts Helen Czerski and Mark Maslin and this episode we're tackling plant based diets. Helen is joined by Tim Van Berkel, Co-Founder of Cornish Seaweed Collective, Prof Tim Lang, emmitrus professor at London City University and Prof Carole Dahlin from UCL's Institute of Sustainable Resources.

Listen now as they get in to the benefits and downfalls of plant based diets, the popularity of superfoods and whether seaweed can become a staple in our diets, and discuss how we can eat our way to a better plant.

Access the transcript here

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Ep 2: Are women more at risk from the climate crisis?

Welcome back to episode two of Generation One: The Climate Podcast. Mark’s here this week with two brilliant guests, Dr Virginie Le Masson, from the UCL Institute of Gender and Disaster, and Mathilde Rainard, master's student at the University of Leeds and UNFCCC Consultant.

This week we’re talking about gender and how it intersects into the climate crisis, from tackling single-use period products to much needed policy changes. Listen now to hear about how and why women are more negatively impacted by climate change, as well as what we can do about it.

Access the transcript here

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Ep 3: Why are bees and wasps important?

Why are bees and wasps so important? Join host Helen Czerski this week as she dives into why insects are so critical to our ecosystem, how the climate crisis is impacting them and what the long term impact will be.

Helen is joined by Dr Tim Newbold and Dr Seirian Sumner from UCL Division of Biosciences as they debate why wasps are as important as bees, and why and how we need to protect them both.

Access the transcript here

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Ep 4: Can apps help solve the climate crisis?

This week we are looking at apps and technology, and whether they can help us fight the climate crisis. Listen now to hear host Mark Maslin chat to Chris Tan, Co-Founder of Marble app and UCL master's student, and Ed Caldecott, co-founder of TrainHugger.

Mark and his guests are discussing how apps can be vital tools for consumers, the fight to keep them accessible for all and the long-term impact they could have.

Access the transcript

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Ep 5: How do we make London as bike friendly as Amsterdam?

This week we're tackling the question: how do we make London as bike friendly as Amsterdam? Host Helen Czerski is joined by Richard Jackson, Director of Sustainability at UCL and Will Norman, Walking and Cycling Commissioner for London and TFL.

They are discussing cycling in London, plans for making it even safer, and the impact of electric scooters on our streets.

Access the transcript

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Ep 6: How should we tackle climate disasters?

It is the final episode of season two! Hosts Mark and Helen are wrapping up this season with a conversation on disaster, mitigation and climate change.

Dr Ilan Kelman and Prof Lisa Vanhala are sitting down with Mark to discuss defining natural disasters and what can be done to mitigate climate change.

Access the transcript here

Season One

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Ep 1: How far can we go with electric batteries?

Welcome to Generation One: The Climate Podcast. In our first episode, our hosts are discussing energy infrastructure, electric storage and and addressing the question: How far can we go with electric batteries?

This week we are joined by Nick Hughes, from the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, to chat energy infrastructure, electric cars, and what needs to change for an electric future.

Access the transcript here

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Ep 2: Behind the scenes at COP26

We’re back for the second episode of Generation One: The Climate Podcast and this week we’re behind the scenes at COP26 in Glasgow.

Our hosts Matt Winning and Mark Maslin recorded on the run, live from COP to catch guests in the hubbub of the main areas of the conference. Tune in to experience a slice of COP from a whole host of guests and hear them chat about everything from the wins at COP so far, melting ice caps, to sinking islands, to the amount of coffee at the conference...

Access the transcript here

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Ep 3: Post COP26: Where are we now?

This week we’re talking COP26: what happened, what it means and where we go from here. Join our hosts Helen Czerski and Mark Maslin in conversation with Prof Kate Jones, Dr Priti Parikh and Ryan Philip from the St Kitts and Nevis delegation, and they are discussing the COP agreement, what was missed, the big wins and the big misses.

Helen and our guests cover the main takeaways from COP from deforestation to adaptation, loss and mitigation. We get into who was left out of COP, the impacts on the Small Island Alliance and the problem of western countries causing damage and expecting others to fix it.

Access the transcript here

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Ep 4: Trees matter. But just how much?

This week we’re talking trees, from Kew Gardens to Dame Judi Dench’s back garden. Join hosts Matt Winning and Mark Maslin as they chat to Prof Mat Disney about measuring trees, and to Craig Bennett, CEO of Wildlife Trusts about the importance of biodiversity, and how the UK is ‘beaver ready’.

Listen now to hear about a NASA app that allows you to measure trees around you and assess how much carbon they can hold. We also chat about the UK climate, how wildlife is on a decline and what needs to be done now to undo the damage.

Access the transcript here

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Ep 5: Does the earth have to be a fashion victim?

Does the earth have to be a fashion victim? This week host Mark Maslin chats with Juliet Russell, Head of Sustainability at Stella McCartney and Max Bittner, CEO of Vestiaire Collective about all things fashion.

We’re discussing the fashion industry, from greenwashing to fast fashion and how you can shop more consciously. Join Juliet Russell and Max Bittner as they discuss the current problems in the industry and what needs to change.

Access the transcript here

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Ep 6: Must cutting CO2 cost more for those with less?

Welcome back to the finale of series one of Generation One, this week Dr Matt Winning is chatting about finance and tackling the question: Must cutting CO2 cost more for those with less?

This week he is joined by Heather McKay, sustainable finance policy advisor at E3G, an independent climate change think tank, and Ashish Ghadiali, filmmaker and activist-in-residence at the Sarah Parker Remond Centre.

Listen now to hear them discuss how finance is necessary to make action happen, how the UK is aiming to be a green finance leader and how we have to start by looking at big systematic change as well as the small individual actions you can take.

Access the transcript here

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Meet the team

Our Podcast Hosts

Season 1: Dr Matthew Winning is a Senior Research Associate at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources with a background in environmental economics. He provides economic analysis, often in the form of macroeconomic modelling and energy system modelling, on the subjects of climate policy, green growth, the circular economy, climate finance and low-carbon transitions. Matthew is also an author on the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change and is involved in many public engagement activities, from podcasts, to live comedy shows.

Dr Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer, and Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Helen has been a regular science presenter on the BBC for ten years, covering the physics of the natural world in BBC2 landmark documentaries, and the physics of everyday life in a range of BBC4 documentaries. She is a frequent voice on the radio and on podcasts and writes regularly about science, and her first book Storm in a Teacup won the Italian Asimov Prize and the Louis J. Battan Author prize from the American Meteorological Society.

Professor Mark Maslin is a Professor of Earth System Science at University College London. Mark is a leading scientist with expertise in past global and regional climatic change, his areas of scientific expertise include causes of past and future global climate change and its effects on the global carbon cycle, biodiversity, rainforests and human evolution. Mark has presented over 50 public talks over the last five years, he has also have written 8 popular books, over 60 popular articles, and appeared on radio and television.

Executive Production Team

Adam Batstone – Producer
Stephanie Limuaco – Campaigns Manager
Halle McCarthy – Campaigns Officer
Jane Bolger – Media Relations