A War on Climate Change: Are Environmental Activists Losing The Fight? (Chris Packham)
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 27 November 2025
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What does it mean to confront climate change? Amol speaks to broadcaster and campaigner Chris Packham who says conservationists like him have not done enough to protect nature.
After the COP climate summit in Brazil ended without new targets to reduce the use of fossil fuels, he wants the UK government to lead a global emergency action plan as it did in World War Two and during the 2008 financial crisis to address what he calls climate and nature breakdown.
The Springwatch and Winterwatch presenter also highlights the importance of biodiversity, how carbon emissions affect our health, and the practical steps individuals can take to make a difference.
But ultimately he says we need a policy shift, which makes polluters pay.
Chris also speaks candidly about his neurodiversity, his compulsion to speak truth to power and the personal price he pays for his campaigning.
(00:06:27) The scale of the climate crisis
(00:09:22) What he wants the UK government to do
(00:12:23) Why climate change has fallen down the political agenda
(00:14:52) Short term vs long term decisions
(00:20:26) Are net zero policies working?
(00:33:55) Environmentalism as a form of misanthropy
(00:40:14) Radical solutions
(00:44:02) What Chris does to help the environment
(00:45:40) Why he thinks he and other conservationists have failed
(00:48:01) What individuals can do
(00:57:38) The price he’s paid for his campaigning
(00:59:55) Neurodiversity
(01:02:38) Amol’s reflections
GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: radical@bbc.co.uk Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Johnny Baker. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Our radical experiment has begun. On Monday, we dropped our first listener Q&A episode where you get to put your questions to our brilliant world-class guests. It's with The Farmer, The Shepherd, the writer, best-selling writer, James Rebanks. If you go back and find that one once you've listened to this episode, I promise you, you won't be disappointed. It was really good. So the next person that we want your questions for is none other than... Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum. Jamie Oliver. He's going to be joining me to talk about his years of campaigning, why he's still concerned about the health of the nation, both in terms of our physical health, but also our financial health. |
| 0:42.4 | We're going to talk about his career in broadcasting, might even ask him a few questions about food. |
| 0:47.3 | If you have a question for Jamie Oliver, please send us a voice note on WhatsApp to 033-439480. That's 0-330-123-9480. Or you can email us, |
| 1:00.6 | Radical at bbc.com.uk. Please do send us your questions for Jamie Oliver. Right then, |
| 1:06.7 | here's this week's episode. |
| 1:10.2 | Hello, it's Amol here. |
| 1:11.8 | Welcome to radical conversations about the deep global trends changing our world |
| 1:16.0 | and offering you some pretty radical ideas to help you win the future. |
| 1:23.3 | This year's COP summit in Brazil, that's the COP 30 Climate Summit, |
| 1:34.9 | ended without new pledges to cut the use of fossil fuels, but it did acknowledge a previous landmark agreement to transition away from them. |
| 1:45.2 | For people like the conservationist, campaigner and broadcaster Chris Packham, who's our guest this week, it highlighted just how far the issue of climate change or climate crisis, as I guess he would call it, has slipped down the political agenda. So he now wants the UK government to |
| 1:51.1 | urgently lead a global emergency action plan as it did during the Second World War and |
| 1:56.9 | during the 2008 financial crisis to urgently address climate and nature breakdown. |
| 2:03.0 | It is a radical call to arms, but what would it actually involve? |
| 2:07.0 | And are people, like Chris Packham, swimming against a political tide? |
| 2:16.9 | Christopher Packham. |
| 2:18.7 | How are you? |
| 2:20.2 | Well, I'm feeling a bit isolated, frustrated, angry, but most of all scared. |
| 2:25.2 | So, you know, break that down. |
| 2:27.2 | Well, okay, let's take this into it. |
| 2:28.4 | Isolated, frustrated, angry and scared. |
| 2:30.5 | Isolated why? |
... |
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