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Earth Matters

Climate change, ferocious weather and ‘the haze’ are now part our everyday lives. How are our lifestyles connected to them, and what can we do about it? What does the economy have to do with it? Earth Matters engages with activists and experts to explore our changing relationship with the planet that we only borrow from our children.

society & culture natural sciences

All Episodes

35:15

Agroecology As A Climate Solution

Earth Matters ·

2025/12/17

Industrial agriculture is often framed as the only way to feed the world, yet its pesticide-heavy model is deepening environmental and climate risks. Sarojeni Rengam, the Executive Director of Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PANAP), joins us to explain why agroecology offers a more sustainable path forward that builds soil health, strengthens biodiversity and empowers farmers. We’ll discuss how agroecology works on the ground, the systemic changes needed to shift away from hazardous

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34:40

Nature-Based Learning with The Beach School

Earth Matters ·

2025/12/15

The Beach School in Port Dickson started with something simple: a family that loved the sea and wanted to protect it. Over time, Kent Leong and his wife turned their weekend cleanups and curiosity about marine life into a community education initiative rooted in nature-based learning. Now, The Beach School invites people of all ages to explore, discover, and build a more mindful relationship with the coastline. We speak to Kent about how the school works, what it stands for, and why coastal

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38:08

Indigenous Leaders Speak Out Against LNG Canada

Earth Matters ·

2025/12/10

A First Nations delegation from British Columbia, Canada, was in Kuala Lumpur to deliver a formal complaint to PETRONAS. Their complaint centers on PETRONAS’ investment in LNG Canada and its associated Coastal GasLink pipeline, which they say has violated their Indigenous rights, damaged sacred sites, and led to police violence on their territory. This World Human Rights Day, we speak to Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks and Jesse Stoeppler (Gwii Lok'im Gibuu), representing the Wet’suwet’en and

en-US

47:45

The Case Against the Batu Arang Incinerator

Earth Matters ·

2025/12/08

Selangor is running out of landfill space, and the state’s solution is a large waste-to-energy incinerator proposed for Batu Arang. But thousands of residents who are living near schools, homes, and even old coal-mining tunnels there, say the risks are far too high. To help us make sense of what’s happening, we speak to Abdul Hanan Bin Abd Mokti and Pauline Puah, both spokespeople from Jaringan Rawang Tolak Incinerator, who have been at the forefront of this fight. They share how they've faced

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34:51

Inside 25 Years of Tiger Trafficking

Earth Matters ·

2025/12/03

Even after 50 years of the highest possible international protection under CITES, tigers continue to be poached and trafficked at alarming levels. A new 25-year analysis - Beyond Skin and Bones: A 25-Year Analysis of Tiger Seizures - puts this into stark perspective, showing that thousands of tigers have been seized across dozens of countries, and that criminal networks are increasingly sophisticated in how they operate. To walk us through what the report uncovered, why the trade persists, and what

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41:21

Key Takeaways from COP30 in Belém

Earth Matters ·

2025/12/01

The world watched Belém closely as leaders gathered for COP30, hoping the talks would deliver stronger climate action. Meenakshi Raman (President, Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Head of Programmes, Third World Network) was there in the thick of this year's climate negotiations, and she joins us to break down the wins, the gaps, and share the stories that didn’t make global headlines.Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

31:20

How Online Sales Are Harming Malaysia's Sharks & Rays

Earth Matters ·

2025/11/26

Sharks and rays may feel like abundant, everyday seafood in Malaysia, but new research suggests that the demand is much bigger and more complex than we think, especially online. The report From Sea to Screen shows huge volumes of these species being traded on digital platforms, including critically endangered species. We are joined by two of the co-authors - Serene Chng, Programme Manager of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, and Serena Adam, Senior Marine Conservation Officer at WWF-Malaysia - to help us

en-US

40:47

Nature Reads: The Sunda Sh(Elves) Christmas Special 2025

Earth Matters ·

2025/11/24

It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, and for this Nature Reads special we thought we'd do something a little different. Instead of having one of the Sunda Shelves team as our usual guest co-host, we have all three on the show - co-founders/ sh(elves) Surin Suksuwan, Jennifer Neoh Tan, and Dylan Jefri Ong. Together they will be sharing their own top picks of books on nature and conservation that are must-haves, and that shaped their own love of nature and reading. They'll also share

en-US

29:17

Zero-Waste Education for a Greener Malaysia

Earth Matters ·

2025/11/19

As Malaysia races against the alarming projection that our landfills may reach capacity by 2041, Zero Waste Malaysia is doubling down on efforts to build a culture of sustainability where it matters most: in our schools. Through the Green Wira Programme, now in its second cohort, over 300 educators have been equipped to lead meaningful, lasting zero-waste initiatives, impacting an estimated 150,000 students nationwide. With the upcoming week-long Green Wira Exhibition and Showcase, and fresh

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36:01

Inside the Shorebirds Peninsular Malaysia Project

Earth Matters ·

2025/11/17

Shorebirds are easy to miss but impossible to forget once you start paying attention, which is something the team behind the Shorebirds Peninsular Malaysia Project has been proving for nearly a decade. Through surveys, talks, community outreach and partnerships at home and abroad, they’re helping Malaysians see and value the species that depend on our wetlands. To walk us through this work and why it matters, we’re joined by ornithologistDr Nur Munira Azman, the coordinator of the Shorebirds

en-US

33:05

The State of Nature Conservation in Malaysia

Earth Matters ·

2025/11/12

Malaysia is home to some of the world’s most extraordinary biodiversity, from towering dipterocarp forests to coral reefs teeming with life. But decades of deforestation, urbanisation, and industrial growth have taken their toll on our natural heritage. The Malaysian Nature Society, or MNS, is now taking a closer look at where things stand through their upcoming State of Nature Conservation in Malaysia Symposium - 34 years since the maiden release of this report in 1991. Joining us to talk about

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42:05

AlterCOP 30 - How Malaysia is Reimagining Climate Action

Earth Matters ·

2025/11/10

This week, the world is gathering in Belém, Brazil, for COP30, the global climate summit. But here in Malaysia, a parallel movement is unfolding - AlterCOP 30 Malaysia, a grassroots version that mirrors the urgency of COP while grounding it in local realities. It’s independent, youth-driven, and collaborative, and a place for Malaysians to connect global ambition with local action. We speak to the core team organising this summit - Benoit Rabaud, Wan Hidayat, and Gabriel Hii - about what this

en-US

48:11

US E-Waste Flooding Malaysia, Report Finds

Earth Matters ·

2025/11/05

Every year, the world generates tens of millions of tonnes of electronic waste, from old phones and laptops to discarded TVs. Much of this ends up not in the countries that produced it, but in developing nations ill-equipped to deal with its toxic legacy. A new report by the Basel Action Network, “Brokers of Shame,” exposes how American companies continue to ship e-waste to Asia, and how Malaysia has become one of its biggest recipients. Joining us to unpack these findings is Wong Pui Yi, a

en-US

44:35

Beyond Waste-to-Energy: Real Solutions for Plastic...

Earth Matters ·

2025/11/03

Across Southeast Asia, we’re all grappling with plastic waste, from rivers choked with bottles and packaging to new proposals for “waste-to-energy” plants that promise to turn rubbish into electricity. But are these really solutions, or just shifting the problem elsewhere? The Philippines, like Malaysia, faces this tension between convenience, consumption, and sustainability too. In this episode, we're joined by two experts from the Philippines who’ve spent years studying and tackling these issues:

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38:16

Meet Malaysia’s Trailblazing Indigenous Women Rangers

Earth Matters ·

2025/10/29

All five of Malaysia’s gibbon species are endangered, facing threats from deforestation, hunting, and the illegal pet trade. But in the forests of Pahang and Sabah, a group of women are fighting to turn things around. They are Malaysia’s first all-female, all-Indigenous wildlife ranger team, working with the Gibbon Conservation Society to rescue, rehabilitate and return gibbons to the wild. Joining us to share more about this are the Gibbon Conservation Society's Founder, Mariani Ramli, and three of

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44:06

Nature Reads: Remembering Nanga Jela, an Iban Homeland

Earth Matters ·

2025/10/27

For this month's Nature Reads, together with co-host Surin Suksuwan (co-founder, Sunda Shelves), we speak to author and anthropologist Dr. Christine Padoch, whose new bilingual book Pemulai ke Nanga Jela / Return to Nanga Jela takes us back to an Iban longhouse community in Sarawak that once stood above the Engkari River, a landscape that was later submerged by the Batang Ai Dam. Through her time living among the Iban community in the 1970s, Christine documented their extraordinary relationship with

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37:28

Grieving the Loss of a Pet

Earth Matters ·

2025/10/27

Losing a pet can feel like losing a member of the family. Yet many people find their grief dismissed or misunderstood, making the healing process even more difficult. In this conversation, we speak with Shuang Ao, a licensed and registered counsellor about how to navigate the emotions of losing a pet, and how to honour that bond in healthy, meaningful ways.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

en-US

27:36

Malaysian Firms Linked to Papua New Guinea Logging

Earth Matters ·

2025/10/22

Papua New Guinea is home to one of the world’s last great tropical rainforests, a vital ecosystem that stores carbon, supports thousands of species, and sustains Indigenous communities. But a new report titled “Malaysia’s Timber Colony: Exposing Malaysia’s Grip Over Papua New Guinea’s Forests” has revealed just how much control Malaysian-linked companies have over the country’s forests. The investigation finds that 97% of Forest Clearing Authorities - licenses meant for agricultural development -

en-US

28:15

The Bamboo Boom Threatening Sarawak’s Forests

Earth Matters ·

2025/10/14

A new deforestation alert has been raised in Sarawak, this time around the Bakun Reservoir. Satellite and drone images show that native forest is being cleared to make way for a massive commercial bamboo plantation spanning over 44,000 hectares. The project, approved under the state’s License for Planted Forests scheme, has sparked serious concern among affected Indigenous communities and environmental groups. To help us understand what’s happening and what it means for Sarawak’s forests, we speak

en-US

41:45

Budget 2026: Investing in (or Ignoring) the Environment?

Earth Matters ·

2025/10/13

Malaysia’s Budget 2026 has been described as a “green and low-carbon” budget, with RM2.38 billion allocated to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, and new measures like a carbon tax and expanded green technology incentives. But how far do these allocations really go toward protecting our forests, rivers, and wildlife, and what’s missing from the picture? We speak to Adam Farhan, the Director of environmental think-tank RimbaWatch, and Gabriel Hii, the co-chair of the

en-US

939 results

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