The Response with renowned author and journalist David Shukman.

David Shukman, former BBC science editor and author of The Response, joined the podcast to discuss how climate change is already causing serious harm, e.g. 2022 UK wildfires that destroyed 40+ homes, hospital IT failures, and the Bordeaux-area fires. He digs into why adaptation should not be seen as giving up on emissions elimination. He traced oil industry denial tactics back to a 1959 API conference and compared them to Big Tobacco’s playbook, while contrasting China’s aggressive clean-tech push (hydrogen, EVs, solar) with Western retreat. Despite the grim data, he is optimistic, arguing solutions are now cheap and available.

About David Shukman:

As the BBC’s first Science Editor, David Shukman led its coverage of the environment for nearly twenty years.

Praised by Sir David Attenborough as “a leader in raising awareness of the climate emergency”, he won awards for his pioneering broadcasts from remote frontlines including the Arctic and the Amazon.

After beginning his BBC career reporting on The Troubles in Northern Ireland, David became Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall and covering the aftermath of the Cold War. His assignments took him to mote than 100 countries.

From 2003 to 2021, climate change was one of David's priorities and he reported from a dozen of the UN's climate summits.

Now working as an independent speaker and consultant, David is a Visiting Professor in Practice at the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute, a member of the Advisory Board of Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and an adviser to The Goals House.

Launched in May 2026, David’s new book: ‘The Response: A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain's New World of Extremes’, focuses on the human costs of climate impact and what we can do about it.

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Links:

Shukman’s new book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Response-Story-Flood-Britains-Extremes/dp/1529144280

Shukman website/blog:

https://davidshukman.com/

Shukman LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-shukman-3b1b1658