Sep 10, 2026 · 33 min · 9 segments
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…
Jonathon PorrittGuestNiki RoachHost
Niamh LynchGuestWe're delighted that you're joining us to hear evidence-led discussion about topics that are critical to the way we manage our water, nature, and climate.
A huge thanks to our sponsors, Decisio, Arup, and MWH Treatment, and you'll hear a little more about them later.
I am an enthusiastic connector of people and ideas, and a fellow of CIWEM, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management.
In the UK, the Met Office have provisionally put this summer as the warmest on record, with an average mean temperature of 16 and a half degrees, and it's exceeded last year's record.
Mark McCarthy, who's the head of climate attribution at the Met Office, has said that their analysis shows a summer like the one we've just experienced is now around 130 times more likely because of climate change.
In a climate unaffected by human emissions of greenhouse gases, a summer like this would be exceptionally unlikely, around one in over 1,000 years.
And yet in our current climate, we should expect this to be roughly every nine years.
The facts are stark, and over the past few years, climate campaigners have become increasingly active.
So with such a sense of urgency about the need to reduce global emissions and radically adapt to these changes, where is our current politics falling short? And just how far should campaigners go to make their point? I'm joined today to explore this by two superb guests who will bring the topic to life: environmentalist, author, and campaigner Jonathan Porritt, and Niamh Lynch, conservationist and campaigner.
But before we do that, can we start by understanding a little bit about your activism, Niamh?
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We're delighted that you're joining us to hear evidence-led discussion about topics that are critical to the way we manage our water, nature, and climate.
A huge thanks to our sponsors, Decisio, Arup, and MWH Treatment, and you'll hear a little more about them later.
I am an enthusiastic connector of people and ideas, and a fellow of CIWEM, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management.
In the UK, the Met Office have provisionally put this summer as the warmest on record, with an average mean temperature of 16 and a half degrees, and it's exceeded last year's record.
Mark McCarthy, who's the head of climate attribution at the Met Office, has said that their analysis shows a summer like the one we've just experienced is now around 130 times more likely because of climate change.
In a climate unaffected by human emissions of greenhouse gases, a summer like this would be exceptionally unlikely, around one in over 1,000 years.
And yet in our current climate, we should expect this to be roughly every nine years.
The facts are stark, and over the past few years, climate campaigners have become increasingly active.
So with such a sense of urgency about the need to reduce global emissions and radically adapt to these changes, where is our current politics falling short? And just how far should campaigners go to make their point? I'm joined today to explore this by two superb guests who will bring the topic to life: environmentalist, author, and campaigner Jonathan Porritt, and Niamh Lynch, conservationist and campaigner.
But before we do that, can we start by understanding a little bit about your activism, Niamh?