Cel Spellman: Hello, how are you? Welcome along to episode five of
Cel Spellman: Call of the Wild, the podcast from WWF with yours
Cel Spellman: truly, Cel Spellman, where I find out about the threats
Cel Spellman: to our planet, and more importantly, how we can fight
Cel Spellman: back. Now, friends, this month it's the big one. Oh
Cel Spellman: yes, it is all about climate. Now, it is no
Cel Spellman: secret that climate change is happening. It is a fact,
Cel Spellman: and it is destroying our world. If you sat there listening
Cel Spellman: and go, " That comes as a bit of a surprise,"
Cel Spellman: I do not know where you've been hiding over the
Cel Spellman: last 10, 15, 20 years. Here's a fact for you: there's more
Cel Spellman: carbon dioxide in our atmosphere now than at any other
Cel Spellman: time in human history. In just a single lifetime, we've
Cel Spellman: seen and continue to see important forests be wiped out,
Cel Spellman: unpredictable weather patterns, the air become filled with harmful emissions.
Cel Spellman: And all of this is creating a hotter and increasingly unstable
Cel Spellman: planet. Transport plays a big role in this. It is the
Cel Spellman: single biggest source of UK emissions. Get this, but only
Cel Spellman: 6% of the global population has ever stepped foot on
Cel Spellman: a plane and only 50% of the UK fly in any
Cel Spellman: given year. So in this episode, I'm going to be
Cel Spellman: joined by singer and songwriter Birdy on her efforts to
Cel Spellman: live and work more sustainably.
Birdy: Just being in lockdown actually and not being able to
Birdy: travel has made us all more aware of how much maybe we
Birdy: don't really need to for a lot of things.
Cel Spellman: I'll also be chatting with the brilliant Gareth Redmond- King,
Cel Spellman: former head of climate at WWF- UK, to find out
Cel Spellman: the extent of the problem.
Gareth Redmond-King: We've seen increasing levels of extreme weather. As the climate
Gareth Redmond-King: system becomes more unstable, we see storms happening not just
Gareth Redmond-King: every year, but several times a year.
Cel Spellman: Plus, we'll be finding out how to cut our carbon
Cel Spellman: footprint and discovering green ways to travel. The thing that
Cel Spellman: is really driving the climate crisis is carbon dioxide emissions,
Cel Spellman: or you might've heard the term as greenhouse gases. These
Cel Spellman: are heating up our planet. These emissions are behind almost
Cel Spellman: everything in our lives, not just travel, from our internet
Cel Spellman: usage to our banks. Now, when I was at school,
Cel Spellman: we talked about global warming. Then it was all about
Cel Spellman: climate change, but now it's a climate crisis. But what
Cel Spellman: does that actually mean? It was a question that I
Cel Spellman: asked Gareth Redmond- King, the former head of climate at WWF- UK.
Gareth Redmond-King: The really striking fact that we've moved from one area
Gareth Redmond-King: into another quite recently, that humans on this planet, we've
Gareth Redmond-King: lived in a sort of stable Garden of Eden for 12,
Gareth Redmond-King: 000 years when temperature has gone up and down only
Gareth Redmond-King: within one degree centigrade. And then within the last 100
Gareth Redmond-King: years, because of things that we've done as humans, that
Gareth Redmond-King: temperature change has gone up by more than one degree.
Gareth Redmond-King: So it's the rate at which we are driving change
Gareth Redmond-King: that is what's pushing us towards this being a crisis.
Gareth Redmond-King: It's just how much the planet is heating up, the
Gareth Redmond-King: threat that that's posing to species and to people around
Gareth Redmond-King: the world, the fact that we're not acting fast enough
Gareth Redmond-King: yet, and the fact that ultimately this becomes existential for
Gareth Redmond-King: us as a species. Those are the things that, for
Gareth Redmond-King: me, make this a crisis.
Cel Spellman: I feel now it's widely accepted, thankfully and finally, that
Cel Spellman: this is an emergency, including by the UK government. One
Cel Spellman: thing that summed up that for me was the Paris
Cel Spellman: Climate Agreement in 2015, a commitment from 197 countries to
Cel Spellman: get emissions under control. Here's what it's all about.
Speaker 4: Our home, Planet Earth, is on fire. If carbon emissions
Speaker 4: continue to rise, things will only get hotter and life
Speaker 4: and the planet, as we know it, will continue to
Speaker 4: change at an ever- faster and more dangerous rate. In
Speaker 4: 2015, global leaders met in Paris and reached a landmark
Speaker 4: agreement to fight climate change. And so, the Paris Agreement
Speaker 4: was created. But what does it mean?
Speaker 5: The Paris Agreement's central aim is to significantly reduce the
Speaker 5: risks and impacts of climate change by keeping a global
Speaker 5: temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius by the
Speaker 5: end of the century. Thus, nations need to pursue efforts
Speaker 5: to limit the temperature increase even further to 1. 5
Speaker 5: degrees Celsius.
Speaker 4: So by the year 2100, we need to stop the
Speaker 4: global temperature from increasing by more than 1. 5 degrees Celsius. And
Speaker 4: that starts with cutting carbon emissions right now. We can't
Speaker 4: wait until 2030 or even 2025. Greenhouse gas emissions, of
Speaker 4: which carbon dioxide is the biggest and perhaps best known,
Speaker 4: come from burning fossil fuels. That's coal, gas, and oil.
Speaker 4: These greenhouse gases act like a blanket around our planet.
Speaker 4: They're essential for life to exist, but the more and
Speaker 4: more greenhouse gases we pump into the atmosphere, the thicker
Speaker 4: the blanket, making Earth hotter and hotter. We already see
Speaker 4: serious impacts now, including threatening extinction for one in six
Speaker 4: species globally. And if we go beyond 1. 5 degrees, and
Speaker 4: especially beyond two degrees Celsius, then we'll experience some severe
Speaker 4: impacts. Extreme weather, for example, and some countries will experience
Speaker 4: extreme drought, leading to crop failure and even making parts
Speaker 4: of our planet uninhabitable. It's not a pretty picture, but
Speaker 4: we can all make a positive difference. Even if all of
Speaker 4: the commitments under the Paris Agreement are delivered, we're currently
Speaker 4: on track for a rise of three degrees by the
Speaker 4: end of the century. Countries are making stronger commitments now
Speaker 4: and stepping up ambition, but we've still got some work
Speaker 4: to do.
Cel Spellman: Well, safe to say, we most certainly do. So that's
Cel Spellman: what went down in 2015. Now, have we stuck to
Cel Spellman: everything we said then? I'm not entirely sure. I think
Cel Spellman: if you were to go away and maybe do some
Cel Spellman: digging, you'd maybe see that not much has happened since
Cel Spellman: then. But we've got something coming up called COP26, and
Cel Spellman: we're hosting it in the UK this year, in Glasgow
Cel Spellman: to be precise. Now, COP26 will be the biggest summit
Cel Spellman: the UK has ever hosted. It's likely going to be
Cel Spellman: the most significant climate event since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Cel Spellman: Now we'll find out about the progress that's been made
Cel Spellman: since the Paris Agreement and, hopefully, there will be some
Cel Spellman: new and much- needed vital decisions on how to cut
Cel Spellman: carbon emissions and turn the tide on the climate crisis.
Cel Spellman: I don't know about you, but I, for one, definitely
Cel Spellman: want to avoid going beyond a rise of 1. 5 degrees.
Cel Spellman: Gareth, it's pretty bleak if we don't stick to the
Cel Spellman: targets from the Paris Agreement, isn't it?
Gareth Redmond-King: As we've seen in recent years in this country, in
Gareth Redmond-King: the US, in all parts of the world, we've seen
Gareth Redmond-King: increasing levels of extreme weather. As the climate system becomes
Gareth Redmond-King: more unstable, we see storms happening not just every year,
Gareth Redmond-King: but several times a year. We're seeing impacts on species.
Gareth Redmond-King: As some animals and birds and insects move to find
Gareth Redmond-King: food or the temperature in the landscape have changed, so
Gareth Redmond-King: it affects their ability to breed and to survive. We're
Gareth Redmond-King: seeing, and we'll increasingly see, sea level rises as ice
Gareth Redmond-King: sheets at the Poles melt. But we talk about it
Gareth Redmond-King: now because it's not doom and gloom. It's not a
Gareth Redmond-King: given that this has to happen. We have the time.
Gareth Redmond-King: We have the means. We also need to be galvanized
Gareth Redmond-King: by the hope that we can still tackle this, we
Gareth Redmond-King: do still know how to tackle this, and we do still have time.
Cel Spellman: Tell you what Gareth, you're made for this podcast. Travel,
Cel Spellman: I'm guessing, is one of the biggest contributors to these
Cel Spellman: carbon emissions and greenhouse gases that we're talking about.
Gareth Redmond-King: Yeah, I mean, here in the UK, transport emissions, it's
Gareth Redmond-King: the single biggest contributing factor. It's about 28% of the emissions
Gareth Redmond-King: of the greenhouse gas emissions here in the UK. Globally,
Gareth Redmond-King: it's a bit lower, but it's still pretty high. It's
Gareth Redmond-King: 14% globally. It's because in order to move most of
Gareth Redmond-King: our means of transport, we burn oil. The troubling thing
Gareth Redmond-King: with this as well here in the UK is that
Gareth Redmond-King: we've been getting to grips with emissions from power generation
Gareth Redmond-King: here in the UK, but transport hasn't been falling in
Gareth Redmond-King: the way it needs to.
Cel Spellman: So big one this, because it feels like the minute
Cel Spellman: this conversation is raised, we go straight to the aviation
Cel Spellman: industry. And then everyone's saying, " Well, you shouldn't be flying."
Cel Spellman: Is there a balance that can be found?
Gareth Redmond-King: One thing to say about that 28% is actually very little
Gareth Redmond-King: of that is flying. That's mostly our surface transport. Because
Gareth Redmond-King: of the way that we count emissions under the Paris
Gareth Redmond-King: Agreement, we actually only include domestic aviation. But thinking of
Gareth Redmond-King: many of the people who might be listening to this,
Gareth Redmond-King: I don't think it's fair to say we all have
Gareth Redmond-King: to stop flying. 1% of people globally, 1% are responsible for
Gareth Redmond-King: half of the aviation emissions.
Cel Spellman: What?
Gareth Redmond-King: So that means that there is a small number of
Gareth Redmond-King: people doing an awful lot of flying, flying very routinely,
Gareth Redmond-King: whether that's domestically or internationally. And it's not people going
Gareth Redmond-King: on one holiday a year or one holiday every couple
Gareth Redmond-King: of years.
Cel Spellman: That is mad. Yeah. I mean, as far as on
Cel Spellman: a broader sense then when it comes to our traveling
Cel Spellman: and also aviation comes into that, are the solutions out
Cel Spellman: there for us maybe to move towards a more sustainable
Cel Spellman: way of travel as a country as a whole?
Gareth Redmond-King: Firstly, it would be good if we had fewer cars
Gareth Redmond-King: on the roads at all, because actually they take up
Gareth Redmond-King: a lot of space and carry very few people. We
Gareth Redmond-King: need to replace those cars with electric vehicles, where we
Gareth Redmond-King: do need vehicles on the road. And we need them
Gareth Redmond-King: to be powered by renewable electricity because it's obviously no
Gareth Redmond-King: good putting coal- powered electricity into your car. That's still
Gareth Redmond-King: emissions. So, yes, we know what you need to do
Gareth Redmond-King: to make a town or city welcoming and safe for
Gareth Redmond-King: people to walk and to cycle more. We could do
Gareth Redmond-King: with getting smaller cars. Would you believe, last year, globally,
Gareth Redmond-King: SUVs, sports utility vehicles, these great big tanks that people
Gareth Redmond-King: drive around towns and cities, globally they were the second
Gareth Redmond-King: biggest driver, if you'll forgive the pun, behind the increase
Gareth Redmond-King: in carbon emissions last year?
Cel Spellman: Wow.
Gareth Redmond-King: Only the global power sector was a bigger driver of
Gareth Redmond-King: the increase in emissions last year. So yeah, we've got
Gareth Redmond-King: the solutions for surface transport, much harder for aviation.
Cel Spellman: Who would you say mainly the responsibility falls on to
Cel Spellman: implement these things that we've talked about, Gareth? Because speaking
Cel Spellman: from experience, and this was very recently, I needed to get a
Cel Spellman: new car. It was so expensive for me to have
Cel Spellman: an electric car. I was looking at minimum 20 to 25 grand.
Cel Spellman: I've tried to make the responsible decision as the consumer,
Cel Spellman: but the framework, so to speak, wasn't in place for
Cel Spellman: me to make that decision. So where does the responsibility fall?
Gareth Redmond-King: It's a mixture. To some extent, obviously, it falls to
Gareth Redmond-King: government to drive this at the start. And then business
Gareth Redmond-King: picks up the baton and runs with it, and these things
Gareth Redmond-King: become affordable. That's the pattern we see over and over.
Gareth Redmond-King: We've seen it with renewable electricity. So if we were
Gareth Redmond-King: having this conversation just even a decade ago, there would have been
Gareth Redmond-King: people scoffing at the idea that we would have had
Gareth Redmond-King: a third of our electricity being generated from renewables here
Gareth Redmond-King: in the UK. Actually, what government did was it provided
Gareth Redmond-King: subsidy. It provided the regulatory framework and the policy. It
Gareth Redmond-King: sent really important signals to the market that this was
Gareth Redmond-King: something that was committed to. And that's what we need to
Gareth Redmond-King: see with electric vehicles. And hurray, we've just had one
Gareth Redmond-King: by government saying, " We're going to ban the sale of
Gareth Redmond-King: petrol and diesel cars in 2030. That's a huge signal
Gareth Redmond-King: to the market to say, " Get your finger out, make
Gareth Redmond-King: these vehicles, make them affordable because otherwise, you haven't got
Gareth Redmond-King: a market in 10 years' time." They need to do
Gareth Redmond-King: more of that to make it cheaper, easier, and more accessible.
Cel Spellman: What else can we be doing as individuals, do you
Cel Spellman: think? When it comes to travel, what choices can we
Cel Spellman: be making to help make a difference?
Gareth Redmond-King: The answer to any question of what we can do
Gareth Redmond-King: as individuals comes down to our choices and our voices.
Gareth Redmond-King: We have to raise our voices to politicians about all of
Gareth Redmond-King: this. But yes, there are choices we can make around
Gareth Redmond-King: driving less. Cycling, walking, that's a nice, easy solution if
Gareth Redmond-King: you live in a city, particularly a city that is
Gareth Redmond-King: doing good stuff around putting infrastructure in to make it safer.
Gareth Redmond-King: Obviously, that's a lot harder out in rural areas where
Gareth Redmond-King: there are much bigger distances. But that's when it comes
Gareth Redmond-King: down to voices as well. You shouldn't have to rely
Gareth Redmond-King: solely on owning a great big car to get from
Gareth Redmond-King: A to B because you don't live in a city.
Gareth Redmond-King: There should be decent public transport provision. And that's where
Gareth Redmond-King: it comes to our voices. But not just raising your
Gareth Redmond-King: voice to government and to businesses. The people who are
Gareth Redmond-King: most influential in our lives are our friends and family.
Gareth Redmond-King: So talk to your friends about it, talk to your
Gareth Redmond-King: family about it. That's how you have a knock- on
Gareth Redmond-King: effect as well and help other people to make changes
Gareth Redmond-King: and help other people to raise their voices and to
Gareth Redmond-King: make their voices heard to politicians and to businesses.
Cel Spellman: Thank you so much to the brilliant Gareth Redmond- King
Cel Spellman: from WWF- UK. Now, I say it a lot here
Cel Spellman: on Call of the Wild and, actually, generally in my day- to-
Cel Spellman: day, but I say it because I wholeheartedly believe in
Cel Spellman: it: people power. Now, we'll have more carbon- conscious tips
Cel Spellman: for you at the end of the podcast. And coming
Cel Spellman: up, don't forget, I'm going to be speaking to singer-
Cel Spellman: songwriter, Birdy, about her sustainable journey. The climate crisis isn't
Cel Spellman: something that's happening in a few decades' time. People are
Cel Spellman: living through the changes and the impacts of those changes
Cel Spellman: right now, for instance, those who rely on regular seasons
Cel Spellman: and weather, whether that is for work or for the indigenous
Cel Spellman: way of life. This is having devastating effects all around
Cel Spellman: the world. Here on Call of the Wild, we reached
Cel Spellman: out to people whose lives have been directly impacted by
Cel Spellman: the changing climate. Now, I would like to introduce to
Cel Spellman: Call the Wild Martina Fjällberg, who is a 21- year-
Cel Spellman: old student studying biology and geoscience and is also a Sámi
Cel Spellman: reindeer herder. The Sámi people are indigenous to Norway, Finland,
Cel Spellman: Russia, and Sweden, which is where Martina is from. Now,
Cel Spellman: I've learned, herding reindeer is very much dictated by weather
Cel Spellman: patterns. But they are proving harder and harder to predict for Martina
Cel Spellman: and her family as she explains.
Martina Fjällberg: I grew up in a reindeer herding family. It's been
Martina Fjällberg: in my family for centuries. Reindeer herding is a big
Martina Fjällberg: part of not only my life but my whole family's
Martina Fjällberg: life. First of all, the reindeer, it's an Arctic animal. During
Martina Fjällberg: the winter, this reindeer is down at the mountains and
Martina Fjällberg: gathering foods and stuff because there's more food down in
Martina Fjällberg: the forest. But when it gets warmer and the snow
Martina Fjällberg: starting to melt, they move up to mountain because they
Martina Fjällberg: want to get relief from the heat because, in the
Martina Fjällberg: forest, it's much more warmer on the treeless parts of
Martina Fjällberg: the mountain. And we can actually see a difference in
Martina Fjällberg: moving patterns than we did. Because of the seasons changing,
Martina Fjällberg: because of climate change, we see that the reindeer, when it moves
Martina Fjällberg: up the mountain or down it's changing. So now, because
Martina Fjällberg: our lives revolve around the reindeer, it's harder for us
Martina Fjällberg: to plan out. For example, during the summer, we gather
Martina Fjällberg: the reindeers, and we mark the reindeer calves. We usually
Martina Fjällberg: do this in the summer around beginning of July. But
Martina Fjällberg: now we don't really know with as much certainty as
Martina Fjällberg: we did before when it's going to be because of the
Martina Fjällberg: seasons changing because of climate change. So for most of
Martina Fjällberg: the reindeer herders, we have different jobs and we do
Martina Fjällberg: different things because having reindeer herding as a sole income
Martina Fjällberg: is really hard today. So when we're marking the reindeer calves,
Martina Fjällberg: we have to take time off work. And that usually
Martina Fjällberg: is something that you have to say months in advance
Martina Fjällberg: when you're going to have to have time off. But
Martina Fjällberg: because we don't really know for a week in advance
Martina Fjällberg: when we're going to mark the reindeer calves, we can't do that.
Martina Fjällberg: The reindeer calves are born in the spring, in around May,
Martina Fjällberg: beginning of June. Because of last year, it was really,
Martina Fjällberg: really cold in May, a lot of reindeer calves didn't make
Martina Fjällberg: it. A lot of them died because it was so
Martina Fjällberg: cold. I felt quite down last year because I had
Martina Fjällberg: a significant amount of less reindeer calves than I usually do.
Martina Fjällberg: The changes that I would like to see, first of
Martina Fjällberg: all, the biggest one is that people actually start taking
Martina Fjällberg: climate change seriously. It's something that's happening now and affecting
Martina Fjällberg: me as a person now. I hear a lot of
Martina Fjällberg: people talk about it like it's a future problem, but
Martina Fjällberg: it's not. And then one of the other things that's really
Martina Fjällberg: important in Sweden is so ridiculous that it's 2021 but
Martina Fjällberg: we still haven't gotten our rights as an indigenous people
Martina Fjällberg: in Sweden. The message I would like everyone to listen
Martina Fjällberg: to is listen to indigenous people. We have lived with nature
Martina Fjällberg: for thousands of years, and we are the national caretakers
Martina Fjällberg: of the land. We know it like no other people
Martina Fjällberg: do. And we are so deeply connected to the nature
Martina Fjällberg: that if nature is hurting so are we as a people.
Cel Spellman: Massive thank you to Martina for sharing her experiences. We
Cel Spellman: have so much to listen and learn from indigenous communities
Cel Spellman: like Martina's all around the world. Alongside slashing our emissions,
Cel Spellman: nature has a key role to play in our fight
Cel Spellman: back. Leading scientists estimate that the Amazon rainforest absorbs over
Cel Spellman: one billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. That's three
Cel Spellman: times the UK's emissions in 2018. Clearly, we need to keep
Cel Spellman: forests around the world standing. But it's not just forests
Cel Spellman: and trees. For example, it's estimated that seagrass could capture
Cel Spellman: carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. So
Cel Spellman: by restoring seagrass, we can help absorb carbon and tackle
Cel Spellman: climate change as well as benefiting wildlife. And WWF are
Cel Spellman: already well on their way in doing this. They are working
Cel Spellman: to restore nature and tackle the climate crisis. In the
Cel Spellman: Amazon, they have equipped communities with drones and other equipment
Cel Spellman: to monitor and protect land, to help halt deforestation. They're
Cel Spellman: also working with partners to restore seagrass around the UK.
Cel Spellman: Plus, they're putting pressure on governments and businesses to cut
Cel Spellman: greenhouse gas emissions and build a greener future. And we
Cel Spellman: can help do the same. I'm now joined by the
Cel Spellman: talented singer and songwriter Birdy. Birdy grew up in the countryside,
Cel Spellman: surrounded by nature, and it has been a huge inspiration
Cel Spellman: to her music. Recently, she started to take steps towards
Cel Spellman: living and working more sustainably. So my first question to
Cel Spellman: Birdy was, when did she first realize that we were
Cel Spellman: living with a changing climate?
Birdy: I mean, obviously, at school that was something we were taught about a little
Birdy: bit. We're taught to recycle and to not create too
Birdy: much waste.
Cel Spellman: Global warming.
Birdy: Yeah, exactly. That's what it was. Pretty much that was it. But I feel like it's been
Birdy: very recent that it's felt more like a crisis. For
Birdy: me, it was Greta Thunberg becoming this public figure and
Birdy: suddenly realizing how urgent it is. I guess more things, changes that
Birdy: have been happening like plastic straws being banned, having to
Birdy: pay for plastic bags, little things like that that start
Birdy: to make us all be more aware. I think you
Birdy: can start to feel really guilty when you feel like
Birdy: you're not doing enough, and that almost can have a
Birdy: negative effect because you just feel like, " Oh, well, I
Birdy: don't know what to do, so I won't do anything." So
Birdy: I think just doing small things like making sure you're
Birdy: recycling or like I always do, a lot of my shopping
Birdy: in vintage shops. I prefer that anyway because you get
Birdy: more interesting stuff, but I just think small things like that are really good.
Cel Spellman: Yeah. Our last episode was actually on fashion and fast
Cel Spellman: fashion, so you'd have been ticking a lot of the
Cel Spellman: boxes for our experts on the vintage shopping and second-
Cel Spellman: hand shopping. We're here talking in general around climate but
Cel Spellman: in particular focus on travel. I guess the elephant in
Cel Spellman: the room, I feel for both of us, you in
Cel Spellman: particular as a touring musician, travel is a big part
Cel Spellman: of your work. Do you feel that bit of a
Cel Spellman: battle particularly where you've maybe become more understanding within this
Cel Spellman: space of going, " Gosh, that is not great for the
Cel Spellman: planet? I want to be doing my bit, but I
Cel Spellman: have to do it." It's a tough place to find
Cel Spellman: yourself in, I can imagine.
Birdy: Yeah. I mean, I think just being in lockdown actually and not
Birdy: being able to travel has made us all more aware
Birdy: of how much maybe we don't really need to for
Birdy: a lot of things. I mean, I remember for my
Birdy: first record, I traveled so much, go to Paris a
Birdy: lot just for a few interviews, which just is something that you
Birdy: could definitely do from home.
Cel Spellman: Yeah.
Birdy: With touring, obviously, it's really difficult because you have to
Birdy: be flying and that's one of the worst things that you can be doing.
Birdy: But I think as long as you're planning your routes
Birdy: a bit more carefully. That's something I'd like to look
Birdy: at when I'm next touring is just making sure you're
Birdy: not going back and forth too much and making the
Birdy: most of your trips, but it's really difficult. It's something
Birdy: we're all starting to learn. It's hard because we live
Birdy: in this world where we're so dependent on flying and
Birdy: using plastic. I think it's just adjusting and using your time better
Birdy: and just being more conscious, I think.
Cel Spellman: And I guess as well as compromising in a little bit, and
Cel Spellman: you said there about maybe doing unnecessary trips back and
Cel Spellman: forth. Have you found or looked at or found within
Cel Spellman: the last year any other places in which maybe there
Cel Spellman: can be compromises made that aren't actually going to still
Cel Spellman: impact though on you releasing an album or going on tour?
Birdy: Actually, last month, we did this live stream concert, which
Birdy: was really amazing. I mean, you don't get the same
Birdy: energy from... When you have an audience, that's the best
Birdy: feeling ever. But it was really fun to do something that
Birdy: was quite cinematic and a bit different. And it showed
Birdy: me that you can do other things and maybe doing
Birdy: a little bit more of that would be a good
Birdy: thing. Definitely, things are starting to change. Even now releasing
Birdy: this record or the merch, we had recyclable vinyl, which
Birdy: is really cool. I've been hearing about Billie Eilish touring
Birdy: and how she won't allow any plastic on any of
Birdy: her tours, which is so cool I think. I haven't
Birdy: actually toured for five years now, but when I am
Birdy: going to be touring again, I'd love to look into
Birdy: doing a bit more of that.
Cel Spellman: Another one, which I think was probably one of the biggest
Cel Spellman: and boldest statements I've seen a musician make, was about
Cel Spellman: Coldplay saying that they're not going to tour now until
Cel Spellman: they can tour. And it's going to be carbon neutral. I guess
Cel Spellman: if you've got someone like Coldplay making a stance like
Cel Spellman: that, that will then inspire, do you think, not just
Cel Spellman: the musicians, but actually the management and the staff within
Cel Spellman: labels to maybe take note and follow suit? Do you
Cel Spellman: think they're also forthcoming to the conversation willingness to, " Yeah,
Cel Spellman: we can all play our part here."?
Birdy: Yeah. I mean, I think we could be doing more,
Birdy: but I think, yeah, it's got to be a group effort
Birdy: and everybody's got to be on the same page. But
Birdy: I feel like there is change happening and definitely, everyone's
Birdy: more aware, I think, which is great.
Cel Spellman: When you say that we feel that they could do
Cel Spellman: more, what little areas do you think possibly there could
Cel Spellman: be looking to improve on?
Birdy: I think stuff like with the merch, making sure that's
Birdy: a standard thing. Also with Billie Eilish, she did something
Birdy: really amazing at her tours. I think she had eco
Birdy: domes where people could come and her fans could go and
Birdy: educate themselves about the climate crisis, which is amazing.
Cel Spellman: Great.
Birdy: Just cool ideas like that, that we could be doing
Birdy: would be amazing.
Cel Spellman: I feel like with Birdy though, I think we'd be
Cel Spellman: missing a trick if we didn't do something around like maybe aviary,
Cel Spellman: like an aviary part-
Birdy: Yeah that sounds good.
Cel Spellman: ... or something. Just a load of birds around.
Birdy: I love that idea. I'm definitely going to do that.
Cel Spellman: Yeah, I love that. If anyone on your label's listening
Cel Spellman: to this conversation now, make it happen. For yourself, Birdy,
Cel Spellman: you've amassed such a following, and rightly so for your
Cel Spellman: music. Do you feel that responsibility of wanting to almost
Cel Spellman: lead by example a bit or try and inspire change
Cel Spellman: to your followers?
Birdy: Yeah. Well, I think we're all responsible in doing that
Birdy: and just talking to our friends. I do more and
Birdy: more, and it's quite a recent thing for me. And that's something I'm
Birdy: still learning and educating myself on how to do that
Birdy: and making the changes with myself first. But I think,
Birdy: yeah, it's good to have a conversation about it.
Cel Spellman: Are there any other kind of things that interest you or you think, "
Cel Spellman: I'd maybe like to give that a go to reduce
Cel Spellman: our carbon footprint."?
Birdy: Well, I'm a bit guilty because I have this old
Birdy: vintage car, which I don't drive very much, and that's
Birdy: why I feel like it's okay for now because I'm such a nervous wreck.
Birdy: I literally would just drive to the nearest town and back, and I'm like, " That's
Birdy: enough for one day." But I would like to maybe
Birdy: look at having an electric car if I am driving more
Birdy: or just getting rid of my car because I probably
Birdy: don't need it. I'm not a good enough driver. But yeah,
Birdy: I think that's something I could look at.
Cel Spellman: When looking to the future, do you still feel quite hopeful
Cel Spellman: and optimistic about the future?
Birdy: Yeah. Yeah, I do. That didn't sound very convincing I'm sure.
Cel Spellman: The slight quiver.
Birdy: I mean, even this conversation is not something that would
Birdy: have probably been happening a few years ago, which is
Birdy: that's amazing. The rise of people like Greta and just to
Birdy: spread the message, especially to the younger generation, just for
Birdy: it to be a subject that can be talked about
Birdy: and that people want to talk about is really great,
Birdy: I think. It's gradual, but it is happening.
Cel Spellman: Thank you to the brilliant Birdy there. What are the
Cel Spellman: tangible things we can do to cut down on carbon
Cel Spellman: now? As you know, if you've listened to earlier episodes,
Cel Spellman: WWF's app, it's called My Footprint, is a great place
Cel Spellman: to start if you're looking for some inspiration to make
Cel Spellman: a difference, to find those tangible things that are well
Cel Spellman: within our power and means to do so. When it
Cel Spellman: comes to carbon, you could calculate your footprint. Literally, check
Cel Spellman: your carbon consumption and find out about the lifestyle changes
Cel Spellman: you can make to stop climate change and decrease your
Cel Spellman: footprint. You could go vehicle- free, try traveling somewhere by
Cel Spellman: bike, on foot, or by scooter. Remember to turn off.
Cel Spellman: So simple, but so obvious, wasting energy means more has
Cel Spellman: to be produced, which means burning more fossil fuels. So
Cel Spellman: one easy thing to do is turn off TVs, charges,
Cel Spellman: lights. Any electrical item, when you're not using them, switch
Cel Spellman: them off. And that's not all, let's hear from you,
Cel Spellman: lovely lot, about your simple but sustainable tips.
Speaker 7: I'm a flexitarian. So when I do want to eat
Speaker 7: meat, I go to my local butcher with my own
Speaker 7: containers to avoid any packaging.
Speaker 8: I limit myself to one international flight every year.
Speaker 9: Unfortunately, because I live in a flat, I can't install
Speaker 9: things like solar panels. But what I did do is
Speaker 9: make sure that my energy provider provides my flat with
Speaker 9: 100% renewable energy so that I can play my part.
Cel Spellman: Thank you for sharing those. And remember, if you're listening
Cel Spellman: and going, " You know what, Cal? I've got a top
Cel Spellman: tip I'd like to share," send it our way. It's
Cel Spellman: very simple. You can just voice note and send that
Cel Spellman: voice note to callofthewild@ wwf.org.uk. So please keep them coming in.
Cel Spellman: And you never know, you might just hear your voice
Cel Spellman: on Call of the Wild. And there we have it. We've
Cel Spellman: arrived at the end of another episode. Thank you for
Cel Spellman: listening and joining me on this journey. And a massive
Cel Spellman: thank you to our guests, Gareth Redmond- King, Martina Fjällberg,
Cel Spellman: and Birdy. Now, next time, I'm sad to say it's
Cel Spellman: our last episode of the series. We're going to be
Cel Spellman: looking at rewilding, how we can put our green fingers
Cel Spellman: to the test. And of course, I'll be joined by
Cel Spellman: another special guest. But if you can't wait that long, do
Cel Spellman: not forget, there is a bonus episode in two weeks'
Cel Spellman: time. It features more of my chat with Birdy, which
Cel Spellman: we couldn't fit into this episode. So please do check
Cel Spellman: out. It is well worth your time. And if two weeks
Cel Spellman: is still too long, then don't worry, Cel's got you
Cel Spellman: covered. Just head over to YouTube because WWF have a
Cel Spellman: channel that is full of content about the awesome work
Cel Spellman: they do to combat these issues we talk about in the
Cel Spellman: Call of the Wild. It's WWF- UK's YouTube channel, and on
Cel Spellman: there, you're going to find a playlist of extra content
Cel Spellman: called Call of the Wild. This is a Fresh Air
Cel Spellman: Production for WWF. And please do subscribe so that you don't miss
Cel Spellman: an episode. Plus, it really helps the podcast. The wild
Cel Spellman: is calling, it's time to act.