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What If...?

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Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Looking into the future for the weather and landscape of Wales in a warming world.

Lizzie Daly looks into the future for the weather and landscape of Wales in a warming world.

Lizzie Daly looks into the future for the weather and landscape of Wales in a warming world, asking experts to answer what if we do nothing, and what if we change our ways.

What If...?: What If... We All Go Vegan?

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

What If... We All Go Vegan?

BBC Radio Wales - What If...?, What If... We All Go Vegan?

Lizzie Daly did Veganuary, but was she convinced that going vegan can save the planet?

In our warming world, some lay the blame for climate change on farming practices and meat eaters. Lizzie Daly digs deep to discover if going vegan really is the answer.

Food and farming is a massive, emotive, subject when it comes to climate change, polarising opinions and creating strong opinions in a country like Wales where farming is part of our DNA. Some say that avoiding meat and dairy may be the single best way to reduce our impact on the earth. But is it that simple? 

Presenter and biologist Lizzie Daly decided to see for herself, by doing Veganuary this year, and then discussing the issue with experts, farmers, vegans and activists. One climate expert, Prysor Williams, is also a part time farmer and takes a pragmatic view of how the future in Wales could, and should, look in 50 years. His views contrast with those of Sion Sleep, an activist and environmentalist who believes an answer lies in avoiding meat. 

Between one extreme and the other, Lizzie talks to various experts about how we might adapt, from plant scientist Fiona Corke in IBERS about research into the practicalities of growing plants in a changing climate, to Alice Taherzadeh who herself a vegan works to help farmers adapt and learn for the future. Add into the mix a tree expert Mary Gagen and sustainability guru Einir Young, we get a down to earth, common sense, approach to what needs to be done. 

And finally, the author of a leading book on Energy the Great Driver, Gareth Wyn Jones, who has argued for decades about how we need to change our ways, gives Lizzie a stark outline of how much carbon we really need to reduce in order to limit the planet's warming.

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