Jeevan Vasagar reports on climate change and the environment for Tortoise. He is a former FT correspondent in Singapore and Berlin, and a former Nairobi correspondent for the Guardian. His book Lion City was published in 2021 by Little, Brown.
Jeevan Vasagar
Editor, Our Planet
“Tortoise gives you time to get to the heart of a story.”
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Tuesday 12 December 2023
12:00-13:00 GMT
What would a different energy market look like?
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Tuesday 14 November 2023
12:00-13:00 GMT
Water: how to deal with this shit?
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Tuesday 23 May 2023
08:30-09:30 BST
Food Index Launch
Join us online to hear about the second annual update of the Index and what the findings mean for creating a more sustainable food system in the UK.
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Tuesday 27 June 2023
09:00-10:00 BST
Everything, everywhere, all at once: How can the UK achieve net zero by 2050?
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Thursday 15 June 2023
18:30-19:30 BST
Material world: who really controls the Earth’s resources?
Join us at we explore the hidden battles going on to gain control of precious substances, who is involved, and what does this mean for the future of society, the economy and the planet?
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Tuesday 16 May 2023
13:00-14:00 BST
A world in crisis: who foots the bill?
Join us in this ThinkIn to explore how we transform our approach to crisis finance.
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Thursday 17 November 2022
08:00-09:15 GMT
COP27 Debrief and R100 Index update
Join us in our newsroom or online for our debrief on Cop27
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Thursday 10 November 2022
08:00-08:45 GMT
Living in a heating world: lessons from the global South
Taking place during the Cop27 climate talks in Egypt and centring African voices, this ThinkIn will ask: what lessons can be learned from adaptation and transition in the global South?
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Tuesday 8 November 2022
13:00-13:45 GMT
The dairy dilemma: what needs to change and why?
This ThinkIn explores the relationship between social norms, business innovation and government action on meat and dairy, and asks how we can mend a broken food system.
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Thursday 30 June 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Food crisis: can the UK feed itself?
How can we create a healthy, sustainable food system in Britain?
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Thursday 21 July 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Should the UK leave the Commonwealth?
With our greater understanding of the long-term impact of colonialism, is our continued involvement in the Commonwealth just an attempt to paper over the cracks caused by Britain’s imperial past, or do we still have a responsibility to be involved?
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Thursday 12 May 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
Should we stop flying?
Who has the right to fly, and how can we make aviation equitable?
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Friday 29 September 2023
Getting off Yeezy
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Wednesday 27 September 2023
Investment giant warns that UK is making the wrong decisions on net zero
Rishi Sunak is forgetting about the cost of pushing back net zero, says a FTSE 100 chief executive as the UK government approves as big new North Sea oilfield.
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Friday 22 September 2023
Former official says ministers sought to digitise the NHS “on the cheap”
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Friday 15 September 2023
Bringing home the bacon
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Friday 15 September 2023
Deadly US barn fire linked to truck
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Thursday 14 September 2023
Rise of the machines
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Thursday 14 September 2023
Look after the pennies
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Tuesday 12 September 2023
Demand for fossil fuels to peak before end of decade
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Wednesday 6 September 2023
Africa’s climate summit and the American fridge
Africa’s CO2 emissions are the lowest in the world but climate change is heating it up as fast as anywhere
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Friday 25 August 2023
Advice for Apollo
How does one of the world’s biggest asset managers put the lid on a scandal?
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Friday 4 August 2023
Driving lessons
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Tuesday 1 August 2023
China is determined to harvest metals from the ocean
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Thursday 27 July 2023
End of the Rose
The Farage bank scandal does responsible business a favour.
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Monday 24 July 2023
The cost of clean air
Ultra low emission zones can save lives, but have now become a political flashpoint.
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Monday 3 July 2023
Britain’s green drift
Sunak’s drift on climate might end up deterring investment in Britain
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Monday 26 June 2023
Throwing shade
The EU is calling for more research into an extreme option to combat the climate crisis. What could go wrong?
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Tuesday 20 June 2023
A capital idea
Borrowing money to tackle climate change is more expensive for low- and middle-income countries. Barbados’s prime minister has a plan to change that
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Friday 16 June 2023
Authority vacuum
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Tuesday 6 June 2023
Meat cultures
Net Zero has a food problem. The answer could be lab grown meat
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Friday 2 June 2023
Smoke without fire
Cigarette makers argue they should be considered an ESG stock because of attempts to shift towards healthier alternatives. What does it say about sustainable investing?
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Tuesday 23 May 2023
The Better Food Index 2023
One year on, has sustainability progress been made in the biggest UK food & drink companies?
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Tuesday 16 May 2023
Turtles or bankers?
The debt crisis is starting to bite. Poorer countries are feeling the squeeze of higher interest rates, while at the same time bearing the brunt of the climate emergency. But a new deal announced by Ecuador may just offer a solution to both
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Tuesday 9 May 2023
How the lights went out in South Africa
South Africa was once a symbol of hope. Now the country experiences regular blackouts. This is the story of how criminal gangs and flawed political leadership are holding back the world’s efforts to deal with climate change
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Monday 8 May 2023
Fuel and the Gang
A flagship project to wean South Africa off dirty energy is stumbling amid local opposition, power cuts and corruption
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Friday 28 April 2023
Sugar high
The food industry isn’t used to thinking of itself as a “sin industry”. But these are not easy times for companies whose business is built around snacks and convenience foods.
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Tuesday 25 April 2023
Capture the moment
Capturing carbon from the atmosphere is currently a niche and expensive way to clean up the planet. A wave of public funding could make it mainstream.
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Friday 14 April 2023
CB Why?
The CBI, Britain’s leading business lobby group, is supposed to set an example on issues of governance and purpose. It’s now facing a crisis.
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Monday 10 April 2023
Everything everywhere all at once?
The world is falling short of climate goals. Is that because countries are trying to do too much?
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Tuesday 4 April 2023
Crude behaviour
Saudi Arabia and other petrostates want to keep oil prices high and open up new markets. For how long can it last?
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Saturday 1 April 2023
Dimon in the rough
Jamie Dimon, America’s most powerful banker, is due to be interviewed under oath about JPMorgan Chase’s relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It’s a lesson in corporate due diligence.
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Monday 27 March 2023
The will of the people
Can citizens’ assemblies help us navigate the tricky politics of climate change?
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Thursday 23 March 2023
A hundred years after its inception, weather forecasting is more important than ever
Jeevan Vasagar examines how meteorology is faring in the age of climate change and culture wars
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Monday 20 March 2023
Somebody else’s problem
The IPCC report says the world is likely to reach 1.5C in the first half of the next decade. Will it compel us to act?
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Tuesday 7 March 2023
Electric dreams
Why are sales of electric vehicles slowing – and how long will it last?
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Tuesday 28 February 2023
Swooning for subsidies
Will America’s massive state support for clean energy help or hinder its relationship with Europe?
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Tuesday 14 February 2023
Gushing profit
Oil and gas companies made record profits last year. What does that mean for net zero?
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Tuesday 7 February 2023
Foot-dragging
Tortoise has taken the FTSE’s emissions targets and converted them into a temperature projection. What does it reveal?
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Tuesday 24 January 2023
Whose moor?
The right to camp wild in England and Wales is under threat. What is the relationship between land ownership and net zero?
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Tuesday 10 January 2023
Making hay
Biodiversity or “sustainable intensification” of agriculture? A group of MPs who are also members of a group part-funded by pesticide makers would prefer the latter.
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Monday 9 January 2023
The Readout: Building a fairer world: in conversation with Lawrence H. Summers
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Sunday 8 January 2023
The fight over rewilding
Brexit was meant to transform land management. Some MPs have other ideas
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Tuesday 3 January 2023
Has XR failed?
Public disruption has been a dead-end for climate protest – working through politics can do more.
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Tuesday 13 December 2022
The case for coal
By approving the opening of a new coal mine in Cumbria, the UK government is betting against swift decarbonisation.
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Tuesday 6 December 2022
PE kit
As private equity firms snap up oil and gas assets, they face growing pressure to clean up their act
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Tuesday 22 November 2022
Cop-out
UN climate talks in Egypt were a mess. For progress on emissions reduction, we need to look elsewhere.
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Thursday 17 November 2022
Sensemaker: Footsie falls short
What just happened
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Thursday 17 November 2022
The Responsibility100 Index: The findings
The Responsibility100 Index assesses FTSE 100 companies on their actions and commitments toward a more sustainable future. Here’s what we found in our 2022 update
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Tuesday 15 November 2022
Cop-orate influence
The oil and gas industry had a loud voice at Cop27. What does this mean for the transition to net zero?
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Thursday 10 November 2022
Money talks
This Cop may not bring the climate crisis under control, but some progress is being made on dealing with climate shocks
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Tuesday 8 November 2022
Polluters, pay up
The question of whether wealthy nations – which produce the bulk of emissions – should compensate poorer ones – which bear the brunt of them – is likely to dominate this year’s UN Climate Change Conference
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Tuesday 1 November 2022
A narrowing path
Alok Sharma, Cop26 president, says the King’s attendance at climate talks this year would help. What else needs to happen to keep 1.5C alive?
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Tuesday 25 October 2022
What Putin’s war means for net zero
War in Ukraine is reshaping the flow of energy around the world. But what about emissions?
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Tuesday 18 October 2022
Hot money
Fixing climate change will need dollars. How are banks facing up to the challenge?
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Tuesday 11 October 2022
Reforming the UK’s “fossil food” system
By pushing for more homegrown food, the Truss government is squandering a rare opportunity to make British farming greener post Brexit
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Tuesday 4 October 2022
Gas giants
Nationally owned oil companies have so far avoided the ire and scrutiny directed toward oil majors posting bumper profits. It’s time for a closer look.
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Tuesday 27 September 2022
An election for the planet
What does Brazil’s election mean for the fight against climate change?
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Tuesday 20 September 2022
China’s green ambitions
Beijing claims to be a leader on climate change. Do its actions match up?
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Tuesday 13 September 2022
Truss and net zero
What is this government telling us about net zero?
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Tuesday 6 September 2022
10 minute read
Sensemaker: Greenwash Inc
What just happened
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Tuesday 30 August 2022
Footing the bill
Poor regulation is partly to blame for the astronomical energy bills Brits are facing this winter. It’s time for a rethink on energy policy.
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Tuesday 2 August 2022
Deus ex Manchin
Joe Manchin, the senator chiefly responsible for resisting Joe Biden’s climate agenda, has struck a deal, paving the way for a landmark bill to be passed. What’s next?
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Tuesday 26 July 2022
The quickest climate fix
How war in Ukraine threatens the quickest climate fix
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Thursday 21 July 2022
Europe’s climate bill
The extreme heat across Europe this week might be called a “normal summer” by 2040 and countries are not prepared
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Thursday 21 July 2022
10 minute read
Sensemaker: Europe’s climate bill
What just happened
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Tuesday 19 July 2022
Cutting the “green crap”?
As Britain boils in record high temperatures, the Conservative leadership hopefuls don’t seem to have grasped the urgency of reaching net zero
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Tuesday 5 July 2022
Transition postponed
Are there any reasons for optimism in last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which appeared to delay US action on a transition to clean energy?
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Thursday 30 June 2022
10 minute read
Sensemaker Special: The price of chicken
What just happened
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Thursday 30 June 2022
Launching the Tortoise Better Food Index
Cheaper food doesn’t always mean better food. Products that cost less in monetary terms often have a higher cost elsewhere. The Tortoise Better Food Index – a ranking of food companies based on environmental, health and transparency metrics – aims to make the true cost of what we eat more visible
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Tuesday 28 June 2022
What the food industry isn’t telling us about carbon emissions
Food is the second biggest emitter of manmade greenhouse gases. But many UK food companies don’t reveal the scale of their supply chain emissions.
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Tuesday 21 June 2022
Delayism and disinformation
Misinformation about climate change remains rife on social media. Platforms must first define and then counter the problem before it causes more harm.
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Tuesday 14 June 2022
Betting the farm
The UK government’s food strategy was an opportunity to cut emissions, rewild the country and rebalance diets away from meat. But the document that arrived this week puts tech fixes ahead of transformational change.
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Tuesday 7 June 2022
The catalyst of war
The coming years of decarbonisation are going to be messy – but war or no war, the transformation is necessary
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Tuesday 24 May 2022
Time to stop worrying about climate risk?
What an indiscreet banker tells us about finance and net zero
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Tuesday 17 May 2022
Green wave
Voters across the world care about the climate – so why don’t green parties do better at the ballot box, and could something be about to change?
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Tuesday 10 May 2022
Stay grounded
Flying will always come with a hefty carbon footprint. The best way to green the industry is to avoid it
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Thursday 5 May 2022
EU energy hunt
The EU plans to stop buying Russian oil. But the race to find alternative supplies will drive up prices when what’s really needed to hurt Russia is to drive them down
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Thursday 5 May 2022
10 minute read Sensemaker: EU energy hunt
What just happened
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Tuesday 19 September 2023
Is climate change to blame for the disaster in Libya?
Thousands have been killed after dams burst during a storm in Libya. Is this the result of government failure or climate change?
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Monday 18 September 2023
The Russell Brand allegations and is climate change to blame for the Libya disaster?
Basia Cummings is joined by Giles Whittell, Jeevan Vasagar and Coco Khan to discuss the accusations against Russell Brand, flooding in Libya and the American XL bully ban.
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Friday 15 September 2023
Keir Starmer on the offensive and is the UK in a recession?
Andy Haldane, former Bank of England chief economist, offers his assessment of the UK economy. Plus Keir Starmer begins to set out his stall in two Murdoch-owned papers and Bernard Looney’s resignation from BP.
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Monday 11 September 2023
Why do we struggle to care about climate stories?
James Harding is joined by Jess Winch, Jeevan Vasagar and parliamentary sketchwriter Rob Hutton. They discuss the researcher arrested over alleged spying for China, Woking council cutting services and efforts to reduce global warming.
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Monday 4 September 2023
What a needless death teaches us about a toxic NHS culture
James Harding is joined by Tortoise editors Basia Cummings, Jeevan Vasagar and Giles Whittell. They discuss the risk of collapsing schools, an EU report on Kremlin disinformation and why the parents of Martha Mills, who died from sepsis, are campaigning for patients to have the right to a second opinion if they have concerns about their care.
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Monday 4 September 2023
Attack of the killer whales
What happens when another powerful carnivore threatens humans in a place where they are the masters?
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Monday 7 August 2023
What happens when you’re switched at birth and what does Rishi Sunak believe?
James Harding and the team discuss the jailing of Imran Khan in Pakistan, two Canadian men who discovered they were switched at birth and dozens of swimmers getting sick at the world triathlon championship.
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Friday 28 July 2023
How do you report climate science and should UFOs ever lead the news?
What should lead the news? Three journalists pitch the story they think matters most to deputy editor Giles Whittell. They discuss a new law that curtails the power of Israel’s Supreme Court, Nigel Farage’s war on Coutts and whether the Gulf Stream will really collapse by 2025. They also find time to talk about the US congressional hearings on UFOs.
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Monday 3 July 2023
Meat without murder
The US has approved the sale of lab-grown chicken to consumers. As global meat consumption keeps rising, is this a kinder and more sustainable way to be a carnivore?
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Monday 19 June 2023
Race to the bottom
Mining the ocean floor for rare minerals could help the world shift away from fossil fuels. But conservationists fear the consequences for a fragile ecosystem.
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Monday 12 June 2023
The News Meeting Live: Trump’s toilet troubles, wildfires and the allegations against Crispin Odey
In this episode, recorded at Kite Festival on Sunday 11th June, James Harding is joined on stage by Tortoise editors Alexi Mostrous, Basia Cummings and Jeevan Vasagar.
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Friday 2 June 2023
MeToo in the media, Whitehall WhatsApps and deep-sea mining
James Harding is joined by Tortoise editors Jeevan Vasagar, Jane Bruton and Giles Whittell. In this episode they discuss the sexual harassment allegations against former Observer columnist Nick Cohen; the Cabinet Office’s battle over Boris Johnson’s WhatApp messages; and a new frontier in the fight against climate change – deep below sea level.
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Tuesday 9 May 2023
Blackout: Coal, corruption and cyanide
South Africa was once a symbol of hope. Now the country experiences regular blackouts. This is the story of how the lights went out in Mandela’s country – and how criminal gangs and flawed political leadership are holding back the world’s efforts to deal with climate change
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Friday 14 April 2023
Pentagon leaks, China’s war games and sewage dumping
Journalist and broadcaster Rachel Johnson is joined by Tortoise reporter Will Brown, climate editor Jeevan Vasagar and producer Katie Gunning. In this episode they discuss the leak of classified US intelligence documents, Chinese military exercises around Taiwan and the report which revealed that sewage was dumped in UK waters for almost a million hours last year.
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Friday 17 February 2023
Nicola Sturgeon, Ford cuts jobs and BBC offices raided in India
Three journalists pitch their top story of the week to guest editor Sonia Sodha, who is chief leader writer and columnist at the Observer. She is joined by Tortoise’s climate editor Jeevan Vasagar, head of live events Mark St Andrew and Jane Bruton, former deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph.
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Friday 27 January 2023
German tanks, Dartmoor and Chinese infrastructure
Three journalists pitch their top story of the week to Tortoise’s editor-in-chief James Harding. In this episode James is joined by Tortoise’s climate editor Jeevan Vasagar, news editor Jess Winch and head of programming Mark St Andrew
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Tuesday 22 November 2022
Life after climate change
The UN climate talks ended without progress on cutting fossil fuels, so what happens next?
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Monday 7 November 2022
Egypt’s bad cop
The story of one man, fighting to his last breath, to reveal the darkness that lies behind this year’s UN Climate Change Conference
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Thursday 3 November 2022
Climate talks: blah blah blah?
A year on from Cop26 in Glasgow, are the UN’s climate talks really saving humanity from a climate catastrophe?
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Tuesday 13 September 2022
Will Charles be a Green King?
Charles championed the environment as Prince of Wales. How will he use his influence as King?
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Monday 5 September 2022
The Fix
Desiree Fixler was a high-flyer in the world of finance until she raised questions about whether sustainable investing is living up to its promise. Her decision to speak out had huge consequences
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Tuesday 19 July 2022
The end of cheap chicken
Chicken is the UK’s favourite meat and that’s partly because it’s cheap. Per kilo it costs less than a pint of lager. But it looks unlikely that prices can stay that low. Why is the cost of chicken rising?
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Thursday 30 June 2022
Check the label
The UK has the highest level of obesity in western Europe. Will better food labels help us break free of junk food?