A Channel 4 News / Computer Weekly exclusive reveals serious problems at the heart of a multi-billion pound Ministry of Defence computer system.
Broadcast: November 15 2007
More than £4bn is being spent on a huge new computer system designed to help Britain's troops operate more effectively in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the globe, but a joint investigation by Evolve Television and Computer Weekly has revealed it has hit major problems.
It's behind schedule; there are claims that much of it doesn't work – with internal emails from civil servants describing parts of the system as an “unmitigated disaster” and “not fit for purpose” - and there are questions too over whether the tax-payer is getting value for money.
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
MoD's £5bn Defence Information Infrastructure hits major problems (Computer Weekly, 15th November 2007)
Special Channel 4 News report into the new biofuel source that’s causing controversy in India.
Broadcast: October 25 2007
Jatropha curcas is a shrub that’s grown wild in the tropics for hundreds of years. Now it’s being heralded as a green fuel of the future because its seeds contain oil which can converted into biodiesel. But in India some farmers have turned against it, and a British company has faced allegations that it breached India’s biodiversity laws.
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
Observations on Biofuels (New Statesman, October 25 2007)
Special Channel 4 News report looking at Fairtrade-certified tea plantations in Tamil Nadu
Broadcast: 2nd May 2007
Special Channel 4 News report looking at carbon emissions trading in the UK
Broadcast: 22nd May 2007
The booming carbon market is worth £20bn and is meant to be the planet’s best hope of averting climate change. With the UK trying to persuade world leaders to spread the idea around the world, some experts worry that the multi billion dollar bubble could burst and that could set us back years in the fight to save the environment.
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
Special More 4 News report from Delhi into opium for the masses
Broadcast: 23rd March 2007
Opium is still the number one medicinal drug to alleviate pain and India is the biggest worldwide producer of opium for pharmaceutical use. In a country where there are 70 million drug addicts, Evolve Television travelled to Delhi to investigate whether legitimately grown crops are fuelling an illegal drugs trade.
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
Special Channel 4 News report finds some carbon trading schemes could actually be damaging the environment
Broadcast: 7th February 2007
One of the main planks of tackling global warming is carbon trading between rich and poor countries. Evolve Television uncovered the first direct evidence that it may not be working as planned and in some cases may even be damaging the local environment.
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
The Guardian covered the same story 5 months later with this front-page piece: Abuse and incompetence in the fight against global warming (The Guardian, 2nd June 2007)
Special Channel 4 News report exposes child labour in Bangladeshi factories supplying Tesco
Broadcast: 10th October 2006
Evolve Television undertook a 3-month investigation into the Bangladeshi garment industry. Through secret filming and interviews with child workers and their parents, the investigation uncovered compelling evidence of children under 15 working for two Bangladeshi companies that manufacture supermarket giant Tesco’s own label clothes.
Whilst there was no suggestion Tesco was aware of this, during the course of the investigation, it emerged that Tesco did not know that two of the factories visited were manufacturing its clothes, raising questions about Tesco’s ability to enforce the ethical standards it claims to insist upon.
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
This report got global press coverage including the Sunday Times (8th October 2006), The Scotsman (10th October 2006), The Daily Telegraph (11th October 2006), Guardian Unlimited (11th October 2006), Agence France Presse (11th October 2006) and the Financial Times (16th January 2007).
Special Channel 4 News report into private healthcare companies
Broadcast: 8th March 2006
Evolve Television revealed claims that new privately run treatment centres were being paid millions for operations never carried out.
Watch this report (Channel 4 News website)
Special Channel 4 News report on the side effects of Parkinson’s medication
Broadcast: 14th November 2005
This investigation uncovered claims of an unexpected and devastating side effect of certain Parkinson’s medication on some patients that turned sufferers into compulsive gamblers.
