Amol can talk the talk

WELL worth a look tonight is GRETA THUNBERG: AMOL RAJAN INTERVIEWS (BBC2, 7.30pm). No matter what you happen to think of the teenage climate activist herself, or indeed of Amol (and let’s be honest, they both divide opinion), it’s a refreshing example of how a grown-up interview ought to be conducted.

By that, I mean Amol is commendably measured in his approach. He’s neither aggressive nor obsequious.

I can think of several interviewers who’d relish the chance to shoot Greta’s arguments down in flames. I can think of several others who’d turn this whole encounter into some kind of excruciating lovefest. Amol, to his credit, does neither. That’s not to say he’s afraid to ask awkward questions. Quite the opposite: he asks plenty.The awkward questions far outweigh the soft ones. But the point is he asks them in a manner that’s adult and respectful. It’s a conversation, not a fight.

That said,Amol’s softly-softly approach does reveal some flaws and contradictions in Greta’s arguments.

For example, when he asks her why she has so little faith in the Paris Agreement on climate change, she replies: “We don’t have time for these small steps in the right direction.”

Fair enough, but when he asks her why she believes so strongly in street protests as a means of changing “the public narrative”, she replies: “When we are in an existential emergency like this, every step in the right direction is welcome.”

Amol also presses her on issues ranging from free local transport (“How do you pay for it?”) to technology to Elon Musk to nuclear power.

Cutting to the chase, he asks her to what extent it’s fair to describe her as an opponent of economic growth – and indeed of capitalism? Her answers do seem a little muddied at times.

Perhaps significantly – or perhaps not, draw your own conclusion – Greta seems reluctant to get drawn on detail.

On nuclear policy, for instance, she says she’s “just tried to stay away from those things as much as possible, as they distract from the crisis”.

Asked if she’s exposing herself to the argument “that you’re not prepared to, as it were, get your hands dirty in real practical policy solutions?” her reply is one that I fear will leave many viewers unsatisfied, particularly those looking to her for workable solutions to the climate crisis.

“Once we actually treat it as an emergency,” she says, “we will talk about every possible detail. But until we’re doing this, it’s distracting to talk about these individual specific issues.”