Outrage + Optimism

With France banning short haul flights, John Kerry on his way to China and South Korea to talk climate just days ahead of The US Climate Summit, and The American Legislative Exchange Council (not so) secretly planning to fight Biden on climate, this episode is jam packed with things to discuss!

And speaking of things to discuss, have you heard of the word “Ecocide”? It’s a term describing something we all understand and know is wrong - the mass damage and destruction of ecosystems. But, yet it is still somehow legally permitted around the world.

This week, we explore the tireless work of Jojo Mehta and the Stop Ecocide Foundation who are pursuing their goal to have Ecocide added to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a fifth crime alongside Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Crimes of Aggression.

How would this fifth crime change corporate behavior? We can only assume it would act as a deterrent to environmental destruction, but could it also act as an accelerator of the goals of the Paris Agreement?

Stick around after the interview for a mesmerizing tune from Eliza Shaddad!

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Christiana + Tom’s book ‘The Future We Choose’ is available now!

Subscribe to our Climate Action Newsletter: Signals Amidst The Noise

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Thank you to our guest this week, Jojo Mehta!

Jojo Mehta

Co-Founder & Executive Director, Stop Ecocide International

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Stop Ecocide International

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Our musical guest this week is Eliza Shaddad!

Check out Eliza on Patreon!

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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This week, the climate solutions are here, and they’re neatly labeled.

You may have heard of Bertrand Piccard, the explorer, balloonist, and ‘inspioneer’ who was the first to circumnavigate the globe in a solar powered aircraft in 2016. Well, since then, he’s been on a mission to support climate friendly technologies. With his Solar Impulse Foundation, he is close to having found, assessed and labeled 1000 cleantech solutions that have a positive impact on both the environment and the economy. Now he’s making sure that they get used. In our interview with him this week, we discuss his commitment to create and nurture innovative new ways of thinking that reconcile ecology and economy, providing a compelling argument for business and governments to act today to achieve planetary health and profit with his ‘Tao of Economics’.

And with Tom taking a well earned break away from hosting, we are delighted to introduce a special co-host for this episode, Dee Caffari, MBE! Dee is the first woman to have sailed single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions and the only woman to have sailed non-stop around the world a total of three times! Yes, you read that right. Having witnessed personally the problem of single use plastics on ocean health, she uses her platform to raise awareness on Ocean health, sustainability, and a new danger - microplastics. Her fascinating first-hand experience and deep thinking on climate change makes determined ambition a reality.

Our adventure awaits!

Hang tight after the interview for a live musical performance from Easy Wanderlings!

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Christiana + Tom’s book ‘The Future We Choose’ is available now!

Subscribe to our Climate Action Newsletter: Signals Amidst The Noise

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Thank you to our guest this week!

Bertrand Piccard

Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation | Explorer | Psychiatrist | Inspirational Speaker

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Solar Impulse

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Check out the climate solutions here: Solar Impulse Solutions

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And thank you to our guest co-host this week:

Dee Caffari, MBE

Chair of the World Sailing Trust | World Record Holder | Author and Ocean Advocate

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Our musical guest this week is Easy Wanderlings!

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WATCH: Sofar Mumbai Performance

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As Christiana mentioned in the episode, check out Seaspiracy on Netflix.

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media and send us a message!

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Welcome to Volume 2 of The Stubborn Optimist’s Playlist!

Every week on the podcast we feature a musical artist who is thoughtful about the role of art and artists in the climate crisis. This week we bring you a collection of those artists in playlist form as an extended listening experience.

So without further ado, Vol. 2.

Enjoy the music!

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The Stubborn Optimist’s Playlist Vol. 2:

(0:59) James Hersey - My People

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(3:16) Mystery Jets - Wrong Side of The Tracks

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(7:07) Mesadorm - Easy

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(11:15) Presidio - Clockout

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(13:33) I See Rivers - We Don’t Get More Time

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(16:10) MF Tomlinson - Sum of Nothing

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(19:46) Beans on Toast - On and On

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(24:17) Gecko - End of The World

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(28:37) Desiree Dawson - Mountain Tops

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(31:21) Rhys Lewis - Better Than Today

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(35:06) Alex Serra - Everything is Changing

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(39:47) Saunder Jurriaans - Easy Now

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(42:55) Emmanuel Jal - We Want Peace

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Christiana + Tom’s book ‘The Future We Choose’ is available now!

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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Welcome to the very first Volume of The Stubborn Optimist’s Playlist!

Every week on the podcast we feature an artist who is thoughtful about the role of art and artists in the climate crisis. This week, we celebrate all the artists we have had on the show so far with 2 separate volumes for your listening enjoyment!

So without further ado, Vol. 1.

Enjoy the music!

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The Stubborn Optimist’s Playlist Vol. 1:

(4:12) Ellie Goulding - Speaking

(5:18) She Drew The Gun - Trouble Every Day

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(8:37) Blackout Problems - Dark

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(12:14) Jelani Blackman - Pretty World

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(15:42) Toukan Toukan - Konowoulen

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(19:49) Billy Bragg - King Tide and The Sunny Day Flood

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(22:49) Robert 3D Del Naja - Speaking

(25:01) Massive Attack ft. Christiana Figueres - Eutopia

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(28:32) Gaeya - Contact

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(32:32) Cosmo Sheldrake - Speaking

(34:15) Cosmo Sheldrake - Cuckoo Song

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(36:56) Nick Mulvey - Begin Again

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(41:54) Baaba Mal - Leke

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(44:44) AURORA - Speaking

(46:00) AURORA - The Seed

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(50:43) Millie Turner - Underwater

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(54:34) Ayoni - The Patriots

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(58:47) Too Many T’s - Speaking

(01:01:18) Too Many T’s Not Enough Bees

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(01:04:50) OK GO - All Together Now

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(01:09:18) Aaron Taylor - Get Through This

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(01:12:06) AJR - Speaking

(01:14:02) AJR - Burn The House Down

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Christiana + Tom’s book ‘The Future We Choose’ is available now!

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media and send us a message!

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With CO2 in the atmosphere now reaching levels 50% higher than when humanity began large-scale burning of fossil fuels during the industrial revolution, time is running out and some ecosystems are on the brink of collapse.

In light of this, some scientists and engineers are asking the question, can we act in time to save them? What do we do if we cannot reduce emissions in time? What tools will we have to save humanity?

This week we talk to Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer-Prize winning author, activist, The New Yorker journalist, about her latest book Under a White Sky, a fascinating work that is asking the big questions: having meddled so much in our natural ecosystems, are we now able to save them and ourselves from the devastating effects of climate change? What form will these interventions take? Are the proposals such a genetically modified coral or solar geoengineering even possible? Will our sky be white?

Join us for a delightfully sobering conversation.

And stick around later in the show for a musical performance from Saunder Jurriaans!

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Christiana + Tom’s book ‘The Future We Choose’ is available now!

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Thank you to our guest this week, Elizabeth Kolbert!

Elizabeth Kolbert

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In 2015, Elizabeth wrote a phenomenal article on Christiana in The New Yorker. Highly recommended reading!

Grab a copy of Elizabeth’s new book, Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future!

Elizabeth is a Pulitzer-Prize winning author, and her books are available for purchase here:

Books by Elizabeth Kolbert

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Our musical guest this week is Saunder Jurriaans!

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Check out Saunder Jurriaans’ debut album ‘Beasts’

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media and send us a message!

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A bonus episode for you this week!

With science demanding that in order to stay below 1.5C we must reach “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the absolute latest, how do we get there?

We know we can’t keep emitting as we currently are and just offset to balance it out. We need radical cuts and that means a complete reshaping of the global economy and most business models. Arguably, anyone could shape their net zero goals differently, unless we can compare these (literally) hundreds of commitments that have been made - and hundreds, even thousands more that will continue to come.

So here’s a question - what does :net zero” actually mean? Is it the same as carbon neutrality, or any of the other terms we hear and read about?

This week, Tom Rivett-Carnac dials up for a quick chat with Dr. Thomas Hale, Associate Professor in Global Public Policy at Oxford University. He’s part of a team that has just released a report - Taking Stock: A global assessment of net zero targets. The report is the first quantitative analysis of the robustness of the different types of net zero targets and provides a baseline against which we can compare country, city, or company level net zero commitments.

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Heard something about climate change you don’t understand, or a term that isn't clear to you? Tweet us @GlobalOptimism starting your question with 'What the Hale', tell us what you want to know and we'll get the answer directly from Dr. Thomas Hale for you!

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Dr. Thomas Hale

Associate Professor of Global Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

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Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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This is the second episode in our Race To Zero series!

All evidence points to the tipping point for electrification of road transport, and the end of the internal combustion engine. But will this happen fast enough? 

One of the key pillars of the Race to Zero is to accelerate the adoption of Zero Emissions Vehicles. Today, transport accounts for about 16% of global emissions, but is a much higher share of total emissions in industrialized countries. For example in the United States, transport accounts for nearly 30% of emissions and globally is a major source of the pollution causing one in ten deaths.

If we’re going to succeed in this, it’s going to take everyone. So how do we bring in new people to take action on climate change? And how do we reach and inspire a new generation to never purchase an internal combustion engine? We ask Nico Rosberg and Sara Price whether the innovative impact of Extreme E and its exciting partnership with citizen action campaign, Count Us In, can bring the power of sport and the excitement of motor racing, to inspire the public to apply pressure that spurs industry and government policy to accelerate the race to zero carbon.

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Check out everything Extreme E!

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Thank you to our guests this week! 

Nico Rosberg

Sustainability Entrepreneur | Founder & CEO of Rosberg X Racing

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Rosberg X Racing

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Sara Price 

Driver of the No. 99 Hummer EV

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Nigel Topping High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26

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Race to Zero

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COP26 - UN Climate Change Conference

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Marina Guião will be taking over our social media channels on Friday, March 19th!

You can follow her on Instagram.

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media and send us a message!

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This week we get into Republicans and climate change, faith and climate change, and some exciting news in climate philanthropy!

And our guest for this episode is President & CEO of Occidental Petroleum, Vicki Hollub. Not only is she the first and currently only female CEO of a major oil and gas company, but Occidental - or Oxy as the company is fondly known - is the first US oil and gas major to announce their strategy to reach Net Zero across emissions scopes 1,2 and 3.

We explore with Vicki the process of capturing carbon for enhanced oil recovery and why this has translated into plans to build the largest Direct Air Capture facility in the world, how they see their new DAC business venture beyond Oxy’s own fields, a vision of the energy future with oil and how they think they will contribute to a Net Zero carbon world.

But with the complicated history between oil and gas majors and the public, will the public trust needed to ensure Oxy’s success be rebuilt in time?

And stick around later in the show for a musical performance from Alex Serra!

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Thank you to our guest this week! 

Vicki Hollub

President & CEO, Occidental Petroleum

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Our musical guest this week is Alex Serra!

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As Christiana mentioned early in the episode, check out #Faiths4Climate

SacredPeopleSacredEarth:

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Greenfaith:

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media and send us a message!

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Welcome to the first episode of our new Race To Zero series!

With COP26 as the vital milestone for climate action in November 2021, the promises and pledges made by governments must be converted into meaningful action beginning today. We know the EU, the UK and many other countries have net zero pledges but can they achieve them without a global collective effort? 

And it’s not just up to governments - history has shown that political actors need the real economy to place wind in their sails. So with everything on the line and the clock ticking, the Race to Zero has no separation between winners and losers, and failure is NOT an option.

Joined this week by Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, President-Designate of COP26, Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, Mary Anne Hitt, National Director of Campaigns for The Sierra Club, and Nigel Topping, High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26, we get a first hand look at what is at stake, who is stepping up, and how everyone can join the race to a better future.

And we’ll find out why COP26 is not just a 2 week event in November, but a race that has already begun.

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Guests this week

Alok Sharma

Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, COP President Designate

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Patricia Espinosa

Title: Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC

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Mary Anne Hitt

National Director of Campaigns, Sierra Club

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Nigel Topping 

High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26

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UNFCCC

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Race to Zero

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Sierra Club

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COP26 - UN Climate Change Conference

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media!

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With a deep freeze in Texas leaving a wake of devastation, a UN Security Council Meeting weakly addressing climate change as the planet’s “gravest threat”, and massive investment for offshore wind in Denmark to produce green ammonia, there’s no shortage of things to be outraged by or optimistic about this week!

We are at a new political moment where we are seeing the ambition for a cleaner world, and we are seeing the economics weigh more and more towards phasing out fossil fuels. We’re even seeing the political winds shift toward championing racial, social, and economic justice! And at the heart of the climate movement that is deeply committed to making all of this possible is a ferocious love for our planet, nurtured and activated by a ‘feminist climate renaissance’ as our guest, Katharine Wilkinson, phrases it.

This week we talk to Katharine Wilkinson, author, teacher and former Editor-in-Chief at Project Drawdown, about her latest book co-edited with Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, ‘All We Can Save’, an anthology of women’s voices in the climate movement, and what is giving her a “fire in the belly and the heart” in tackling the climate crisis.

Our interview with Katharine gets into why she believes the climate crisis is ultimately a leadership crisis, and explores the idea of transformative leadership and emerging voices at the core of the climate movement which she describes as, “characteristically feminine, but also more committedly feminist in its commitment to equality and justice.”

And stick around later in the show for a musical performance from Desirée Dawson!

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Thank you to our guest this week, Katharine Wilkinson.

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Project Drawdown’s Website

The ‘All We Can Save Project’

Buy a copy of “All We Can Save”!

A Matter of Degrees Podcast

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@degreespod - Twitter

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Our musical guest this week is Desirée Dawson!

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Watch Desirée’s CBC Searchlight 2016 Finale Performance Here

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Go check out Science Moms!

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Moms Clean Air Force

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Keep up with Christiana Figueres here:

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Tom Rivett-Carnac:

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Paul Dickinson is on LinkedIn!

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Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media and send us a message!

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Don't forget to hit SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss another episode of Outrage + Optimism!

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