these are live pictures from tel aviv. tens of thousands of israelis are holding a rally with the slogan, �*bring them back home'. the military camp in the west bank is where the next group of military prisoners and atvs are due to be released by israel. a major attack by russian drones on kyiv — ukraine's military say more than 70 were launched overnight. it said 7a of 75 drones were shot down. now on bbc news, midlands today, episode four. —— future earth, episode four. from what we eat to how we grow, food can have a big impact on our planet.

and as our population continues to grow, that impact will only become bigger. whether you're a meat eater, a vegan, or maybe somewhere in between, we've got a feast of climate solutions that can help keep you and our planet healthy. i'm carl nasman and this is future earth. welcome to the new series shining a light on the simple real—world solutions we already have to help us solve the biggest challenge of our lifetimes. each week, we'll be taking you on a journey from our forests to the oceans, examining where we live, how we travel and what we eat. we'll show you some of the paths for tackling the climate crisis, meeting the innovators, action—takers and climate heroes who are truly making a difference. coming up this week, why volunteers are racing to restore billions of oysters across our waterways, how we meet the challenge of feeding an ever—growing population while keeping sustainability a top priority. don't look now, but insects could soon start creeping onto your plate.

plus we've got reservations with the michelin star chef putting sustainability on the menu. we start with the tiny shellfish playing a big role in our ecosystems. decades ago these waters along the east coast of the united states were teeming with oysters. but after generations of overharvesting they nearly disappeared. now teams are working to restore our local oyster populations, notjust because they're delicious but because of their incredible power to clean up the pollution we leave behind. the waterways of the chesapeake bay stretch across six states with millions of people living near its shores. it's one of the world's largest estuaries, but also one of the most polluted. now, a small — sometimes overlooked — creature is being restored to help

us clean up the mess. oysters are making a comeback. i look at each oyster as a living water treatment plant. they're essentially like the kidneys of the chesapeake bay. oysters are more than just a happy hour delicacy. these are water—filtering powerhouses, removing the pollution from our cities and the excess fertiliser that escapes from ourfarms. in fact, a single adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons — or nearly 200 litres — of water per day. oysters help to filter out sediments and pollutants that jeopardise water quality. they create habitat for about 300 different species. so in a way they're like the coral reefs of the chesapeake bay. the chesapeake was once teeming with oysters, but after decades of overharvesting the population was nearly wiped out, reaching about i% of historic levels. the resource almost slipped between our fingers forever. by the time we got to the �*90s,

oysters were almost not even a blip on the on the radar, in terms of the bushels being landed or harvested and brought back to the dock. now the chesapeake bay foundation is part of an effort to replant 10 billion oysters by the year 2025. in virginia today, at low tide, you would see oysters beginning to break the surface of the water about two hours ahead of low tide. it's rebuilding oyster reefs, like this one along the lynnhaven river in virginia. you see the excitement. there really is sort of a renaissance happening around the oyster, but it's really the interest from the public that we're seeing which really gives me so much hope. that excitement is spreading on a smaller scale too. oh, look at this guy. that is a cool one. they're like little sculptures. oyster gardeners are raising their own baby oysters in the tidal waters behind their homes, helping to clean their local waterways before the oysters are brought to larger reefs. so our oyster gardeners become

foster parents to baby oysters. usually, an oyster cage will have a couple hundred little baby oysters in it that start about the size of your thumbnail. it really also turns some of our oyster gardeners into advocates for clean water because once they start to get protective of their oysters and we might hear about a bill that isn't good for water quality, or a way that they can maybe support farming communities to reduce pollution, it really becomes a gateway to get them more involved in some of those bigger asks. oysters have other benefits too. the reefs reduce erosion along our shorelines and can protect communities from storm damage as hurricanes become more intense due to climate change. and they could even help cool the planet. oysters remove carbon from the environment, locking it away in their shells. and the shells have another use too. these are actually critical in helping to raise new oysters. so in a growing number of cities, instead of being thrown in the trash, they're actually being recycled.

here, in washington dc, oyster shells are collected by some 200 restaurants. then they're picked up by the oyster recovery partnership and brought to this mound — enough shells to fill four olympic—sized swimming pools. soon they'll become the foundation for new oyster reefs. and other regions are putting oysters on their climate menu. in september of 2023 prince william met students and volunteers in new york with the billion oyster project, designed to help clean up the city's harbour. the humble oyster now becoming climate royalty. people are really starting to understand that, whether you like to eat the oyster or not, that it's very, very good for our water quality, it's great for fishing, it's great for habitat biodiversity, it's great for our economy. and from a culinary and cultural standpoint, you know, it's just something that everybody can love and get behind.

now let's meet the chef taking sustainability to the next level and taking inspiration from oysters. now, rob rubba named his restaurant oyster oyster after the shellfish and the mushroom, and his food is all about proving what's good for the planet should taste good too. his menu showcases local, seasonal and renewable produce, and i visited his restaurant to see why it's getting rave reviews. how would you describe the kind of food that you guys cook? we're sustainably minded first. local cuisine based around the mid—atlantic, so we're using all products from this region. we do that in a plant—based format. and a tasting menu. why oysters 7 what's the inspiration behind it? one, it'sjust really fun to say, right? it's really good to repeat. well, when we were thinking about the restaurant, my business partner and i were developing it, we were thinking about, "what were our kind of, like, pillars "that we stood behind?" and it was really kind of taking care of the environment. and here in the chesapeake oysters

are this amazing resource. they help clean the water. they provide this wonderful ecosystem. and then the other oyster was to represent the oyster mushroom and a healthy soil, so the mycelium from that, and kind of those being like this yin—yang of sustainability for us. i know you're a chef who used to cook sticky, crunchy ribs. you know, you cooked meat. but now this is a meatless restaurant. so what's the inspiration behind that? like, why did you drop meat altogether? i kind of hit this point in my career where i started to look more at what i was using, how i was cooking it, and realised restaurants weren't that sustainable and that factory farming and things like that were a big issue on our environment. so instead of trying to find a farm that could produce this i figured i'd just go completely with plants, tell a good story through that ecosystem. i'm looking at your set—up here and your stove and i'm not seeing any of those gas flames shooting up, which you usually see in a kitchen. yeah.

what's the story behind that? ah, no open flame. primarily trying to work with as much electric equipment as possible here, just to reduce our footprint on that. you know, ithink that's very important. and kind of start preparing for that because i think as we move towards a future induction cooking will be a lot more prominent than those gas flames in a kitchen. so about a year ago we got rid of all single—use cans and bottles of beer and cider. we are a restaurant and guests still like to have some wine so that was the one ingredient that we were still holding on to. and recently we were like, "what do we do with these bottles?" because here in this region only 10% of glass actually gets recycled. so we wanted to take that into our hands. "how do we manage this waste?" so we bought a bottle—crusher recently. so when the bottle... you know, we drink our wine, we end up with an empty bottle like so. we send it to our ceramic artist material things and we put it through a bottle—crusher. it becomes sand and then they bake the bottle back into a plate. so now... so now this used to be a glass bottle?

that used to be a glass bottle. that's amazing. wow. so if you come here, you know, twice a year, there's a good chance the plate you're eating off is the bottle of wine you drank from, so it's pretty cool. that's so cool! cool thank you. it's a caraway and rye flatbread, kind of similar to a tortilla. all right, let's see. oh, wow. mmm. what kind of conversations are you having with other chefs in the area about climate change, sustainability? that's. .. it's harder. i never want to be too preachy with my peers, but i think it's just trying to get them on board with the basics, like start a composting programme instead ofjust filling landfills with your trimmings every day. if you're not going to be able to have the time to figure out how to use them on the menu at least be putting those into compost, right? because at least we're making

healthy soil and adding nutrients back to that and feeding more people rather than making gas in a landfill. when people come in to eat at your restaurant, i know you want to serve them a fantastic meal. is there anything else you want them to go home with in terms of what they might be learning from your food? yeah, we want it to be, i guess, cerebral in a way. like on that walk home you start to thinking about it a little bit. i hope... you know, we don't want this to be a restaurantjust for vegan and vegetarian diners. we want it to be for everyone. and hopefully it's the person who's a proud steak—eater will then be like, "that was really good." and their next restaurant they go to, when they're looking to pick up their appetiser, they're going to say, "all right, "maybe i'll go with that vegetarian "appetiser instead." i think that's really important. it can be, frankly, kind of depressing seeing what's going on with a world, thinking about climate change. some people feel like there's not

much they can do about it. what way do you think food can help combat those negative feelings about the world right now? by making it delicious, right? like, we're doing things very mindfully here. we're doing things in a sustainable and responsible manner, whether that be how we're preparing it or who we're purchasing it from. and i think when you eat a meal like this and you experience that, that gives you hope. that is exciting. we know that this little restaurant itself isn't going to fix the world with what we do but we hope that it inspires the next generation, the next person, and together as a collective we'll make a bigger impact. sustainable food is about more than just reducing our impact on the world. it's also about finding new ways to feed everyone living on it. the global population is now more than 8 billion people, and according to estimates by the united nations agricultural production worldwide will have to increase by 70% by the year 2050 to produce enough calories for all of us. i spoke to ertharin cousin —

she's the former executive director of the world food programme — about the link between sustainable food production and reducing global hunger. you've really made it your mission to try to end global hunger. what does that mission look like right now? honestly, these are tough days. we... after years of seeing a reduction in the number of those who are food insecure, we've seen an increase. what we are witnessing is an increase in the number of people who are suffering from food insecurity. we now have over 800 million people who are food insecure. but a number that is also quite critical is that 3.1 billion people cannot afford a diverse and nutritious meal on a daily basis. why is that? the challenges that it would require

— because of the complexity of the food system, it will require a diversity of solutions that are context—based. what is the problem in one country may be completely different in another. and so we will need... it requires a combination of sustainable agricultural practices. i want to ask you about climate change. how does the way the planet is changing...? how does climate change affect global hunger? is it making the situation worse? the food system is actually a contributor to climate change in that approximately 25—30% of all greenhouse gases are emitted by the food system, and that includes carbon dioxide, methane, as well as nitrous oxide, which is quite a potent greenhouse gas, as you know. but the food system is also the system that is the most vulnerable to climate crisis

because of droughts and floods and erratic temperature changes that affect the cultivation of food, what you can grow and where. the food system also uses 70% of all of the fresh water draws on an annual basis. so all of these factors is push and pull of climate, and the effects on the food system directly affects our ability to achieve our climate goals, as well as our ability and the opportunity for ensuring that no—one goes hungry. this is a global issue and we must invest globally in the transformation of the food system, or we won't bring everyone along in at the pace and scale that is necessary to ensure that we can address the climate challenges as well as increase food production by 50% before the year 2050, which is what fao tells us is required in order

for us to meet the needs of the growing global population. one solution for feeding more people could be hiding in plain sight, or in this case maybe inside your pasta. more than 2 billion people around the world eat insects every day, and many rave about them as a source of nutrients and protein. sophia bettiza has been to an insect farm in northern italy that produces pasta with an extra kick. would you eat cricket pasta? eating insects is nothing new in parts of the world like asia. but is there a shift happening in europe? this farm in northern italy turns i million crickets into food every day. first the crickets, still alive, are frozen... ..boiled... ..dried... .and then pulverised.

machine whirs this is the final result — a cricket—based flour that can be added to food like pasta, bread or pancakes. and it's good for the planet. insects require a fraction of the land and water that is used to produce meat. translation: what we do here is very sustainable. i to producei kg of cricket powder, we only use about 12 litres of water, whereas producing the same amount of protein from cows requires about 60,000 litres of water. but how does this get on your plate? some restaurants buy the flour and add it to some of the more traditional dishes, like pasta. cricket pasta? yes. thank you. here we go. i'm about to taste cricket tagliatelle. this is really good.

it tastes like normal pasta. i would not be able to tell that this is cricket—based flour. well, eating meat can have a big impact on the planet. and us americans, we're the biggest carnivores of them all, eating more meat per person than any other nation. could eating insects instead be healthier for us and for the planet? i asked oneamerica foundation endowed chair, amrou awaysheh. professor, thank you forjoining us. first of all, can you walk us through some of the benefits — although it might be a little bit creepy for some of us — but some of the benefits of eating insects? i think insects are an important source of protein and in a lot of places all over the world, they're actually used as a primary source of protein in feed for people. they use that, you know, instead of beef or chicken that we might use here in the us. and so maybe you can start thinking about maybe some of the flour you're using to be insect flour or protein—supplemented flour.

as you mentioned, there are plenty of countries around the world that already eat insects — it's totally normal. why not in a western country? why are we so squeamish about it? i honestly think it's just prior misconceptions. it's what we're used to, it's what we see, it's what we have. and i can understand, you know, the big hurdle people have or this misconception that we have but insect feed can be used in a lot of different ways. so, for instance, about half of the impact the greenhouse gas emissions that come from beef production is for the feed for that animal. so the feed that's generated so the cow can grow before kind of it's slaughtered. and so if you think about, "well, how can we change that feed?", "how can we reduce that impact?", well, we can use insect protein as feed for that animal. so we can half — so reduce by about 50% — almost half the impact of beef production just by changing the feed that they have. you know, another thing that a lot of us don't think about is pet food. ok, so a lot of animal protein —

beef, chicken — goes into pet food, and at the end of the day the goal is to get that same protein value for your pet. and, you know, you're usually not eating your pet food, but can you think about maybe how we can supplement that with some insect protein? i know you've actually written as well that the world will be in danger of running out of protein. talk to us a bit about that and why that is a worry for the future. by 2050, we're going to have about 10 billion people. and just to continue the amount of growth we're going to need a lot of land to create protein for these people. there simply isn't enough earth available. and so just because, you know, beef or chicken, there's a lot of land that's required for every gram of protein, insect feed, it's exponentially less land that's needed. and so that's another way that we can make sure that there's enough protein feed available for mankind. from the supermarket to your takeout lunch, a lot of our food these days comes with an extra climate cost —

plastic packaging. plastic pollution can damage habitats and harm marine life. small bits of microplastic have been found as far away as antarctica. but there are some companies working hard to find new ways to wrap up ourfood, including 2022 earthshot prize winner notpla, which is short for "not plastic". based in london, it's developed an edible bubble called an ooho to replace plastic water bottles and a plastic alternative called notpla, which is made from seaweed. its products include a coating for takeout boxes, paper made from seaweed pulp and even disposable silverware also made from seaweed. i spoke to hoa doan from notpla about their mission to create a world without single—use plastics. could you just paint us a picture, describe for us what it's like, the states of plastic packaging, if you're in a grocery store, if you're in a restaurant or cafe?

i mean, what does it look like in terms of the way that, you know, food makes it into our hands? if you think about globally, there's about 140 million tons of plastic being produced a year, and at least half of those are plastic packaging. and we know that for a lot of these plastic packaging only a very small amount ever gets recycled. so if you go to a cafe where you pick up your disposable coffee cups, you know that there will be a plastic lining in it. and a bag of crisps that you could eat within five minutes, the packaging itself will last at least 100 years or more. so that is currently the plastic pollution crisis that we currently face and packaging really contributes a very large amount of that. you have this entire range of interesting ways of trying to replace plastic and packaging. you've got different kinds of food containers, replacing plastic cutlery with more sustainable cutlery. how does this all work?

can you just kind of walk us through some of these innovations? we are pioneering the use of seaweed and plants to create packaging that is edible, compostable and for some cases can also be recycled as well. we have a quite a big range of products coming from oohos, which is our edible product that was invented to replace plastic bottles, so the seaweed membrane that can hold liquids, to some of our more common household products like takeaway food boxes where you can... normally it's invisible to the human eye, but there's always a plastic lining within it. and what we have been able to pioneer is really replace the plastic lining with a seaweed—based lining. so it means that you can consume your takeaway food without any guilt and knowing that the food package can either be

compost or can be recycled safely. why is using seaweed more sustainable than using other materials? so, seaweed is an incredible source of material. seaweed can grow very quickly in terms of metres per day, and it doesn't require any land or fertiliser. so we know that seaweed is a very sustainable material. the future is no longer plastic. and finally it's time to ride a slightly different sustainable trend, using mushrooms to develop a plastic—free surfboard. that's what one welsh surfer has been trying out. sustainability should be the bottom line of every project and every product, for me. so, if i was going to do a surfboard, the first thing i wanted to look at was how i could help the environment. a surfboard made from mushroom, it sounds a little bit crazy, but it's a way to get away from polystyrene, polyurethane and resin boards that can sit in landfill,

they can sit and not decompose for hundreds to thousands of years. the mushroom material within the board is a root, essentially. so this root is called mycelium. mycelium is a network of roots that work together to bind a substrate. a substrate could be agricultural waste or hay. this sits within the boards and fills out a mould. and then this mycelium works to glue this hay together. this is where we're growing the mushroom board. it's nothing too special for yet but it's a good place to prototype. all trial and error, so we're learning loads of little things about temperature, how to grow it, where to grow it. and before we go, a quick reminder — if you want to get more from future earth delivered each

week directly to your inbox, sign up for the future earth newsletter. in it you'll find behind—the—scenes reporting from me, the week's top climate stories and insights from our entire bbc climate change team. i'm carl nasman. thanks for watching future earth. hello. it's been a cold and crisp day across many parts of the uk. a clear evening on the way, too, and overnight, we're expecting another widespread frost. now, let me show you the satellite picture first — and in the last 2a hours or so, you can see the motion of the cloud. it's been coming in from the north, so that's where the cold air has been coming from, from the northern climes. but out towards the west, temporarily, we will see this incursion of slightly milder air brought by a weather front.

so it does mean that the temperatures won't necessarily drop that quickly across western parts of the country. yes, across scotland and many central and eastern parts of the uk, with the clearing skies, there will be that sharp frost — but out towards the west here, where we have cloud and dribs and drabs of rain, actually by the early hours of the morning, probably no lower than three celsius in belfast, and in the tip of cornwall and devon, around seven celsius. so let's have a look at the forecast, then, for sunday — here's that approaching weather front or couple of them, warm front, cold front, occlusion actually, as well, and that means a lot of cloud and some outbreaks of rain. so it does mean that, after that beautiful and crisp saturday, sunday will be very different — grey skies, really overcast out towards the west with outbreaks of rain. but scotland, particularly central parts of scotland, will remain cold and clear through the day. some sunshine here in aberdeen, four celsius, and pretty chilly across yorkshire and down into the southeast. but southwestern areas will be

a little bit mild, around 7—8. now, sunday into monday, that weather front moves across the uk — in fact, it's right over us early monday — and it does spell some unpleasant weather in the morning on monday. so, thick cloud, outbreaks of rain. it'll feel cold, too — look at the winds coming in from the north again on this western edge of the area of low pressure, so the winds are coming around that low pressure, dragging the colder air from the north yet again. so, for most of us, its single figures. and the cold air does hang around in the week ahead — in fact, there is milder air, but it's way towards the south and southwest of us. the air stream will be generally coming in from the north. so, here's the outlook for the week ahead. temperatures typically into single figures, but the weather will be quite variable and, in the mountains, wintry at times. bye— bye.

live from tel aviv. this is bbc news. a dispute between hamas and israel which had delayed the latest transfer of hostages held in gaza is now resolved. qatar says hostages will be released �*tonight�*. the friends and relatives are gathering with the slogan, bring them all back home. these are live pictures from the rafah crossing where more hostagss will be

brougt through shortly. these are live pictures from the ofer prison in the west bank — where the next group of palestinian prisoners are due to be released by israel. and in london — i'm azadeh moshiri with the other main stories. a major attack by russian drones on kyiv — ukraine's military say more than 70 were launched overnight. hello, i'm anna foster live in tel aviv. a delay to the release of the second group of israeli hostages has now been resolved following mediation efforts by egypt and qatar. earlier the armed wing of hamas delayed the release until it said israel met conditions including committing to let aid trucks into northern gaza. the hostages will be transferred tonight