As Glasgow gears up to host world leaders at the COP 26 Climate Change conference, BBC Scotland will bring a variety of programming to interrogate, reflect, inspire and capture the climate challenge the world faces.
BBC Scotland’s news teams will bring comprehensive coverage of the conference across radio, television and online platforms. Ahead of the conference a BBC Scotland News special Our Planet Now – Scotland Climate Change Special – broadcasts tonight (Thursday 30 September), and takes a look at how Scotland’s people, innovators and experts are making an impact in tackling the world’s climate emergency.
From changing weather patterns to the big and small differences people can make in their own lives, this live programme will break down the jargon and answer the questions many people still have around the huge issue of climate change. Presented by Laura Miller and Laura Goodwin, with appearances from weather presenters Judith Ralston and Gillian Smart, there will be conversations with key voices in Scotland and across the globe.
A Debate Night special will also discuss the big questions that affect Scotland with a worldwide climate conference on its doorstep. Across factual, there will be a number of documentaries including Black Black Oil, which will ask if the era of North Sea Oil is over. North Sea oil has been an invisible machine powering the UK for decades. In, Who Owns Scotland? Martin Geissler travels through Scotland’s towns, cities and countryside for the two-part documentary for the BBC Scotland channel. In the first episode, he investigates urban land ownership. In the concluding episode, the focus is on rural land: who owns it, what they’re doing with it, and what the future might hold for it.
“COP26 is the biggest international gathering of world leaders ever to come to Scotland, and their deliberations in Glasgow could impact on the lives of millions of people both here and across the globe. – BBC Scotland Director Steve Carson
Taking a look at an alternative way of life, The Hermit Of Treig is a one-off documentary for BBC Scotland set in the remote Scottish mountains far from electricity and phone signals. After 40 years of living in solitude, 73-year-old Ken Smith welcomes us into his world and challenges our perceptions of what a hermit is. My Kind Of Town returns for a new series on BBC Scotland and kicks off with a special episode in the run-up to COP26.
The Beechgrove team return with a climate-themed special. Beechgrove: Mucking In on BBC One Scotland is the culmination of Beechgrove’s encouragement of all things green this year. It’s a natural extension to what Beechgrove already does and aims to show ways that communities can embrace environmentally sustainable practices in their homes and communal green spaces. Growing Up Green tells the story of what it’s like to be raised at the Findhorn Foundation, a community dedicated to sustainability based on North East Scotland’s remote Moray coast.
“As you’d expect from the national broadcaster whose HQ sits adjacent to where the leaders will gather, BBC Scotland – along with our network colleagues – will mark this momentous occasion with a wide range of programmes across all parts of our output aimed at informing, educating and entertaining our audiences here and internationally.” – BBC Scotland Director Steve Carson
Back From The Brink is a pan-European natural history production for the BBC Scotland channel. This 50-minute programme celebrates the hard work, dedication and commitment of conservationists across Europe who are striving to understand and save European species from extinction.
Changing Landscapes: A Story Of Scotland meditates upon the care and carelessness we’ve brought to bear on the environment. For this 60-minute film, we’re diving deep into Scotland’s film and video archives – moving images from the last 100 years – to tell the story of this contradiction. There’s also a lighter look at the climate change challenge. Presenter Zara Hill is setting herself tasks to see if she can reduce her environmental footprint. The results of her entertaining efforts will then come under the spotlight in front of a studio audience in this half-hour programme titled The Reluctant Environmentalist.
BBC ALBA and BBC Radio nan Gaidheal will also cover the climate conference with a range of progamming.
