Maeve Campbell

Will ‘drill baby drill’ actually happen? It’s the political catchphrase Trump repeated again and again throughout his campaign - all about extracting more fossil fuels. Now he’s back in The White House, Trump has declared a ‘national energy emergency’. The executive orders he’s signed this week will make it easier and cheaper to drill for oil and gas. He wants to roll back green energy investment, including stopping more wind farms from being built. But will he get his own way? My explainer for ➡️ @channel4news #climate #climatechange #trump #politics

The divide between Trump and Harris on climate change is perhaps the most stark of any policy they face. The US election this week comes after 23 climate disasters there in just the last year - each one costing over $1 billion in damage. This is ‘Trump vs Harris on climate: IN UNDER 2 MINS’ 🎞 Scripted, produced and edited by me for @channel4news

What a privilege to share the stage with @chrisgpackham2 and esteemed panellists at a very different kind of climate conference. 👉 Channel 4 Earth presents: How to Unfuck the Planet 👈 We hosted two debates - the first on whether it’s ‘time to break the law’ following Packham’s recent documentary. Are climate protests all we have left to make the UK government sit up and listen? The second debate was about debunking growth in the economy. We discussed if ‘we can grow the economy and solve climate change at the same time?’ Including the difference between ‘degrowth’ and ‘green growth’ - and why we only measure growth through GDP? Thanks @channel4 for inviting me to host 🎤 N.B. I didn’t realise it was possible to laugh so much during a standup set about planetary breakdown… Props to the only comedian with a PhD in climate change, Dr @mattywin85 - I can’t wait to read your book, Hot Mess 🌍 📷 photographer @george_selley

From the Green Carpet to the Umbrian soil… Many of you know Livia Giuggioli (@liviafirth ) as a voice for sustainable fashion and ethical supply chains. But these days, she applies those same principles to the earth itself - at @quintosapore , the farm she co-runs with her twin brothers, Ale and Nic. Moving to a more hands-on role, Livia now spends her days among rows of heritage crops, and hosts the yearly ‘Humus, Soil, Humanity’ gathering at the farm, a space where regenerative agriculture and the international community intersect. It’s about more than just food. This is a family mission to prove that the biomimic (mimicking nature) approach to farming can work. As she says herself, nature shows us how to adapt to climate chaos - so we need to be listening. #QuintoSapore #RegenerativeAgriculture #Biomimicry #Humus #Italy

In the hills of Umbria, a living laboratory is succeeding where industrial agriculture is failing - and I got to take a look around. While Europe’s farmers protest that a pesticide-free future is impossible, Quinto Sapore stands out as a family-run farm achieving record yields with zero chemicals and zero tilling. How do they do it? It’s simple. They let nature do its thing. This is a truly sustainable, regenerative operation - growing the most delicious veg in the most nutrient-dense soil I’ve ever come across, and I can’t stop telling people about it. 🌳🍄🪴🍄‍🟫 But don’t take it from me - twins Alessandro and Nicola will tell you themselves, in part 1 of my short interview series 👯🏻‍♂️ along with @commonland4returns #RegenerativeFarm #RegenAg #Farming #Umbria

This year’s interactive workshop on ‘how journalists cover climate solutions’ was a success yet again at @ucl sustainability week 👩🏻‍🎓 I loved getting to hang out with and hear stories from students who had personal motivations for being there - namely the rise in climate shocks and land degradation in their home countries of Taiwan, Pakistan and Kenya. Despite living or being born here in the UK, many of them felt this cultural connection was a driver to act and learn more about how to combat climate change globally. We explored how to break down big ideas, find the human stories, and pitch compelling content that informs, engages and empowers people. They did a stellar job presenting their own explainers at the end of the session, on wonky veg and community gardens, with no prior experience! Thank you for having me @sustainableucl 🫶🏼 #students #sustainability #climatesolutions #climatejournalism #workshop

Regenerating Europe’s landscapes through music festivals…that’s the brainchild idea thought up by @louis.de.jaeger , @thetripleblue and the team. Ten Lives festival is all about making soil sociable. Restoring ecosystems during the day, and dancing through the night. 🕺🏻🪴 Because beneath our feet, nearly 60–70% of Europe’s soils are degraded, and we’re losing fertile land faster than it can regenerate. If we don’t learn how to farm sustainably and take care of the land, over 90% of soils globally could be ruined by 2050. Healthy soil grows our food, stores our water, and locks away carbon. Lose it, and everything starts to unravel! These guys are teaching us a valuable life skill, all while putting on an amazing festival experience. Check out @tenlivesfestival happening at the end of April in Portugal 🇵🇹 #makesoilsexy #tenlives #burningman #musicfestival #regenerativeagriculture

While most of the world is still debating how and when to take climate action, this teenager is taking matters into her own hands. At just 13, Prasiddhi Singh has *already* planted over 200,000 trees and is on a mission to make that 10 million. She works with rural communities all over India, restoring ecosystems and proving that age is never a barrier to impact. I thought Gen Z took things seriously - turns out Gen Alpha are even more ambitious. 🌳 @prasiddhi.official 🌳 @prasiddhiforest 🌳 #climate #activist #trees #treeplanting #India

Meet Clara Tomé, one of the most inspiring women I’ve met in recent weeks. Hailing from Spain, Clara is an environmental lawyer and activist working on law and youth engagement in climate and nature action. Starting out as a model, she started to feel her career was lacking in purpose. After a very personal experience and a big realisation, she now blends legal expertise with grassroots activism. Clara is the co-founder of a youth and women-led organisation, @rightsandrootsorg - a non-profit working with Indigenous women and young frontline defenders. It’s all about standing up for human rights, Indigenous rights and the rights of nature. Check out her work @iamcleer 🌿 💪 #nature #climate #activist #model

After the release of The Plastic Detox on Instagram, I met the amazing @siansutherland for some tips. Here are x9 of the newest, coolest, plastic-free innovations I’ve come across thanks to her…from sequins made of wood chips to metal make-up. Just makes me realise how much our spending power matters - and the importance of questioning everyday plastic items we assume there’s no alternative for. Thanks to @changenow_world for the intro🌞 #plastic #plasticpollutes #plasticfree #plasticfreeliving

Five days in Paris, interviewing some amazing women (and some men!) in the Grand Palais… 🍃 @nemonte.nenquimo travelled over from the Waorani territory in the Amazon, where she lives in Ecuador. I had just finished Nemonte’s book, ‘We Will Not Be Saved’ and it was an honour to learn from her in person. She spearheaded the alliance of Indigenous nations across the Upper Amazon to help protect over half a million acres of rainforest against big oil - a true, fearless feat. 🐻‍❄️ @iamcleer and @roberta.bosu standing up for the rights of nature in their incredible work, attempting to afford legal personhood to rivers, forests and a whole continent (from Spain to Antarctica!), giving it a proper seat at the table, for humankind to no longer exploit. 👯‍♀️ @maxwelllil my soil sister from another mister, spending the whole week with you and @commonland4returns was just what I needed. And many, many more special connections nurtured and created at @changenow_world 🙏🙏 @hanliprinsloo , @louis.de.jaeger , @thetripleblue @stuartgoldsmithcomedy , @prasiddhi.official , @jonhales1 , @adam_brichto , @robhopkins5085 , @lucyvonsturmer , @gail__gallie 🇫🇷

Politicians like Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch keep telling us to drill, drill, drill. The North Sea is on our doorstep, so surely we should make the most of the oil that’s in there?! The problem is, there’s hardly any oil left. We’ve been drilling for 50 years and official data shows we’ve already extracted over 90%. The North Sea is what’s called a ‘declining basin’ and will be virtually empty by 2040. …it would be like trying to squeeze juice out of a raisin 🍇 The second problem is it’s not even our oil. When we drill in the North Sea, the UK government doesn’t own that oil. Private companies do. They sell it on the international market to the highest bidder. Take the massive new Rosebank field - approval is still PENDING - but roughly 80% of that oil is expected to be exported because it’s a specific type of ‘light’ oil that UK refineries aren’t built to process. The funniest thing is that they all admit it. Back in the last energy crisis, the then Conservative Energy Secretary (Claire Coutinho) admitted new drilling won’t bring down our bills. And just this week, the industry’s own lobby group (Offshore Energies UK) told @politico the exact same thing. What about saving jobs? Isn’t oil and gas a thriving sector for workers? That’s a myth. Jobs in North Sea fossil fuels have more than halved in the last decade. We’ve lost an average of 450 jobs a week in that sector, even while the last government handed out hundreds of new licenses. It’s further proof that the future for British workers isn’t in a dying industry, it’s in the clean energy transition. ☀️ A study from @oxford_uni this month found that a UK powered by renewables would save every household a lot more money than if we continue to drill (roughly £441 vs. £16 p/a). In fact, even if we taxed the oil companies and gave all that money out, we’d still save X5 more by switching to green energy. Co-author Dr Anupama Sen said the idea that “draining” the North Sea would significantly cut household bills is “sheer fantasy”. So next time a politician tells you more drilling is a ‘common sense’ solution, think again… #fossilfuels #oil #renewables #rosebank #cleanenergy