Planet Possible

Microchips drive the tech that run the world.

Devices like smartphones and laptops, smart functionality in the Internet Of Things and, of course... AI and the data centres that it is built on.

Energy demand, water demand (for cleaning and cooling), air quality... all are being impacted by the world's relentless demand for more chips, and the functionality they unlock.

But what about the outputs of tech advances? New material discoveries, algorithms that drive efficiency, processing that powers the R&D that could deliver significant planet positive breakthroughs.

All are discussed in this fascinating interview with Rakesh Kumar, Professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois and author of new book 'The Chip Age', out now.

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Presented & Produced by Niki Roach

Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited

With thanks to Alastair Chisholm

Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Planet Possible News

This month our expert co-host is Lee Pitcher MP - Parliamentary Private Secretary for DEFRA (UK Government Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) and he discusses;

1. Public state of preparedness for environmental emergencies such as flooding, wildfires and others. Lee has been involved in the government's process of gathering best practice examples from around the world. What has he learnt?

2. Development of a new International Standard for corporate purpose designed to help organisations go beyond a profit-first mindset. Is this a sign of environmental and sustainable responsibility becoming more prioritised by businesses?

3. Recent successes in restoring nature, like the large blue butterfly in the UK and Chester Zoo's work with rare snails - can these capture the public's imagination and help deliver wider progress on protecting and restoring nature?

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Presented & Produced by Niki Roach

Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited

With thanks to Alastair Chisholm

Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

'Derek Vs Derek' is a new documentary feature film telling the story of two neighbouring farmers in Devon - one who makes maximum food yield his aim... and another totally committed to rewilding.

It's an entertaining, funny and engaging story that brings attention to a far more serious debate - how do we feed our population but also stop nature depletion?

The film's Director James Dawson and Impact Producer Nicola Brown join host Niki roach to discuss.

To find out more about the Derek Vs Derek film, click here.

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Presented & Produced by Niki Roach

Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited

With thanks to Alastair Chisholm

Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

Almost 80 million fans attended professional sporting events in the UK in 2025. 8.9 million people watched England vs Mexico in the World Cup - even though it didn’t kick off until 2am UK time and 150, 000 grassroots sports clubs operate each week across the UK.

So what’s that got to do with water, nature and our climate? We’re joined by Head of Commercial at Bradford City Football Club, Adam Keizer to explore the role football plays in tackling the climate and nature emergencies and hear what Bradford City, winners of the 2026 English Football League Environmental Award, are already doing to make a difference.

Niki’s co-host, CEO of Active Humber and Climate Commissioner, David Gent, shares the wider opportunities that sport provides to help communities understand and take action for both climate and nature.

And find out how Bradford's goal prediction for the 26/7 season makes a difference on and off the pitch!

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Presented & Produced by Niki Roach

Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited

With thanks to Alastair Chisholm

Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

If you had to - could you put a price on how much you value nature? A recent guest, Guy Thompson, described nature as "a supermarket with no checkout" – we just take what we need.

But nature provides us with so much value - underpinning our food and farming systems, providing resilience to flood and drought and benefits to our health and wellbeing.

And there is a growing movement that is changing the status quo, in recognising the value of nature and creating a market to manage the flows of the services it provides.

So how could it work, who pays what and what’s already happening on the ground?

Expert guests, Anne Reaney from Rebalance Earth and Isabel Milligan from Great Yellow, are here to demystify nature finance - and share what they'd want with the Planet Possible Magic Wand.

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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 Roach and Jo Caird chat about these UK focused stories:

Fridge mountains - how piles of unwanted fridges are appearing at recycling centres, across Wales and England.

Our overheating cities - some new data reveals how our cities are heating up.

National Trust plant-based food - how a major UK charity has switched the food in their cafes, to 50% plant based.

Find out more about The Guardian's fridge mountain story here

Find out more about Ordinance Survey's research into overheating cities here

Find out more about The National Trust's plant food policy here

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Presented & Produced by Niki Roach

Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited

With thanks to Alastair Chisholm

Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

In this episode, host Niki Roach travels to Tortugero National Park - 77,000 hectares of tropical rainforest, plough forest and marine protected area.

And Monteverde Institute - a 38-acre campus, and part of 65,000 acres of endangered tropical forest.

Niki’s guests are Andres Gonsalez and Alejandro Torrentes (Tortugero National Park who work alongside SINAC).

They share how the country balances economic growth and nature, and the connection between nature and the Costa Rican culture.

Niki also chats to with Anibal Torres (Director for Community Initiatives, Monteverde Institute) and discovers how the institute supports sustainable tourism, delivers training and research, whilst supporting the local community.

Find out more about Tortugero National Park here

Find out more about Monteverde Institute here

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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 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

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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

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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).

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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