In this interview we recorded at COP29, Professor Hugh Hunt speaks with UK Climate Change Committee Chair, Piers Forster.

[Order 'COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate' by Nick Breeze]

Piers clearly asserts that Carbon Capture and Storage technologies (CCS), that are forecast to remove emissions from so-called hard-to-abate sectors like aviation and steel, will not be enough to offset the damage causing carbon pollution.

Whether CCS is viable at any meaningful scale remains highly uncertain. At a time when global heating is accelerating and the destructive impacts, such as fires and floods, are making much of the planet uninsurable, phasing out fossil fuels and reducing carbon pollution has never been a more serious issue.

Forster also responds to questions related to Al Gore calling CCS a fraud and whether the UK is anywhere near prepared for the more extreme climate impacts that are coming towards us.

The UK must take phasing out fossil fuels and protecting nature seriously, to send a signal that we are truly out of the extractive and destructive 20th century mindset that has become an existential threat.

Thanks for listening.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in UK Decarbonisation

Piers Forster confirmed that CCS plays a role in the UK's net-zero strategy, particularly for difficult-to-decarbonise industries and sectors like aviation, which faces major challenges in reducing emissions. He emphasised that "you can't get there all the way with carbon capture and storage," making it clear that reducing emissions must remain the priority. The UK government has earmarked £22 billion for CCS over 25 years, mainly to support two industrial clusters, ensuring a "just transition" without shutting down key industries like Port Talbot and Grangemouth.

Response to Al Gore’s Accusation that CCS “… is a fraud!”

When asked about Al Gore calling CCS a "fraud," Forster acknowledged concerns, stating, "it depends on the context." He explained that CCS should not be used to justify fossil fuel expansion but should be reserved for sectors with no viable alternatives. "As soon as you say you want to use it for generating electricity, that's not a good use of it at all," he said, advocating for renewables like wind and solar instead.

UK Preparedness for Extreme Weather

Forster was clear about the UK's lack of readiness:

"We are absolutely not prepared. We should be. We are encouraging the government to really think about climate resilience, just as it thinks about reducing its emissions.”

He stressed the need for urgent action to protect infrastructure, homes, and lives from increasing climate risks.

Welcome to this ClimateGenn episode recorded during COP29 in Baku, a conference unashamedly hijacked by the fossil fuel industry. John D. Liu is a renowned ecologist, filmmaker, and environmental advocate. Liu's later career has been dedicated to large-scale ecosystem restoration, emphasising the profound impact of natural regeneration in combating climate change. His pioneering work with the Ecosystem Restoration Camps and his advocacy for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration have made significant contributions to global environmental efforts. This discussion offers profound insights into reimagining our future through the lens of ecological restoration and sustainability.

If you are concerned about the future then why not travel with me through every COP conference from COP21 in Paris to COP28 in Dubai, by ordering my book ‘COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate’. In COPOUT you’ll gain insights into what actually is going on in these supposed world saving conferences and how we have ended up in this dire era of dangerous consequences. You can order COPOUT via the link in the notes or on any online bookstore worldwide in paperback and audio version.

2025 has opened with terrifying wildfires in Loss Angeles demonstrating that climate catastrophe is not only here but that it is tearing great holes in the fabric of our societies. I will be posting many more interviews and also adding many more archive interviews on key topics to the members area.

Thank to you for listening, sharing and also to all subscribers for support.

Order COPOUT: https://amzn.to/4gSAU19

As Gabriel says in the interview, if the AMOC collapses then we can expect much harsher weather in Europe (especially in UK & Ireland) as less heat is transported via the Atlantic circulation. Less heat means less moisture leading to less rain and more drought. In these conditions, food production is impossible and, with concurrent food crashes around the globe, famine is likely. What an AMOC collapse means for us all should be understood by citizens and policymakers alike. Averting it, if possible, a primary collective goal.

From Climate Genn host Nick Breeze:

Welcome to this ClimateGenn Episode. That opening clip was recorded on the Cryosphere Pavilion at COP29 in Baku. It shows IPCC Deputy Chair, Diana Urge-Vorsatz asking Professor Stefan Rahmsdorf about the latest research on the potential halting of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation – known as AMOC – the ocean currents that transport heat from the tropics to the north Atlantic.

In this following interview with researcher Gabriel Pontes, we expand on his recent AMOC research and what this means for places like the UK and Ireland, identifying key components of the AMOC puzzle. We also consider whether policymakers should be weighing this kind of climate risk more seriously.

If you are interested in how the COPs have been manipulated and rendered unfit for purpose by successive governments then you can order my book ‘COPOUT’ from any online retailer. COPOUT traces my own footsteps documenting the failures that have led us to where we are now in the era of severe consequences.

In the next episode I speak with Camilla Gjerde about her recently published book, Natural Trailblazers, about the authors travels in search of .

Welcome to this episode of ClimateGenn recorded at the end of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The question we are putting to Norwegian MP for Oslo, Ola Elvestuen is:

Should Norway’s Equinor energy company cease new oil and gas production to avoid irreversible climate catastrophe?

A quick note that if you want to come with me into the COPs from COP21 Paris to COP28 in the UAE, meeting lots of experts, and digesting the layers of complexity and eye-popping contradictions, over a beer or glass of wine, then order my book ‘COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate’, from any online retailer. COPOUT has been commended as ‘A Must Read’ and ‘Essential Reading’, taking the reader up close to the worlds largest summit to try to change our current disastrous trajectory for climate breakdown.

Norwegian fossil energy company, Equinor, formerly Statoil, has been widely criticised for not aligning with the Paris Agreement. Equinor continues to plan for expanded oil and gas production, maintaining a dangerously high 95% reliance of fossil fuel revenue by 2026.

Critics argue that Equinor must halt new fossil fuel exploration and stop developing pre-final Investment Decision (FID) projects outside Norway to avoid 67% of emissions from unapproved projects. Equinor’s capital expenditures conflict with essential climate goals, raising concerns about greenwashing and inadequate short-term emission reduction targets.

This next excerpt from Professor Kevin Anderson is taken from the last ClimateGenn episode and was recorded the day before this interview with Ola Elvestuen. Thank you for your attention:

Welcome to ClimateGenn. I recorded this interview with Professor Kevin Anderson via Zoom from Baku in the last days of COP29. Kevin provides some critical insights into how the headlines we often see reported breakdown from a numerical standpoint.

Although the COPs remain an important component of our overall global diplomatic approach to this complex existential problem, there are no signals that the promise of the Paris Agreement will be kept by the nations who repeatedly pledge to hold to it.

So what do we do? Here Kevin offers a range of his insights. With the clock ticking, and human greed still in charge of the agenda, our collective agency and actions matter much more than we can ever imagine.

Thank you for listening. There are many more episodes on the way. Please subscribe to support this work, or you can order my book COPOUT and join me on the journey from COP21 to COP28 to see how we have ended up in this mess and why we urgently need to break the pattern.

Thank you.

In this Climategenn episode we hear two committed voices non different sides of the climate engineering debate, make their cases as to why we should or should not research geoengineering with the intention of deployment to cool the Earth.

Dr Heidi Sevestre is an internationally renowned polar scientist making the case against climate engineering (also known as geoengineering) and Herb Simmens is the founder of an international group called the Healthy Planet Action Coalition (HPAC). Both interviews were recorded at COP29 and reflect entrenched positions on both sides of the debate. There are many more voices and we urgently need to hear them - not least from the vulnerable communities who maybe severely impacted by such cooling schemes.

The last word goes to Professor Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Vice Chair of the IPCC, where she comments on how climate engineering is moving into the main literature advising the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Thanks for listening. Subscribers can preview the episode recorded during week 2 with Professor Kevin Anderson ahead of its as yet unknown publishing date.

If you have been following the UN Climate Summit and want to go inside the talks, accompanied by countless expert insights, then order my book COPOUT from all online outlets worldwide, in paperback and audio formats.

In this interview with the Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Professor Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, gives her perspective on a range of critical issues - in part presenting a glass-half-full perspective, despite so many mounting challenges.

This was recorded on Saturday 16th Nov at the midway point through COP29. Since the COP has ended, countries have finalised a $300 billion dollar pledge to vulnerable nations set against a required $1.3 trillion by 2035. Trust between so-called developed and developing or vulnerable nations remains stubbornly low. But meeting the $1.3 trillion required funding is not a charity gift, but rather a collaborative investment in all our futures. Until we collectively realise the only way forward is with all hands seen as equal, the fate for us all remains entirely bleak.

More COP29 interviews are on the way as well as an interview this week with the author of a new study on the state of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) that risks up-ending all our climate rhetoric to date.

If you want a fast paced journey through the last eight COPs from Paris to the UAE then order my book COPOUT online, in paperback or audio, from all main retailers. This was my 9th COPOUT experience and I’ll be writing a supplementary chapter in the coming weeks that will include astonishing in-person admissions from delegates of fossil fuel producing nations as well as forays into the north of Azerbaijan through decimated landscapes and threadbare ecosystems.

Thanks to all subscribers!

Summary:

COP29 Baku series of interviews - also consider buying Nick's book, COPOUT - How governments have failed the people on climate. Available online worldwide in paperback ebook and audio formats.

Key Points from Ina-Maria Shikongo:

1. Reason for Attending COP29: Advocates for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and opposes Namibia’s plans for offshore oil drilling amidst the climate crisis.
2. Climate Impacts in Namibia: Namibia faces severe drought, hunger affecting over 50% of the population, and controversial plans to cull wildlife to feed communities.
3. Oil and Gas Exploration: Major players like Shell, Total Energies, and BW Energy are involved in Namibia. Concerns over corruption, lack of benefits for locals, and unethical practices in oil projects.
4. Human Rights Violations: Oil extraction often results in displacement, environmental damage, and lack of compensation for affected communities.
5. Censorship and Risks: Activism in Namibia faces censorship, intimidation, and legal challenges. Shikongo is included in misleading corporate reports without her consent.
6. Global Climate Inequities: Criticizes the prioritization of profits over environmental and human rights, highlighting inadequate climate finance and infrastructure in Europe and Africa.
7. Concerns about COP30: Hopes for greater freedom of expression in Brazil but fears ongoing prioritization of oil interests, risking indigenous rights and environmental protections.