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One Planet: Strong warnings and long tunnels

Factual: Science & Nature

09/12/2010

Strong warnings and long tunnels

BBC World Service - One Planet, Strong warnings and long tunnels

Maurice Strong talks environmental inertia and Chinese progress - plus lost under a city

As the latest international summit on climate change comes to an end, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has warned that the "longer we delay the more we will have to pay economically, environmentally and in human lives." 

If that warning sounds familiar - it's probably because we've been hearing it for years now - in fact, for decades. 

In this week's One Planet we speak to the man who first corralled the international community into gathering for a summit focused entirely on the environment - that was held in Stockholm in 1972.

Maurice Strong was the driving force behind that conference, though it was his 1992 Earth Summit in Rio that really planted sustainability and the environment into political rhetoric. 

Mike sits down with him to ask what kind of progress has been made since his speech in 1972 warned governments they must come together to help better protect and manage the planet's resources. They also discuss whether China - a country where Mr Strong lectures at the Peking University - is leading the world when it comes to the environment.

Also in the show, we get a round up of environmental news from China, plus Mike gets lost underneath the city of Toronto. 

As ever, tune in, have a listen and let us know what you think - email the team at oneplanet@bbc.com. Don't forget you can always join us on Facebook - Mike's usually found there exchanging posts with listeners.

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