One chance to save our home with Chris Packham

On April 22 each year, Earth Day is an opportunity to evaluate the state of the planet. As we look for new futures beyond Covid, and as the environmental clock ticks towards midnight, we thought there was no more vital time to invite Chris Packham, one of Britain’s best, boldest and most influential broadcasting and environmental voices, to guest edit a bumper edition of the magazine.

Chris doesn’t do things by half. As well as the world’s leading teenage influencer Greta Thunberg and the best spaceman of all, Professor Brian Cox, he has assembled a collection of creators, thinkers, agitators and changemakers who have lit a beacon for change. And importantly, he provides a guide for what we can all do next. It’s a magazine of hope and practical change.

Greta Thunberg

In an exclusive interview, figurehead of the environmental movement Greta Thunberg tells The Big Issue what needs to happen next. In short: everything. She also ties the work The Big Issue does into the wider social justice movement. “The climate crisis is a social crisis,” she says. “It mostly affects people who are already the most vulnerable. So without having that in mind, without taking that into account, we won’t be able to solve the climate crisis.”

Chris Packham vs Professor Brian Cox

Two of the great science broadcasters – one who looks up to the stars, the other who focuses on the forest floor – take in the origins of life, the importance of us being the only advanced civilisation known life in the universe, and therefore our responsibility to protect it – and how global governance is the way to save the planet. Unsurprisingly, they are thinking BIG.

Making the most of COP26

Ahead of November’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (aka COP26) in Glasgow, we bring together the youthful idealism of 15-year-old environmental activist Holly Gillibrand and Claire O’Neill – who was COP26 president until Dominic Cummings intervened last year. What are their hopes and expectations ahead of the vital global environmental conference?

The Birdman of Exeter

Big Issue vendor Richard Todd is back to tell us about how the Self-Isolating Bird Club, set up by Chris Packham, brought solidarity, kindness and friendship during lockdown – and how he raised funds to keep feeding the birds in his hometown.

Kaul of the wild

Young environmentalist Kabir Kaul mapped 1300 wildlife sites in London. Hie enthusiasm and knowledge is inspirational – he shares his advice of how to follow your passion and get involved in protecting and campaigning for the biodiversity around you.

Urban foxes

Matt Maran is a photographer, who has been following a fox in London for five years. He wants to show us that they are our neighbours with whom we share a space, and shatter a few urban myths around these urban animals.

This is just a selection of features in this week’s magazine. We also celebrate the welcome vendors received when they returned to selling for the first time since Christmas, including amazing messages of support from Stormzy and Marcus Rashford!

Please support your local Big Issue vendor on their pitches in England and Wales. If you are in Scotland or cannot reach your vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue today or give a gift subscription to a friend or family member. You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.