So there used to be this term called 'airpocalypse' in China, a decade ago. In 2016, The New York Times even ran a piece about the issue dramatically titled: 'Life in China, Smothered by Smog.' A decade later, an unprecedentedly short period for a nation of its GDP and size, China has brought these blue skies - cleaner air - across the country. Sin…

China is a nation of history, metropolis, art, industry, and, the focus of my career and expeditions - the wild: covering 42 percent of the country. In Europe, wilderness covers only 2 percent. But the percentage of wilderness itself doesn't tell the whole story: What about protection? In 2021, China announced the creation of the first 5 of 49 plan…

To avoid a global climate catastrophe we need to triple the amount of global renewable energy by 2030. About half of this is expected to come from solar. And, since 2006, the solar panels China has produced account for 70-80 percent of the total, global GW of the installed capacity today. But China is also getting the most pushback from the U.S. an…

Five years ago, a paper published in one of the world's most prestigious peer-reviewed journals made headlines across the world. The authors used NASA satellite data to claim that at least one-quarter of the world's green leaf area increase since the 2000s was due to Chinese tree planting efforts. Some celebrated, some couldn't believe it. What wen…

Electric vehicles, or EVs, from China are the focus of a global debate. On the one hand, they are affordable, climate-friendly, and advancing technology at a breakneck pace. On the other, the U.S. has already slapped a 100 percent tariff on them and the European Union is moving towards tariffs up to 36.3 percent on the grounds that they harm local …

In April 2023, Andrea Papi became the first Italian in 150 years to be killed by a bear. Mauled while jogging, he became an unwitting victim of a well-meaning EU-funded rewilding program designed to reintroduce bears to the Italian Dolomites. This podcast explores where responsibility lies for his death and how it has exacerbated a growing divide i…

In this podcast, meet Uganda’s first wildlife vet and expert on mountain gorillas Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka. She’s not your average vet, her work has brought back Uganda’s wildlife from the brink of disaster and her winning formula is being adopted across Africa but this is just one of her many achievements. She says: ‘I would like to be remembered as…

Zoë Reed’s English mother Susan met her Chinese father KC Sun at college in the late 1940s. He had been brought over as the first ever mature Chinese student funded by British United Aid to China; she was one of only three women – from the cohort of 103. “She had a pretty good choice of which young man to fall in love with and told me there was a c…

Zi Lan Liao is one of the leading exponents of Chinese music. Her busy career on the international concert circuit has resulted in her being the most widely heard and best appreciated performer on the gu zheng worldwide. Her work includes Oscar-winning scores and modern fusion music – but her real passion is passing on her musical heritage to the B…

In this series of podcasts, the story of how a brutal policy of forced repatriation caused thousands of Chinese men to disappear from Liverpool at the end of World War II. This policy, orchestrated by the British government, would leave families traumatised and the community broken. In 1866, shipping group Alfred Holt & Company was founded in Liver…

In this series of podcasts, the story of how a brutal policy of forced repatriation caused thousands of Chinese men to disappear from Liverpool at the end of World War II. This policy, orchestrated by the British government, would leave families traumatized and the community broken. The deportations were shrouded in secrecy for decades, until decla…

In this series of podcasts, the story of how a brutal policy of forced repatriation caused thousands of Chinese men to disappear from Liverpool at the end of World War II. This policy, orchestrated by the British government, would leave families traumatized and the community broken. During World War II, one in seven merchant seamen in the UK was Ch…

Seventy years ago, a small group of British businessmen and women traveled to China to unlock opportunities between the countries – they became known as the icebreakers. Jack Perry was one of the original Icebreakers. Growing up the son of poor Jewish immigrants in the devastating years before World War II, he was inspired to help China rebuild its…

Frances Wood was born into a family of linguists – people who loved studying foreign languages. In her childhood and teens she mastered French and Spanish, so by the time she was thinking about what she wanted to study at university she was looking for a new challenge. She chose Chinese at Cambridge and in 1971 following her graduation, she was abl…

In this podcast, we meet the Guo family – presented by son and London-based vlogger Toto, who describes himself as "a child of two heritages'. His father Guo Yi grew up in a musical family in China and is a renowned sheng musician and his British mother Manda is a professional garden designer. As Toto says, "Yuanfen" or fate brought his parents tog…

For more than 40 years, Michael Wood has brought history alive for viewers and readers all over the world. His recent Story of China films and documentary on Chinese poet Du Fu have charmed Chinese and international audiences alike – making him a household name in China. Michael Wood’s books and TV documentaries span many different periods of the p…

When Alex Hua Tian competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he became the first ever Chinese eventing rider in Olympic history and also the youngest person to compete in his chosen field at the Games. Since then, Hua Tian has also represented China at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics and was awarded both a bronze and a silver medal at two different…

Oleh CGTN EUROPE

The World Bank estimates that without urgent action, by 2050 we will be generating 3.4 billion tonnes of waste globally. So what can governments and citizens do to curb this trend? And whose responsibility is it? Our Trash or Treasure special will investigate which European countries are the biggest waste creators, which are leading the way in wast…

Trash or Treasure is a season of podcasts finding out what happens to all the stuff Europeans throw away – a surprisingly fascinating journey around the rubbish heaps of Europe, looking at some of the innovations helping us to reduce our waste and even turn it into something useful. In this episode we’re taking a closer look at where our waste goes…

Recycling – and reuse – has been practiced in some European countries for decades. And that has given rise to some brilliant creative thinking as to how to lessen the waste burden, and to use the things that some might see as useless in whole new ways. In this episode, we've scoured the continent to bring you some of the most ingenious new solution…

The UN estimates that each year, we throw away almost a billion tonnes of food. That's an almost inconceivable amount, and one which has given rise to increasing innovation and activism. It's not just about not emptying our plates or clearing out our fridge before the food goes off: one estimate has it that a third of perfectly edible food is throw…

Clothes. We all wear them. That's billions of items being worn every day, billions of items being made each year – and billions of items being thrown out. The environmental impact is huge – in the UK alone, 300,000 tonnes of textile waste ends up being sent to landfill each year. And that is a small fraction of the worldwide figure. Less than one p…

Death is the final act of our lives, and it can be environmentally devastating: every cremation uses the equivalent of about 40 backyard-barbecue propane canisters and creates one tonne of carbon dioxide, while traditional burials eat up the land and can leach chemicals into the soil. In this episode, we explore the increasing choice of alternative…

As we move into 2021, our CGTN Europe correspondents talk to us about an unprecedented year of change.. COVID-19 changed our lives forever, and across Europe each country experienced it differently. We speak to five reporters who were on the frontlines reporting on the virus, and ask them how they tried to make sense of an epidemic that would chang…

Alpiner Johannes Pleschberger continues his journey through the Alps in meeting some of the incredible people who live and work in the mountains. Alpine people speak a range of different languages, have various traditions and faiths - but they’ve got lots in common. With some of the highest life expectancies in the world, healthy alpiners enjoy hea…

For CGTN reporter Johannes Pleschberger, the Alps were his playground as a child and are now his spiritual home. In this second podcast in the series, he continues his unique journey through this majestic mountain range and introduces us to some of the richest flora and fauna in Europe. We go mushroom-hunting with Johannes and his mum Regina, who i…

Join native Alpiner Johannes Pleschberger on his journey through this incredible mountain range at the heart of Europe. In this 30 minute podcast Johannes investigates some of the extreme changes facing the Alpine landscape. One of the most noticeable effects of climate change is the shrinking of the glaciers. Researchers says that since 1850, alpi…

Climate experts speaking to CGTN claim the COVID-19 outbreak was in part caused by environmental damage. They point to the believed origin of the virus and the breakdown of natural boundaries between humans and animals. In this final edition of Notes on a Pandemic, we look at the impact the coronavirus has had on the global environment. We examine …

Travel and tourism has felt the full impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The lockdown in March led to mothballed planes, closed airports and quarantined cruise liners around the world. For some, it’s prompting a rethink of the entire travel industry, at a time when many top destinations were operating at maximum capacity. In this podcast we examine what…

Whether you are the boss in a company employing thousands or the newest hire in the office, COVID is changing how all of us earn a living. The lockdown has seen millions working remotely from home, many benefiting from government support packages to keep their jobs open . Economists are warning that the long term furlough in workers risks exacerbat…

In the third episode of our new podcast series Notes on a Pandemic, CGTN Europe examines how workplaces are adapting to the new culture of social distancing. We hear how the biggest office space in Scotland has had to change mid-construction to accommodate the demands of post-pandemic working. And we speak to the creators of new tech devices that a…

As Europe slowly emerges from lockdown it’s becoming clear the pandemic has left a legacy that will mean long-term changes to business, the world of work and the global environment. But despite the devastating toll COVID-19 has taken, might it also have handed us the opportunity to build a fairer, more sustainable future, based on innovation, coope…

CGTN's new podcast series "Notes on a Pandemic" looks at how business, science and people have risen to the challenges of COVID-19, bringing us solutions which will change all our futures. Science rules - Since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, the world has looked to the scientific community to find an effective treatment. The top minds i…

Leaving home doesn’t mean escaping parental politics. On this episode of This Way Forward, we’re thinking about families and opinions. We explore the political stories of three families by calling home and trying to talk to our parents like real adults. You’ll hear tales of young activism, young conservatism, and from a daughter who protested outsi…

In our first episode of This Way Forward, we dive into exploring what this moment means for young people and some thoughts on moving forward. Featuring interviews with Heather Booth and Houston Kraft. Music composed by Sam Kyzivat. Made possible with support from Lily Rivlin and the film, Heather Booth: Changing the World.…

We're excited to bring you Episode 1, where we interview Heather Booth and Houston Kraft about making sense of this moment as young people. Here's a preview of what's coming.Oleh The Bowdoin Commons