Planet Possible

Hosted by Andy Taylor, Niki Roach

Business Science

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119

Latest episode

Sep 2026

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About the show

Planet Possible gets behind the headlines and straight to the facts of global environmental issues. Join host Niki Roach as she meets practitioners and visionaries working on the big issues in water, nature and climate change - and finds out what they would make possible with the Planet Possible Magic Wand! Planet Possible is brought to you by CIWEM; a community of environmental professionals creating a more positive world. Not enough time to listen to a full episode? Choose the length of pod to fit the time you have with Accordion.live/PlanetPossible

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October 1, 202633 min

Nature Finance in Practice

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. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

September 24, 202619 min

Planet Possible News - September 2026

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 Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

September 17, 202629 min

Costa Rica - A Planet Possible Special

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 Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

September 10, 202633 min

Climate Progress & Inter-Generational Justice

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 Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

September 3, 202633 min

Wastewater Based Epidemiology

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. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

August 27, 202617 min

Planet Possible News - August 2026

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? Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

August 20, 202633 min

Best Of 2026 (So Far)

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. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

August 13, 202633 min

Kelp Beds - A UK Rewilding Case Study

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 Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

August 6, 202634 min

Tony Juniper (Repeat)

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). Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland

July 30, 202629 min

Towards a Green Economy

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. Credits Presented & Produced by Niki Roach Executive Producer Andy Taylor - Bwlb Limited With thanks to Alastair Chisholm Honorary Executive Producer Jane Boland