How do we know what we’re doing is really helping? What should we do now that the world is changing? A slow, intentional beginning to a new year after a racing finish to the last one raises some big questions for all of us in the climate space. This week, Christiana, Tom, and Paul set out the big topics for the year leading up to COP27. Yes, another one. Shifting long term pledges to short term deliverables. Moving financial institutions from high carbon assets to low carbon assets. Getting the ...
Feb 03, 2022•49 min•Season 5Ep. 2
*This episode is best enjoyed on a pair of headphones or quality speaker system Welcome to Season 5! We have a special season opener for you- An immersive sound journey through the history of Gaia, as told by Dr. Stephan Harding. Normally on the podcast we engage full-heartedly in the political, social, and economic debate surrounding everything climate, but today we set aside the time to sit comfortably, relax, and learn to “walk well into the life of Gaia” as Stephan puts it. Stephan has had a...
Feb 01, 2022•58 min•Season 5Ep. 1
There’s no pathway to capping our global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius without protecting and restoring nature. That’s the lay of the land according to The Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith, Minister for the Pacific and the International Environment - our final guest for 2021. At the close of a year that’s seen enormous momentum to incorporate forests and land use well and truly into the climate agenda, Lord Goldsmith shares insights into the context and his vision for the next twelve months. So, ...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 23
In this week’s episode we continue our series debriefing COP26 and take a look at the climate movement for their perspective on the outcomes of the Glasgow Climate Pact. Staying optimistic and fighting for climate justice - because indeed our lives depend on it - is a rightful approach to the conversation. And yet, the clock is ticking. What’s the reality behind fast-tracking our path to only a 1.5 world? Today, we talk to Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director at Greenpeace International, who join...
Dec 16, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 22
COP26 saw announcement after announcement from the financial sector, but we have questions. First off, why the sudden wake-up? What will follow? And, critically, will it be enough to address the climate crisis? Here to help us make sense of the fast-moving developments is Hiro Mizuno, Special Envoy of U.N Secretary-General on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investments. Hiro shares his deep insights into the financial landscape since the shift towards recognition of the systemic risk posed by...
Dec 13, 2021•39 min•Season 4Ep. 21
Countries have stepped up. Projected emission trajectories have come down. But let’s be real for a moment- We are still not doing enough, fast enough. So what did this year's host of the COP26 get right, and what is still in play as we prepare for COP27? Today we talk with Alok Sharma, President of COP26 and the man in the spotlight of the Glasgow negotiations just a few weeks back. As Alok takes us back through his experience at COP26 keeping 1.5°C front and center, the grounding truth of how T...
Dec 09, 2021•59 min•Season 4Ep. 20
¡Feliz Día de la Abolición del Ejército en Costa Rica! Happy Military Abolition Day in Costa Rica! Every year on December 1st, the country of Costa Rica celebrates the day that Christiana’s father and former Costa Rican president, José Figueres Ferrer, abolished their national army and redirected that part of the national budget to biodiversity and education. This year marks the 73rd anniversary! So with that in mind, we take a break from our COP26 reflections to speak with President Carlos Alva...
Dec 02, 2021•56 min•Season 4Ep. 19
With the ink still drying on The Glasgow Pact, we’re already hearing the results from Glasgow being labeled in binary terms like “Success” and “Failure” While we know that some stunning pledges and progressive language in the Pact came from some of the negotiations, it is also true that historically these pledges have not been met completely, or have been missed entirely. Full stop. So with millions of humans suffering under the systemic injustice of rising global emissions, how do we meet this ...
Nov 25, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Yesterday, nearly 200 countries agreed to adopt The Glasgow Climate Pact after a roller coaster of a COP26...and this is a really big deal. From agreeing to reduce global dependence on coal, to speeding up the end of fossil fuel subsidies, this is progress on paper. But how far does it go to keep our 1.5C target front and center? This week, our hosts dig through a few key details of the agreement, including the new commitment for every country to revisit and strengthen their emissions reductions...
Nov 15, 2021•59 min•Season 4Ep. 17
It's the halfway point of the COP26 climate discussions in Glasgow, UK! Pledges over the past week from world leaders could be transformational, keeping the Paris Agreement's ambition in reach. The devil is in the detail of delivery and, As we head into the second week of the negotiations, government Ministers and negotiators get down to business, with final agreements due to land on Saturday this week. Momentum from the pledges of the past week reverberated around the world, yet the youth movem...
Nov 08, 2021•32 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Coming to you LIVE from Energy Day at COP26! So, energy and climate change. Where should we start? With both the IEA World Energy Outlook and the IPCC AR6 Scientific assessment that came out this year declaring that coal has peaked, we also know that gas and then oil must also peak and see their way to the museums, as Christiana would say. 1.5C has been the only north star at COP26 to doing things like consigning coal to history, and every step towards decarbonizing our economy paints a clearer ...
Nov 05, 2021•44 min•Season 4Ep. 15
The World Leaders Summit at COP26 has happened...So what happened, exactly? A LOT. This week, we cover it all in a laid-back-waiting-for-takeaway-to-arrive style conversation with our hosts. We’ll cover updated pledges and commitments on: An End to Deforestation by 2030 Methane reductions India’s Net Zero 2070 target We also get into inclusion and representation of the Global South, and how we went from 50% of global emissions covered by a Net Zero target at the beginning of this year, to yester...
Nov 03, 2021•35 min•Season 4Ep. 14
The way to Net Zero is through the bank. One of the major questions at COP26 is, “How are we going to finance the transition to Net Zero?” From shifting investments away from fossil fuels, to boosting the speed and scale of green companies bringing forward the necessary solutions to creating a sustainable future for people and planet. ...And profit. This week, we’re joined by Group Chief Executive of HSBC, Noel Quinn. He recently committed HSBC, with an impressive $3 trillion balance sheet, to h...
Nov 02, 2021•52 min•Season 4Ep. 13
China. On one hand, the country is the world’s largest source of carbon emissions, an economic and political powerhouse resting on a thick cloud of hydrocarbon pollution, contrary to the goals of the Paris Agreement. On the other hand, President Xi Jinping has set the stage for China to emerge as an environmental leader, with the highest reforestation rate in the world; it makes and buys more electric cars than any other country by far; and is the world’s top renewable energy investor for the ei...
Oct 29, 2021•48 min•Season 4Ep. 12
If you haven’t heard, COP26 is about to happen. This week we embrace the complexity that is a COP (Conference of the Parties), and try to frame what is going to happen in the next 2 weeks so we don’t lose focus on limiting global heating to 1.5C. We’re joined by Communications Director of COP25 & COP26 Climate Champions, Matthew Phillips. Matthew is inextricably linked with the process of COP26 and shares his wisdom and unique insight into what a successful COP26 looks like. So if you’re thi...
Oct 28, 2021•44 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Tom Hale is BACK and here to announce the official Launch of the Net Zero Tracker! So yes - this week we have Associate Professor in Global Public Policy at Oxford University, Tom Hale, who joined us back in March of this year discussing the launch of a report “ Taking Stock of commitments to Net Zero ”. That report put a spotlight on the credibility of a wave of government and business net zero commitments at the time. He is now returning more triumphant than ever with a significant update - Th...
Oct 27, 2021•28 min•Season 4Ep. 10
*inhales deeply* Fresh off the TED Countdown Stage and moments after the ‘Green Carpet’ at The Earthshot Prize Awards 2021 AND a week and a half away from COP26 - Has there ever been a more exciting moment? This week we give our first-hand experience at TED Countdown, discussing ‘the moment’ and what followed when Christiana was moderating a discussion on the TED stage about our theories of change with Ben van Beurden, Chris James and Lauren MacDonald. Also Christiana and Tom recall a few exciti...
Oct 21, 2021•51 min•Season 4Ep. 9
For the first time ever, we are all in-person bringing you this episode from the TED Countdown Summit in Edinburgh! TED Countdown is an event that officially kicked off on 12th October and encompasses four days of inspiring talks, collaboration, connections and commitments to meaningful action for a better world ahead of COP26. Our guest today is Paul Polman, return Outrage + Optimism guest and a celebrated business leader who made sustainability the heart of a global consumer business’ growth a...
Oct 14, 2021•51 min•Season 4Ep. 8
With only 99 months left until 2030, and COP26 in less than 1, time is ticking on 1.5. And young people know it. So today, a timely and relevant conversation with Climate Activist, and return guest to Outrage + Optimism, Luisa Neubauer. This time, focusing on climate change and its impact on the mental health and outlook on the future of young people everywhere. The backdrop to the conversation with Luisa are two recently published studies (One from The Lancet , another from Science.org ) examin...
Oct 07, 2021•47 min•Season 4Ep. 7
You probably heard last week was Climate Week and UNGA. But, what actually happened? To cover it all, we get into the cornucopia of methane reduction announcements from countries across the world, a quick update on China, and a special focus this week on the announcement of the ‘Protecting Our Planet Challenge’, an announcement that saw 9 philanthropic organisations, including the Bezos Earth Fund, collectively commit $5 billion of funds to the 30x30 campaign. We explore what this funding announ...
Sep 30, 2021•46 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Following the success of UN Food Systems Summit, or as it’s also known- “The People’s Summit” we get a chance to speak to the driving force behind it, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit, Agnes Kalibata. Formerly Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) from 2008 to 2014, she drove programs that moved her country to food security helping to lift more than a million Rwandans out of poverty. Now as Special Envoy, her efforts toward progress of th...
Sep 24, 2021•28 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Welcome to the first episode in a brand new series on The Future of Food! Today, this episode coincides with a very important international gathering, the first of its kind at the United Nations. Known as the UN Food Systems Summit, formally, it is also called The People’s Summit. During this ongoing series we will seek to unlock the many changes needed to enable each sector – government, corporations and citizens to ask themselves, “How can we contribute to a transformative movement for an incl...
Sep 23, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Our struggle with the Climate Crisis begins with naming it, facing it, and engaging it. Last week, the latest NDC Synthesis Report published showed that global emissions are on track to rise by 16% by 2030. With science screaming at the top of its lungs to get us to cut emissions 50% by 2030 to avoid catastrophic warming and climate tipping points, this 16% number says unequivocally, “we are headed in the wrong direction” as BBC Science Editor David Shukman tells us on today’s episode. So that’s...
Sep 21, 2021•27 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Today, only 15 percent of land and 7 percent of our ocean are protected. Nature needs more. The science is very clear – to prevent a mass extinction crisis, support a growing global population, and address climate change, we must conserve at least 30% of the planet by 2030. ...So why now? The science is very, very clear - If we act now we can limit the disaster, and we could even reverse the trends of climate change in an equitable, just fashion. But how? This week we’re joined by Rita El Zaghlo...
Sep 16, 2021•37 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Season 4 is here! The past few months have been astonishing. It’s no news to anyone that climate change is here, right now. In fact, it’s reported by the Washington Post that in the US, nearly 1 in 3 people live in a county hit by a weather disaster in the past three months, and even more terrifying, 2 out of 3 live in a place that experienced a multi-day heatwave. Time is up. We can’t squabble and scapegoat ourselves into a better future. Let’s swallow the alarm clock and take action on climate...
Sep 09, 2021•30 min•Season 4Ep. 1
We’re back in your ears for a quick bonus episode on the latest IPCC Report. The heavily anticipated and undeniably influential release of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report’s Working Group 1 findings came out on Monday. In it, they provide an extraordinarily thorough examination into and warning of the physical science basis of climate change. Christiana and the guys give their gut reactions to the report, and discuss how its findings are the turning point for necessary climate action at COP26....
Aug 10, 2021•31 min
This week, we take an unflinching look at the impacts of the recent extreme global weather events as they provide a grim backdrop to the G20 meeting in Naples, the informal meeting of ministers representing 51 countries in London at the weekend, and the IPCC summary report by Working Group 1. This highly anticipated report is set to provide the up-to-the-moment science on future warming and future effects of warming. It’s a big deal, especially with of COP26 right around the corner. So, with the...
Jul 31, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 27
This week, The Circular Economy! Currently our economy operates in a linear way. Take, Make, Dispose. It’s based on the industrial revolution, and we know this way of doing things has limits. Some of those limits we are reaching even today. But there’s a different economy we could create. The Circular Economy. This week we explore the ‘Circular Economy’ with #1 Circular Economy advocate, Dame Ellen MacArthur. This brand new economy is all about designing out waste and pollution, keeping products...
Jul 22, 2021•59 min•Season 3Ep. 26
In a week that has seen record temperatures occurring throughout the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada, a major hurricane that hit Barbados - the first in 60 years - and one of the warmest winters on record down south in New Zealand, this episode looks at the urgent call to action coming from the younger generation. Their call for transformational change applies not only to climate action, but in delivering meaningful social justice action and revaluating and redefining the very ...
Jul 15, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 25
The Race to Resilience is on! This week has seen another extremely harsh wildfire season and searing temperatures in the global North, Tropical Storm Elsa ripped through the Caribbean, becoming the first hurricane to hit Barbados in 60 years, and way down in the south of the planet, New Zealand has its hottest winter. It is absolutely vital that the Race to Zero (emissions) and an equally important set of measures for adaptation and resilience be undertaken - at the same time - to allow humanity...
Jul 08, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 24
