The Green Desk

This week on The Green Desk we have a special episode on the state of Wellington, recorded inside Parliament’s cafe with the Spinoff Wellington Editor Joel MacManus. He talks about infrastructure, cycleways and tunnels.

If you’ve read the news in the past month, the capital is being buffeted by gnarly headwinds. Not off the Cook Straight but rather from pesky employees working from home. Journalists talking to retail operators and cafe owners have painted a bleak picture of the city. But are sunny days ahead for Wellington?

This week on the Green Desk we spoke with lecturer of sustainable architecture, Priscila Besen from Auckland University of Technology.

New Zealand is facing an energy crisis, and quick solutions are needed. Large manufacturing businesses are shutting doors around the country, with an Auckland Mill in Penrose announcing its permanent closure last week, which adds up to hundreds of job losses because of the price of power. Here’s reporter Jack Marshall:

This week on The Green Desk things get shitty — New Zealand has a poo problem: An estimated 100 million tonnes of cow and sheep manure fall onto New Zealand pastures each year, causing an environmental and economic stink. 

Reporter Jack Marshall went to see a man about a dung beetle. Dung Beetle Innovations’s Dr. Shaun Forgie is a specialist in dung beetle reproduction, ecology and evolution. And if he has his way, every farm in New Zealand will have these bugs following around their animals.

Welcome to The Green Desk, the podcast that explores innovative approaches to tackle the pressing issue of climate change. In today's episode, we explore a new technique that offers a fresh perspective on combating the climate crisis. Professor Racheal James, an expert in Geochemistry from the University of Southampton in England talks about enhanced rock weathering as a form of carbon capture.