Rare Earth

What can the legal system do to protect the environment? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski gather together a panel of legal and environmental experts to discuss their battles for the planet. How much protection does nature have in law at the moment, and do legal rights make any real difference in practice? They debate whether nature should be given official legal rights, like human rights.Today's panel: Paul Powlesland - barrister, campaigner, founder of Lawyers for Nature Laura Clarke - CEO of Client Earth Rosa Vásquez Espinoza - biologist, conservationist, founder of Amazon Research InternationalProducer: Emma CampbellAssistant Producer: Toby Field

What does the arrival of winter mean for plants and animals? In this programme Tom Heap and Helen Czerski find out how wildlife survives the freezing temperatures and short days of the winter months. In a time of climate change, they also ask how warmer weather patterns are affecting the natural world at this time of year. Do we have to get used to the idea of winters without snow and ice, and will winter scenes of robins on snowy branches and children sledging down hillsides only exist on Christmas cards?Panel: Hugh Warwick, John Hammond, Val McDermidProducer: Emma Campbell Assistant Producer: Toby FieldProduced in association with the Open University

We tend to think of wildlife as something which exists in the countryside or in nature reserves, but in fact there are plenty of plants and animals which thrive in an urban environment. In this programme Tom Heap and Helen Czerski explore the species that live alongside us in our towns and cities - finding out what makes a good habitat for them, asking why they're important, and discovering what advantages they bring to the human population. They're joined by a panel of experts: Professor Dawn Scott from Nottingham Trent University, writer Chris Fitch, and founder of Rewild My Street Siân Moxon, who's also Associate Professor Sustainable Architecture at London Metropolitan University.Producer: Emma Campbell Assistant Producer: Toby FieldRare Earth is produced in association with the Open University

Whether you love to express yourself through fashion, or find getting dressed a chore, clothing isn’t optional - and every choice has an impact. So how do our fashion choices affect the environment? Who's paying the price? And - most importantly - how can we do things differently? Can individuals and business rethink how we see clothes to prioritise the planet? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski get beneath the surface on this huge subject with Patrick Grant, presenter of The Great British Sewing Bee, hugely influential professor and author Kate Fletcher, and Simon Platts, a sustainability consultant with decades of industry experience. After you listen to this you might never see your clothes the same way again. Featuring: Patrick Grant - Presenter and entrepreneur Kate Fletcher - Professor of Sustainability, Design and Fashion Systems in the Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University Simon Platts – Sustainability consultant Skye Pennant Julian Ellis-Brown & Finlay DuncanPresented by Tom Heap & Helen Czerski Produced by Beth Sagar-Fenton & Toby Field Mixed by Ilse Lademann Editor: Alasdair Cross

It's 200 years since the first passenger rail journey saw George Stephenson’s Locomotion No.1 travel 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton. Environmentalists love trains - making a journey by rail can be up to 80% greener than doing it by car - and there are exciting new inventions hoping to make train travel even greener. But can we pin part of the blame for global warming on the invention of the railways in the first place? Presented by Tom Heap and Helen Czerski Produced by Beth Sagar-Fenton Assistant Producer: Toby FieldRare Earth is produced in association with the Open University