Greensider Stories

As an expert in advocacy and strategic communications, Alyssa Pek currently spearheads projects at Offshore Wind Learning, World Bank's Offshore Wind Development Program and Global Solar Council. She collaborates with engineers, governments and industry stakeholders to amplify the voice of the renewable sector, by combining her background in International Development and the technical knowledge acquired through her career journey.

Alyssa is very motivated by her passion for the renewable sector. Not only that, but working remotely also keeps her excited: gaining perspectives outside of the Western European bubble, learning from local people beyond the spotlights of mainstream media, meeting people of all sorts, including those who also have remote green jobs. 

“The industry of the future is renewable energy,” Alyssa said, acknowledging the potential bottleneck in skills. According to her team at Offshore Wind Learning, nearly 1 million workers will need to enter the sector in the next decade. That’s why Alyssa encourages people, including oil and gas professionals, to skill up as soon as possible and seize the many opportunities along the green energy transition. If you wish to have a virtual coffee with Alyssa, she welcomes outreach via LinkedIn. 

The concept of natural capital has made its way out of the academic circle and into industries such as real estate and finance, as well as to the forefront in policy. It refers to services and assets provided by nature.

As the Head of Natural Capital for Scotland at Savills, Lucy explains how she’s working with landowners in Scotland to find opportunities in restoring and enhancing the natural capital in their properties. She also gives some insights about several industry guidelines. Alongside her job, Lucy is doing a part-time PhD, looking at trade-offs in different land uses and how to make better decisions.

In terms of tips for green careers, Lucy encourages people to try things and be comfortable about being a beginner! She puts this in action by getting involved in side projects, such as being Trustee in Climate 2050 Group and founding her own business Unwrapped Bars, as well as learning her business skills on the job.

What is it like to be on the frontline of climate change research? It’s certainly demanding, but it can get addictive, according to Dr. Alaa Al Khourdajie.

In this episode, Alaa shares with us his personal experience with the IPCC, as well as giving a mini-explainer about the organisation. Beyond his current research on the application of integrated assessment models (IAMs) and the roles of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Alaa also shows up on social media with his limited free time. He tries to bring as many people on board as possible to tackle climate change by communicating scientific messages in a clear and accessible way, as he believes ‘social consensus building is as key as scientific consensus building'.

Dr. Alaa Al Khourdajie is a Research Fellow at the Centre of Environmental Policy at Imperial College London. He was a Senior Scientist and Contributing Author in the Working Group III of IPCC, which is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He is also a lead author at the UNEP 7th Global Environmental Outlook assessment, and a guest researcher at the International Institute of Applied System Analysis in Austria, University of Utrecht and the Netherland Environmental Assessment Agency.

Chapters

(00:00) Dr. Alaa Al Khourdajie

(01:08) Introduction to the IPCC and the Working Groups (WG)

(07:47) Alaa's Experience in the Technical Support Unit in WG III & as a Contributing Author

(15:15) Alaa's Career Journey & How He Got to Work with the IPCC

(20:53) Alaa's Current Research in Integrated Assessment Models and the Roles of Carbon Dioxide Capture & Storage with Machine Learning & AI

(24:00) IPCC Experience Helped Expand Professional Network

(29:08) How Alaa Discovered His Passion for Climate Change Research

(34:58) Why Alaa Showed Up on Social Media as a Science Communicator

(39:03) Handling Pressure from Social Media

(43:41) Work-Life Balance as a Researcher

(46:53) Books to Read

Booklist by Alaa

1. The Climate Book, edited by Greta Thunberg https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61153762-the-climate-book?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=aXBQQCf7ow&rank=1

2. Technical Summary, by the IPCC

3. The Age of AI, by Henry A Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, Daniel Huttenlocher https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56620811

4. The Art of Explanation, by Ros Atkins https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64631477-the-art-of-explanation?ref=nav_sb_ss_2_18

We love watching TV! Globally, people spend around 2.5 hours every day watching various forms of TV programmes. That came with a carbon footprint of 9.2 tonnes for each hour of television produced, which is the equivalent of two households’ annual consumption. 

As the Global Production Sustainability Manager at Fremantle, Katy believes the TV industry can have a big impact by reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions and influencing the audience’s climate actions. In this podcast, she shares how she combined her experience and passion for creative production with knowledge in carbon management, as well as her insights of green jobs in the industry.

Her message goes to all who want to pivot their career for the environment: be creative with your background and skills because everything has an impact! 

For Carolina, who works at the E3G think tank in Brussels, being a policy advisor on climate change adaptation requires one to be adaptable and patient. Today she’s sharing with us insights into the day-to-day tasks, stress and joys in her job, as well as her first-hand experience in the recent COP27.

With a degree in civil engineering, one can have many options of career pathways. In Elias’ case, he started in the transport sector and is currently riding the new wave of electric vehicle charging facilities. Today, he’s speaking to us from London about what it’s like to work at an EV charge point operator. He's also sharing a fun sidestory: initiating a recycling programme in a Greek army camp.

Alongside the pandemic, we witnessed yet another summer of wildfires. In Greece, 125,000 hectares (The size of Greater London is 159,000 hectares) of forests were ravaged with 3 people killed. But that did not eliminate hopes. Today, we’re speaking with Filotas from We4All about how he combines his passion and professional skills in tree-planting.

In the backdrop of gas price hikes around the world, energy efficiency is more important than ever. Today’s guest, Jon, is showing us how he kills two birds with one stone. By improving the energy efficiency of houses, Jon’s business Ring Tree Project not only helps people live cosier and save money, but also makes a difference in the battle against climate change.

When it comes to jobs, the seeds can be planted way before the job application step. Same goes to green jobs. Today’s guest, Salua, is speaking to us from Bonn, Germany. Through activism during university, Salua found her passion for the environment, which is now guiding her career path.

Since both of our previous guests mentioned ‘Carbon Management’, some of our audiences asked me what that is. James, the program director for the online MSc Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh, spoke to us from Edinburgh.