Reecha Upadhyay of Purpose Climate Lab India joins Mary & Maeve from Delhi as co-host for this week’s episode on city life. Cities currently consume almost 70% of the world’s energy and account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions. As mayors and their citizens take on the responsibilities of their nation’s leaders in the fight for climate justice, cities start to show their potential as a solution to the global crisis.

Happy Earth Day!

Today marks the countdown to Earth Day’s 50th anniversary in 2020. Mary invites Susan Bass of the Earth Day Network onto the show, who takes us back to the very first Earth Day in 1970, and how it bears a stark resemblance to where we are at today.

This week we loan out Mary to International Rescue Committee’s podcast, Displaced, for a chat with Ravi Gurumurthy & Grant Gordon. If you came for Maeve but don’t know about Mary, this week’s specialsode is a chance to hear the story of her venture into climate justice from the very beginning.

This week Maeve & Thimali play The Climate Name Game! Environmental activist George Monbiot published a compelling list of alternate climate vocabulary. His list encourages us to take another look at the way we describe the climate crisis, and remind ourselves that the environment is not destroying itself... we are. Listen in as Maeve hilariously invents some compelling terms of her own!

As we imagine new ideas for our natural resources, a new green economy presents us with a second chance at making good with both the earth and our communities. What will it take to transition to renewable energy, and what can we learn from both indigenous peoples and new technology? Navajo climate activist, Wahleah Johns, joins Mary & Maeve in the studio this week to share how she’s been getting it done.

Co-hosting our episode this week is Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a lifelong ocean conservationist who creates solutions with social justice in mind. Ayana, Mary & Maeve take a wade through the work our oceans have been doing while we’ve been sleeping. As sea levels rise and overfishing destroys our marine life, is this the inevitable truth, or are there still big solutions to come?

This week’s episode is co-hosted by Rhiana Gunn-Wright, one of the lead policy writers of the Green New Deal. She joins Mary & Maeve in the studio to discuss public opinion on climate change in the United States, where it’s crucial that citizens and politicians take a role in environmental action. In a moment in history when its politics are so polarized, will climate justice be the great unifier?

In our first minisode, Maeve and our new series producer, Thimali, have a sit in the park to stalk cutie pie dogs and contemplate meat alternatives to pet food for Maeve’s pal, Shadow.

We recap the last four months in climate justice; dig into the rise of school strikes around the world, learn about the IPCC Special Report 1.5 direct from one of its authors, and hear how to convince a room full of heels and suits that the most intuitive climate innovation around has been passed down through indigenous communities for generations.

This episode comes to you direct from New York City where Maeve lives and Mary was attending Climate Week. Governments, diplomates, business leaders and climate change gathered to assess progress and push for solutions to avert the climate crisis and deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement.