In a few week’s time the 30th UN Climate Change Conference will take place in Belém, Brazil. While the world is making progress on cutting the carbon emissions that cause climate change, there is much work still to be done.

Even if the world were to meet the goals put in place ten years ago in the Paris Agreement, we would continue to face the impacts of climate change. We will also need to focus on adaptation.

One adaptation that could both build resilience and absorb carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere is the development of mangrove forests. In this episode, first aired in February 2024, and focused on the outcomes of COP 28, Jon Baston-Pitt was joined by two guests who have been using cutting edge technology to plant new mangroves.

Jane Glavan is the co-founder of Distant Imagery. The company combines cutting edge technologies with locally available techniques and materials, to develop drones, balloons and kites that can be used to bring us closer to Net Zero. In Abu Dhabi, their drones are reforesting mangrove swamps, propelling thousands of seedlings into the ground, in every eight minute drone flight.

This is a long-term project. Mangroves can take decades to reach maturity. Distant Imagery needed more access to data to track, refine, and share their approach. That has been Fugro’s focus. David Millar shared the importance of the UN Ocean Decade Corporate Data Group, which we first looked at in a February 2023 shortcast. The group is working to make available ocean data from some of the world’s most important private-sector collectors, and share it with potential users, such as Distant Imagery.

Host

Jon Baston-Pitt

Guests

Jane Glavan, Co-Founder, Distant Imagery

David Millar, Government Accounts Director, Americas, Fugro

Artificial Intelligence is developing at a dizzying pace. One day soon, its proponents promise, it will revolutionise the way we work.

The growth of AI could lead to the birth of ‘cobots’, robots able to collaborate safely with humans in shared spaces. But the development of machine autonomy and remote operations has much deeper roots.

The goal of robotics has been described as replacing humans in roles that are dirty, dangerous, or dull. Offshore work can often meet all of these criteria. Bringing surveyors to offshore sites on a fossil fuelled vessel is, in carbon terms, dirty. These expert personnel will spend at least some part of the voyage on dull tasks, in between the work they are trained for. And any work offshore carries some level of danger that must be managed carefully.

Fugro has developed remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, that can be launched from uncrewed surface vessels. This eliminates dull and dangerous working offshore, and makes a move away from dirty carbon emissions possible.

But remotely operated vehicles face challenges at sea. They must react quickly to changing conditions, and data transmission limits underwater restrict the ability of remote operators to respond in time.

In this episode, first aired in March 2023, Jon Baston-Pitt is joined by Fugro’s Mark Bruce, and the National Robotarium’s Yvan Petillot. The conversation took place shortly after a first successful test of remotely operated systems, that will allow ROVs to work efficiently, responding to changes in their environment without human intervention.

Host

Jon Baston-Pitt

Guests

Yvan Petillot, Professor of Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Heriot Watt University; joint academic lead, The National Robotarium.

Mark Bruce, Product Owner, Next Generation ROVs, Fugro

Some time ago, in an office quite far away, Tim Crain, vice president of R&D at Intuitive Machines, joined Jon Baston-Pitt for an episode of Planet Beyond, alongside Fugro’s Dawn McIntosh and Sam Forbes.

In that episode, first aired in November 2022, our guests discussed Intuitive Machine’s plans for the first commercial soft landing on the moon. The mission, which took place in February 2024 didn’t quite go to plan, but did successfully achieve a soft landing with all equipment functional.

The work at Fugro’s Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex, or SpAARC continues. This January, 2025, Sam Forbes joined the Engineering Matters podcast, alongside guests from around the world, to trace the development of the Remote Operations Centres. Like the SpAARC, these purpose built facilities allow for control of equipment, without the risks and costs associated with working offshore, or in space.

Commercial space activity remains at the top of many nations’ agendas. At the UK Space Conference this month, July 2025, the UK government highlighted the role that space will play in the economy, highlighting areas that will be part of the core focus of a new 10 year industrial strategy. Earlier this year, the European Space Agency reported that it had grown its ESA Investor Network to include 80 members, investing around €1bn in space-related activities.

The commercial space sector doubled in size in the decade before this episode first aired. In this episode we are joined by one of the most promising commercial space contractors, and a new control centre based in Australia that will support this and future endeavours to the Moon and beyond.

Host

Jon Baston-Pitt

Guests

Tim Crain, Vice President, Intuitive Machines

Dawn McIntosh, Space Systems Director, Fugro

Sam Forbes, Director, SpAARC, Fugro

Introduced by

Alex Conacher