As global Leaders attend COP27 talks few have any idea how to tackle the twin crises of cascading ‘wild weather’ events and the larger existential threats of climate breakdown that could easily follow. This series of TED talks outlines the new thinking needed to avert the worst outcomes and the refounding of meaningful democracies that must come with it.

Alan Simpson describes himself as ‘a recovering politician’. An MP for 18 years, he then worked as a consultant to Friends of the Earth and was Advisor on Sustainable Economics to the Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell MP. He would still like to save humanity from itself.

War, pandemics and wild weather are tearing today’s globalised food system apart. Spiralling energy costs then turn this into a cost of living crisis affecting producers, providers and the public in equal measure. Beginning with wasting less, what must we do to feed a hungry planet?

How do you radically cut the carbon footprint of food production and distribution? What lessons can be drawn from other countries and food cultures? Can localised food systems deliver carbon reduction, food accountability and sustainability? And what is the future of urban agriculture?